Harry Potter  After the War
by PotterFanSteve
Summary: ATW takes up the Harry Potter story on the day after the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, and will continue the story through to the DH Epilogue, and probably beyond. Years One, Two, and Four are now Complete!
1. The Best and Worst of Days

Chapter One – The Best and Worst of Days

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.**

******A/N: Dec. 20, 2011 - Merry Christmas! I really apologize for this, but I haven't been able to write as much as I'd hoped to be able to do this fall; and the next installment for 'After the War' isn't nearly ready for prime time. I've added the first chapter of the story-year that I'm working on to at least give you an idea of where this epic monstrosity is going next. In the meantime; I hope you liked the Harry Potter Christmas Carol that I posted just before Thanksgiving, and if you're looking for something new; my first book in a new series called 'The Catalyst Chronicles' was published last week. You can find out more about The Catalyst is Born through a link to the book page on my profile homepage, along with the first two books in my Heirs of the Magi series.  
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**A/N: Harry Potter - After the War takes up the story of Harry, Ginny, their family, and friends beginning on the day after Harry defeated Lord Voldemort. While there are additional characters, this storyline is based on Canon, and follows JKR's post DH interviews and comments on what happened with H/G/R/Hr, etc. after the war, or at least how I imagine that post-war life could be. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it!**

**Year One of Harry Potter - After the War is complete. Chapters 1-16; *YEAR TWO – Chapters 17-26*. *YEAR FOUR - Chapters 27-34 Complete May 5th, 2011. Each subsequent year of this story will be added as completed. Be patient - covering nineteen years to the epilogue may take a while! :^)**

Chapter One

There was nothing but peaceful, velvety darkness, and he drifted along contentedly, barely even aware even of that darkness.

"Harry."

Ripples stirred in that soul-soothing blackness, and the happily floating mind tried to ignore the intrusion.

"Harry! Wake up!"

A not so gentle shove, and the shout brought Harry jarringly awake, and the beautiful, emptiness and dark was replaced by searing brightness and foggy disorientation as he opened his eyes, shut them again, and groped blindly for his glasses.

"Nice of you to join us finally," Ron said as he stepped away from Harry and sat on the bed next to Harry's – the one that had been his up until a year or so ago.

"What time is it?" Harry asked, sitting up in the bed and putting his glasses on. He squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness, and looked at Ron.

"Quarter past eight, and about twenty-one hours since you crashed yesterday," Ron reported. "Get up and ready – most everyone is already in the Great Hall having breakfast, and I'm starving. Your bag is on the floor next to you. Hermione left it here for you."

Harry took a second to adjust to the fact that he'd been out of it for most of a day. His battle with Tom Riddle had been yesterday. "Have I missed much while I was out?"

Ron nodded. "I haven't been up that long myself, but was up for a few hours last night. In all of the confusion after you-know – er, Voldemort – died, most of the Death Eaters and their pals escaped. Minister Shacklebolt isn't happy about that at all, but apparently everyone was celebrating, and nobody was watching the Witches and Wizards we'd captured. The place was crawling with Ministry officials last night – mostly sucking up to Shacklebolt. Most of the injured have been moved to St. Mungos, with just the milder injuries still being treated in the hospital wing. There's going to be a Memorial service here the day after tomorrow. I think that's all of the highlights that I know about."

"Okay," Harry answered, climbing out of the bed. "I'm going to grab a quick shower. Why don't I meet you in the Common room in fifteen?"

Ron stood up too. "Try to make it ten, mate. I'd really like to get to the Great Hall before the food's all gone."

Harry nodded, grabbed his bag, and left for the washroom. He wondered how long it would be before he found comments like Ron's funny again. Getting moving allowed him to become acutely aware of the aches and pains that exhaustion had temporarily saved him from feeling, and as he stripped down for his shower, he could see all of the dark bruises and abrasions that he'd picked up during the battle. The hot water helped some, even with the sting of the soap on some of those cuts and abrasions. Ron might have wanted him to hurry, but he still took the time after his shower to shave and brush his hair before taking his bag back into the dorm and heading to the Common room. He stopped short and smiled when he saw Ron kissing Hermione next to the stairway to the girls' dorm.

"Should I run for cover?" he asked them. "Last time I saw you two doing that, things got a little crazy around us." Hermione jumped, stepping back from Ron, who just turned and grinned at Harry.

"Funny," he told Harry. "Get used to it, mate, 'cause I plan on kissing Hermione on a regular basis from now on."

"Good for you – for both of you," Harry said, still smiling. "Would you like to get back to that, or come with me for breakfast?"

"Am I allowed to multi-task?" Ron asked.

Hermione hugged Harry when he reached them, and then took Ron's hand. "Let's go have breakfast and find out what's going on this morning. We can find some more time for the hugging and kissing later."

Fully rested, and under the light of a new day, the damage to the school seemed so much worse than it had just a day ago, and Harry looked around, taking it all in as they walked. The halls were deserted, so Ron must have been right that everyone was in the Great Hall already. There was rubble all over the floors, and giant, gaping holes in some of the outer walls. Windows were blown out, and they crunched their way through broken glass and stone as they made their way from Gryffindor tower to the Great Hall.

"The cleanup will probably get started today," Hermione said quietly. "I think it's going to take a long time, and a lot of work to get done."

"No doubt," Ron agreed.

He and Hermione continued to talk, and Harry listened, but his thoughts were jumping around, as it seemed that everything he was seeing brought random memories to mind. It was almost overwhelming as images of Lupin, Tonks, Colin, Fred, and others replayed in his mind, memories that were both of happy and sad moments shared with them.

When they got into the Great Hall, he was embarrassed to see and hear the cheering and clapping that greeted them, and he tried to avoid eye contact with everyone even as he searched for one particular set of eyes. By the time he found them, though, there was only time for one too-brief silent look before that contact was broken by Kingsley Shacklebolt's call for the three friends to join him at a table that was, from Harry's current perspective, irritatingly far from where he really wanted to be right at that moment. Another quick glance let him catch the rueful smile, nod, and nearly imperceptible shrug that pretty much said everything he was thinking right back at him, and he smiled too as he led Ron and Hermione to where Minister Shacklebolt was now standing and waiting for them to join him.

"Harry, it's good to see you up and around again," Shacklebolt said as he shook Harry's hand and motioned for him to take a seat. He shook hands with Ron and Hermione too before they sat down next to Harry. Percy was sitting to the right of the Minister, and they had Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Neville and his Grandmother, and a number of Ministry officials sitting with them.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked Harry.

"A bit stiff and sore, but other than that, okay, thanks," he answered. "How are you and everyone else doing?" Her eyes became watery as she looked into the deep, emerald pools of compassion that said so much more than the words.

"I think most of us are feeling battered and bruised too," she said, wiping at her eyes, "and we're all feeling it more today than we did yesterday."

Harry nodded. "Ron said they've moved most of the seriously injured to St. Mungo's. Is there any news there?"

"The Healers expect everyone to survive, though some may not fully recover," Percy informed him in the clipped, precise tone of voice that Harry had been used to hearing from him, and quite different than the way he'd been speaking with Fred just before – he left that thought hanging, not ready to deal with it at the moment. There was a haunted look in Percy's eyes, and Harry wondered if this was how he was dealing with the loss of his brother so soon after being reunited with his family.

"Get some food and eat, dear," Mrs. Weasley told him, and Harry began filling his plate, seeing that Ron and Hermione had already done that, and Ron was already quickly emptying his plate.

"What else is going on?" he asked Minister Shacklebolt.

"Things are still a bit chaotic, but calming down somewhat," Shacklebolt answered, shaking his head. "Some of the celebrations all over the Wizarding World got a little out of hand as the word spread yesterday. The Obliviators are being run ragged trying to modify Muggle memories. It's even worse than back in eighty-one." Harry wasn't surprised at this news, but just like with the celebration at the school yesterday, it wasn't something he wanted to be a part of – it had just cost too much to be something to cheer over.

"The Ministry is a mess, and Voldemort's people there caused a lot of damage when they fled," Shacklebolt continued. "We're short-staffed in every department, and nobody seems sure who they can trust there right now."

"Again, just like last time," Mr. Weasley said sadly. "Maybe we'll do a better job cleaning up the mess this time around."

"We will," Shacklebolt said confidently; a determined smile on his face as he looked from Arthur to Harry. "I'm going to start by recruiting some help that I can trust. I wish I didn't have to do this quite so soon, but would you, Ron, Hermione, and Neville be interested in giving me a hand with that clean-up?"

"Doing what exactly?" Harry asked, looking steadily at Kingsley.

"We've lost a number or Aurors, and we have a lot of Death Eaters and their accomplices on the loose," the Minister answered. "I'd like for all of you to join the Aurors."

"None of us have the NEWTs we'd need to do that," Hermione pointed out immediately, and Shacklebolt nodded.

"True," he agreed, "but you all could do the job, and I need help right now, if you're willing."

"I'm in," Neville told Shacklebolt, and Harry looked at the determined expression on his face, and the proud one on his Grandmother's.

"Of course you are," she agreed, patting his arm.

"They're just children, Kingsley!" Mrs. Weasley protested. "Haven't they all done enough already?" Her eyes filled with tears again as she saw the look on Ron's face. "Ron – no! Please don't do this."

Ron reached across the table and took his mother's hand. "I'm sorry, Mum, but I'm with Neville on this. We're not kids anymore – if we ever were." Mrs. Weasley looked from Ron to Harry, her eyes pleading with him, and he sighed inwardly.

"I have to do this too," he told her gently. "Everything that's happened – everyone we've lost – would be for nothing if we don't finish the job, and it's really just started." He turned and looked past Ron to see Hermione now staring at him in consternation, and he smiled at her. "You know that I've wanted to be an Auror, Hermione, Neville's following in his Mum and Dad's footsteps, and Ron's in it because it'll be so much fun, but you've got other dreams, so don't feel like you have to do this because we are. There are lots of other things that you could do that I think would be even more important than this, and a way better use of the brightest Witch of our time."

Hermione looked from Harry to Ron to Neville, and Ron took her hand and squeezed it, nodding as she looked back at him for a long moment before answering Harry's comments, and Minister Shacklebolt's request. "Minister, you're only three for four," she told Kingsley. "I want to get my NEWTs first, and maybe I'll come work for the Ministry somewhere after that, but Harry's right – being an Auror isn't for me."

"Let me know when you're ready, and I'll make sure you have your pick of jobs," Kingsley assured her before turning to Harry again. "I'm going to be leaving for the Ministry shortly, and would like the three of you to come to the Ministry so I can introduce you to Gawain Robards, and let him get you started."

"He's still the Head of the Aurors?" Harry asked, and Shacklebolt nodded.

"As of yesterday," he agreed. "Let's just say that in recent months, he has been working out of the office, in the field," he added with that same serious, determined smile. When he stood up, Percy, and every other Ministry official stood too, whether they'd finished eating or not. "I have a few things to do first, so take your time finishing your food, and then we can leave for the Ministry."

Harry, Ron, and Neville all nodded their agreement, and Minister Shacklebolt moved away from the table, heading out of the Great Hall. Mrs. Weasley hadn't said anything since her protest to the Minister, and was leaning against Mr. Weasley for support.

"Well, you can say one thing for Shacklebolt, he's serious about getting at the job right away." He said, looking across the table at Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

"Every day the Death Eaters and their pals have for a head start will just make it harder to track them down," Neville suggested. "We really can't wait, even though I really wish we could."

"You boys be careful, and watch out for each other," Mr. Weasley told them.

"We will," Harry promised. He hadn't finished eating, but didn't feel like having any more, and if he was going to be leaving soon for the Ministry, there was something he needed to do first. Getting to his feet, he leaned between Ron and Hermione. "I've got something I need to do before we go. I'll meet you in the entrance hall when I'm done."

With that, he turned and headed out of the Great Hall, sure that his friends would know what he was going to take care of now. It seemed to him like every eye in the Hall was on him again, and he just focused on the open doorway, and nearly held his breath until he was in the entrance hall. There were Witches and Wizards watching him there too, but he continued on outside, then across the grounds until he reached Dumbledore's white tomb by the lake. Someone had repaired it since Voldemort's intrusion, and Harry stood next to it, closing his eyes and just taking a moment before doing what he came to do. Drawing two wands out of his pocket, he held one firmly in hand, and the other rested on the palm of his other hand, then disappeared as he returned it to the place it should have never been taken from.

"And now, with a little luck, that wand will never be used for harm again," he said quietly to himself. He turned around and started back toward the school, lost in thought until he finally noticed that someone was walking toward him. When he focused, and saw that it was Ginny, his heart kicked into overdrive.

"Ron and Hermione tell me that you, Ron, and Neville are joining the Aurors, and will be leaving for the Ministry with Shacklebolt soon," she told him without preamble when they stopped, facing each other. Her voice had an edge to it that Harry recognized very well.

"We are," he agreed, finding himself getting lost in her eyes as she locked hers on his. She had a determined look on her face that he thought was adorable, and she put a hand firmly on his chest.

"You're not going anywhere until we have a little discussion," she informed him, her eyes still locked on his.

"Okay," he agreed, that contact sending a jolt of longing through him.

"Would you like to have this discussion the hard way, or the easy way?" she asked, and Harry smiled at her.

"The easy way, if that's okay with you. I've had a tough few days, and your hard way has a tendency of involving bat-bogey hexes."

"Good choice," she said approvingly. "Then repeat after me – 'Ginny, I've been an idiot'."

Harry grinned. "Ginny, I've been an idiot."

"I should have never broken up with you last year," she prompted, her hand now more a caress than a barrier.

"I should have never broken up with you last year," he repeated dutifully.

"Please forgive me, and take me back," she continued, placing her other hand on his chest too.

Harry put his hands over hers. "Please forgive me, and take me back."

Ginny stepped closer, and put her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. "I forgive you, Harry. Don't ever do that to me again." She pulled him close, and kissed him tenderly. When she leaned back again, he smiled.

"You forgot one thing," he told her, and Ginny smiled too.

"What did I forget?" she asked.

"I love you, Ginny," he answered, and his spirit soared as he watched her reaction, and then she was kissing him again, and he lost himself in that embrace.

"Finally!" she exulted as they stared at each other, wide-eyed and breathless. "I love you too, Harry."

"What's going on out here?" they heard Ron shout from the front doors. They didn't hear Hermione's comment, but could see her drag Ron by the arm back into the entrance hall, and were both laughing.

"You be careful," Ginny told Harry when they turned to face each other again. "When things settle down a bit, make sure to plan some time for you and me – we have a lot of catching up to do."

"I will be, and we'll definitely get to that catching up too," he promised.

They shared another long kiss, and then Ginny took his hand possessively, and they started walking back to the school. When they got into the entrance hall, Ron and Hermione were there with pretty much everyone who'd been sitting with them at breakfast. Ron was giving Harry the look, and Ginny laughed at him.

"Don't even think about saying anything," she told him firmly. "He's mine, so you can just bloody well get used to it."

Minister Shacklebolt laughed too, and smiled at Ginny and Harry. "Well then, now that's settled, I guess we can get going," he told them.

There was a round of hugs, with Harry receiving them from Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and two, and a kiss, from Ginny, and then the group leaving for the Ministry went outside and started walking toward the gates. Harry looked back once to see a teary-eyed mother with her arm wrapped around her still fiercely exultant-looking daughter watching them go, and waved to them before turning around again as Ron put a hand on his shoulder.

"I actually thought she was coming out here to hex you after finding out we were joining the Aurors," Ron told him, and Harry laughed.

"That was option two. I picked the option where I apologized and begged her to take me back," he said quietly enough so that only Ron and Neville would hear him.

"Good choice," Neville complimented him, and he and Ron were both grinning at Harry.

"I thought so," Harry agreed.

When they were outside the gates, they all apparated to the Ministry of Magic, and were quickly in the Atrium, lining up to pass through security. Harry's arrival caused quite a stir, and many Witches and Wizards just stopped what they were doing to stare at him, while others also applauded and cheered as he and the others were quickly cleared and walked to the lifts.

"Mr. Weasley and I will take our three new Auror candidates to Auror Headquarters, and meet the rest of you in my offices shortly," Shacklebolt told the group of Ministry followers who had been around him pretty much since he had been named interim Minister of Magic.

They'd all stepped into the lift together, but when they reached level two, only five of them left the lift, while the others continued on to level one. Minister Shacklebolt led them into Auror Headquarters to one of the cubicles, where they were introduced to Gawain Robards without any preamble or small talk.

"Auror Robards, I'd like to introduce you to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom," Shacklebolt said as he shook Gawain's hand. "I've recruited them for you, and they're ready to be put to work helping us right away." He smiled at Harry. "Mr. Potter should probably stop by to take his apparition test, since, like you, he's been out in the field, so to speak, and didn't have the opportunity to take care of that last summer. Other than that, they're ready to jump in and get going."

"Good," Gawain said, shaking hands with Neville, Ron, and Harry. "We're so short-handed right now, we need all the help we can get."

"We're looking for more volunteers, Gawain, but the last thing we're going to do is advertise just how short of staff we are right now," Shacklebolt said, and Gawain nodded.

"Alright," he agreed. "I'm sure you have more important things to do, so let me take it from here with our new Auror-trainees, and you can get on with your own work."

Minister Shacklebolt nodded, and as Harry turned to watch him leave with Percy, he saw several heads duck back down below the tops of the cubicles before he turned back to face his new boss. He judged the other Wizard was a few years older than Kingsley, and had the same self-assurance and confidence as the new Minister of Magic too. That probably came after years of surviving as an Auror, since every Auror he'd met were like that. He'd watched Kingsley and Gawain talking but with just that small introduction to the man, hadn't yet formed an opinion of his new boss.

"Okay, gentlemen," he said, looking from face-to-face, "everyone here is busy right now, and we're hopping to keep up. I'll assign all of you to Auror Williamson, and you'll be working with him - at least until we get organized and can begin your training properly. Stick with him, and do exactly what he says, and you'll be fine."

He stepped out of his cubicle, and he only spent a couple of minutes to introduce them to Auror Josh Williamson, along with passing on the instructions for Williamson to start out by taking Harry for his apparition test.

"Before I take Mr. Potter for his apparition test," Williamson told his three new recruits, "let's get the two of you set up with cubicles, and you can start reviewing all of the cases we now have to work on." He led Ron and Neville along the aisle, and assigned them to two empty cubicles next to each other, waving his wand each time, and making their names appear on the blank nameplates, and making stacks of files appear on their desks with two more flicks of his wand. "Start with those files, and when Mr. Potter and I get back, we'll continue with that, working together to discuss the cases I'm currently assigned to handle." Ron and Neville had each taken seats behind their new desks, though Ron looked decidedly unenthusiastic about what was, for all intents and purposes, studying. Auror Williamson waved for Harry to follow him, and they headed toward the lifts.

"When and if we get the time, I'll try to be impressed that Harry Potter is one of my new trainee assignments, but until then, let's just pretend that you're just like any other trainee, and get on with it."

"Why don't we just do that, and completely skip the being impressed thing altogether," Harry suggested, and Williamson laughed.

"That works too," he agreed.

Auror Williamson wore a red cloak, which Harry thought was a bit odd for an Auror, since the color didn't exactly help the man blend in. He had long hair kept tied back in a ponytail, and while Harry vaguely remembered seeing him before, this was certainly the first time they'd spoken to each other. His first impression of the man was positive, and he was looking forward to finding out what they'd be working on together. It didn't take long for Harry to pass his apparition test, since he was the only one there to be tested, and the examiners practically fell over themselves to get it done for him.

"This job could get to be a lot more fun if everyone does that for you, but I have a feeling the Death Eaters aren't exactly going to be quite that cooperative."

"Probably not," Harry agreed. "They're not very happy with me at the moment."

"I wonder why?" Williamson joked.

When they got back to Auror Headquarters, Williamson led him to another empty cubicle on the other side of Neville's cubicle from Ron's, and waved him into it. "This will be your home away from home from now on," he explained, and waved his wand, changing the nameplate to read 'Auror-trainee Potter'. "This used to be Auror Tonks' cubicle," he told Harry. "I think she'd rather that you have this place instead of someone else."

"Thank-you," Harry told him as he took a moment to look around.

"You're welcome," Williamson said with a curt nod. "Let's gather up my other trainees, go back to my cubicle, and get to work. After that, we'll grab some lunch, and then my plan is to go out, do a little field work, and see if we can catch a few of the slower, dimmer criminals, since the smart, fast ones have likely all gone underground already."

Harry followed his trainer back to the other cubicle, picking up Neville and Ron on the way past. The three trainees sat down in the chairs across the desk from Williamson, and spent the next couple of hours going through cases with him. When they were finished with that, they went out, had lunch at a crowded Leaky Cauldron, and then apparated to a street around the corner from the first house that Williamson wanted to visit in his search for one of the new 'most wanted'. The four of them had all laughed when Williamson had taken down Harry's number one undesirable photo from the wall of his cubicle. The Auror had been very sure that it was the first time that any Wizard or Witch had gone from that status to Auror-trainee in all of Auror history.

Williamson led the way, but as they reached the walkway to the front door, it slammed open, and the massive form of Mr. Crabbe – Vincent's father – stepped through the doorway and onto the front steps. He had his wand drawn, and before Auror Williamson made any move, Harry, Ron, and Neville all had their wands out, and went into action. Harry threw up a massive shield in front of the four of them, while Ron and Neville sent disarming and binding spells at a now shocked-looking Crabbe, who stared at them with hate-filled eyes. He'd managed to get one killing curse off that deflected off of Harry's shield, though it probably would have missed all of them anyway.

"You're real heroes when it's four against one," he growled at them. Harry dropped his shield, and Neville went to pick up the Death Eater's wand. Williamson still hadn't even drawn his wand, but his three trainees didn't put their wands away. Harry had momentarily been surprised by their trainer's actions, or inaction, but then he was suddenly sure that Auror Williamson had been testing his trainees.

"Normally, I'd cut you some slack on the Arithmancy, since it's not really my thing either," Williamson told him, "but I'm pretty sure you were only facing three wands, and that shouldn't have been a problem for a big, strong Death Eater like you to be up against my new trainees. After all, they only joined up a few hours ago." Crabbe hadn't really taken a close look at his opponents, and now that he did, his eyes widened when he looked at Harry.

"You!" he barked at Harry. "My son is dead because of you!"

"Your son is dead because one of your idiot Death Eater buddies taught him how to create Fiendfyre, and he was caught in it when the spell got away from him," Harry told him.

"That's a lie!" Crabbe spat, and Harry shook his head.

"It's not, and since my friends and I did manage to save Draco and Gregory when we escaped the Fiendfyre, I'm sure that eventually you'll have the chance to ask them yourself." He took a hard look at the man and nodded. "You already knew that anyway. That's how you knew Vincent had died during the battle. Since I know where Draco is right now, I'll guess it was Gregory who told you."

"This little chat is fun," Williamson told them, "but we've got loads of work waiting for us, so let's get Mr. Crabbe back to the Ministry and processed so we can move on."

Returning to Auror Headquarters, the only problem they had was with the onlookers and a pair of enterprising and demanding reporters in the Atrium as they brought Crabbe through security. Harry was sure that word would have gotten around the Ministry by now about the three new Auror-trainees, but if that news hadn't reached the media yet, it certainly had now, and he groaned to himself, dreading what he was sure would be even more unwanted attention.

Williamson showed his three trainees how to process a new prisoner, and then they took him down to the dungeon level, where he was put in a holding cell to wait for his trial with the Wizengamot. When they returned to Auror Headquarters again, Harry, Ron, and Neville were put to work filling out the required reports, which Williamson then went to do too, and then they were off again, heading to the second stop of the afternoon on their trainer's list.

"There've been two other captures," he told his trainees as they walked toward the lifts, "and four fugitives have been killed today. We've been lucky so far, and have only had two injuries among the Aurors, and only one of them needed to go to St. Mungo's."

"What are we going to do with all of the prisoners?" Neville asked. "The Minister can't possibly be considering guarding Azkaban with the Dementors again."

"I haven't heard," Williamson answered. "They'll surely still use Azkaban, but I expect that from now on, there will be Witches and Wizards guarding the place like they have at all of the other Wizarding prisons. The Dementors fled after the Dark Lord was killed. They'll likely be a new problem for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to deal with now."

"Anyone we know?" Ron asked, unconsciously asking a question he'd asked Hermione nearly every morning during their sixth year at Hogwarts when she was reading the Daily Prophet. "The other fugitives, I mean, not the Dementors."

"None of the biggies," Williamson answered. "Crabbe is the only actual Death Eater in custody so far. The others have all been Wizards who were working with them, or just taking advantage of the situation for their own crimes."

They had the same reporters bothering them when they left through the Atrium again, and there were more stares and Wizards and Witches applauding Harry. This time, once they were out of the Ministry building, they apparated to a country laneway, appearing in front of a long path that lead up to a fairly large house set back on a good-sized lot dotted with trees and gardens.

"Check for protective spells, please, Mr. Longbottom," Williamson ordered.

"They'll have already been alerted that we're here," Neville reported after a few moments. "There are several levels of shielding charms, and an anti-apparition charm will kick in if we cross onto the property."

"Good," Williamson said approvingly. "I'd say we should definitely remove them first, and then we'll immediately need our own anti-apparition shield put up. Any volunteers?"

Harry smiled grimly when both Ron and Neville looked his way, and as he turned to face the property, the other three Wizards moved a fair distance back from him. This was the first offensive spell he'd cast since repairing his wand, and he was a bit shell-shocked by the loud explosion and concussive wave of pressure that followed the destruction of those protective spells. Whether it was the wand, or something within him that had changed, that had been more and stronger than anything he'd felt before, but then he had to focus again and get the anti-apparition shield in place too before anyone could escape. When he was able to look around a moment later, the other three Wizards looked as stunned as he was feeling.

"Next time, we'll move a bit farther back," Williamson told Ron and Neville. "I'll wager that really hurt whoever was holding those spells in place. Shall we go in?"

They walked up the lane, and with Harry covering him while Ron and Neville headed around each side to cover the back, Williamson approached the front door, knocked, and loudly announced himself as an Auror. When there was no answer, he stepped back, and blasted the door open with a loudly shouted 'REDUCTO'!

He had automatically jumped to the side, and it was a good thing he had, since a red bolt of energy shot through the doorway about where his head had been a moment earlier. Harry had been just to the other side, and on the lawn at the base of the steps, so the attack was well over his head, and he fired back with quick 'Expelliarmus' and 'Incarcerous' spells. A wand shot through the doorway next, flying into Harry's waiting, outstretched hand, and they could both hear a yelp of pain. With their unseen opponent now bound by thick ropes from shoulders to ankles, Harry climbed the steps, and the two Wizards cautiously entered the house.

"Mr. Parkinson, you are under arrest," Williamson advised the bound and incredulous-looking man. "Sworn witnesses have placed both you and your wife at the Battle of Hogwarts, fighting for and with the Dark Lord. Is your wife here with you?"

The man clamped his mouth shut, and didn't answer, but Williamson had all the answer he needed when the sounds of fighting broke out at the back of the house. Harry ran in that direction, and fired a non-verbal disarming spell at one of the two Witches on each side of the back door of the house as he slid into the kitchen. When she turned around in shock to face Harry, watching her wand fly into his hand, she was hit by a body-bind spell that shot through the open doorway where a door had obviously been shorn from it's hinges.

"Pansy!" the other Witch screamed, turning and firing a killing curse toward Harry. He dove out of the way, firing a leg-lock spell as he fell and the woman's curse hit the wall behind him. Mrs. Parkinson fell too, landing next to her daughter, and reaching out to cover her protectively. "Stay away from her!" she shouted at Harry and firing another spell blindly that blew a hole in one of the kitchen cupboards.

With her back to the door, she didn't see Ron step to the doorway, and had no time to react before he quickly had her disarmed, bound, and stood grinning at Harry.

"Having fun, mate?" he asked as Harry stood up.

"Loads," Harry answered dryly. "Thanks."

"What is the meaning of this attack?" Mrs. Parkinson demanded as she stared daggers at Harry. "I'll have the lot of you arrested for this!"

Ron turned his grin on her next. "I'm sure that you all heard Auror Williamson identify himself," he reminded her. "I'm Auror-trainee Ron Weasley, ma'am, and you're under arrest for your involvement in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Nicely done," Williamson complimented Ron as he walked into the room. "Let's help the ladies to stand, and then you'll need to release Ms. Parkinson – she's not currently wanted for anything, unless you want to have her charged for this little incident." Ron and Harry exchanged looks, and Ron shrugged.

"If we charged every Witch and Wizard who threw a spell or two at me, we'd run out of room at Azkaban," Harry joked, and Ron laughed. "I'd prefer not to have her wand at our backs until after we've left with her Mum and Dad, though."

Pansy Parkinson did not look at all grateful for the reprieve, and her face was harder and the expression even colder as she watched the four Wizards take her parents away. The commotion their arrival at the Ministry of Magic caused was even bigger than the last, and they actually had to push their way through the crowd to get to, and then through, security. It took another two hours to process their new prisoners, deliver them to the holding cells, and then fill out their reports, and by then, Williamson decided that they'd done enough for one day, and advised Harry, Ron, and Neville to meet him in the morning again at eight o'clock sharp.

When they'd gotten back to headquarters, there had been a note on Ron's desk to advise them that his and Harry's things had been moved to the Burrow, and that they should go there after they were done for the day, so when they left the Ministry of Magic, Harry and Ron apparated to the Burrow, while Neville apparated home to his Grandmother's estate.

"You've been all over the news on the WWN," Hermione told them, as Ron, and then Harry, were each crushed by hugs from Mrs. Weasley. "Three captures on your first day, not that any of us are surprised."

Once Mrs. Weasley had let Harry go, Ginny was there hugging him while Hermione took a moment to hug Ron. "You're all okay?" Ginny asked him quietly. "They said some Aurors had been injured too, but didn't say whom."

"We're all fine," he assured her. "Last I heard before we left, there were three Aurors injured, but only one of the serious enough to be admitted to St. Mungo's. I'm pretty sure we spent more time in our cubicles filling out paperwork than anything else today."

"That part of the job is going to stink," Ron groused. "I have no idea why the Ministry needs all of those stupid reports. It's a complete waste of time, and about as bad as all those assignments we had to do at school."

"Your Dad works at the Ministry, and you didn't know that?" Hermione asked, and Ron shrugged.

"Hearing Dad talk about stuff like that was usually the time I stopped listening, and hearing about it isn't nearly the same as having to do it myself now," he explained. "They never mention any of that in those adventure books about Aurors."

"I didn't know you read anything you didn't have to – other than Quidditch magazines," Ginny told her brother. She'd slipped her hand into Harry's, and he loved the feel of the contact with her again.

Ron shrugged. "I read other stuff once in a while. What's been going on at school? Anything new?"

"Nearly everyone had left the school by this afternoon, except for the professors, staff, and the Witches and Wizards still being treated in the hospital wing," Hermione told him. They all moved over to sit at the table, and Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the kitchen, working on making dinner for everyone. "We stopped in to see Andromeda Tonks on our way back here. She's having a pretty tough time right now."

"We met Teddy," Ginny told Harry quietly. "Your Godson looks just like his Mum, and he's absolutely adorable."

"I'll have to get over there to see him soon," he said, and Ginny nodded.

"We can do that," she agreed. "At the latest, we'll see them on Tuesday at the Memorial. You'll be able to go, won't you?"

Harry nodded. "I didn't ask about it, but we'll definitely be going."

"Ginny, Hermione, could you give me a hand?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and both girls got up to help with setting the table and working on their meal, though they both looked reluctant to give up sitting with their boyfriends.

They continued to talk quietly about the news of the day, and by the time dinner was ready, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur had joined them in the kitchen. There had been a few meals that Harry had been at the Burrow for where the usual noise and activity was absent, but it was different this time.

"So you've been put in charge of the Muggle Artifacts office and the Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Objects?" Mrs. Weasley asked her husband after they'd gotten around to his news, and Mr. Weasley nodded.

"Minister Shacklebolt is confident that the counterfeiting will stop soon, and we'll eventually be able to close that office anyway. We've lost a lot of good people, though, and the rest of us are all going to be busy for quite a while, I expect."

"Could there be some who are still hiding?" Hermione asked, and Mr. Weasley nodded his head.

"Maybe, but we think that most of us who were in hiding have already come back to the Ministry over the past two days," he answered. "I've heard we're maybe down to half the staff right now, or even a bit less than that."

"How are things at Gringott's?" Mrs. Weasley asked Bill and Fleur. They'd both returned to the bank earlier, and taken jobs with Gringott's again.

"Probably as chaotic as everywhere else," Bill answered.

"They are very busy with customers wanting to get to their vaults," Fleur told them. Her accent was still pretty strong, but her English had improved a lot over the past year. As he listened to her, Harry suddenly realized that Ron wasn't falling all over himself to try and impress her, a fact that he also could see Hermione was quite pleased about too.

"I checked on your vault, Harry," Bill told him, "and you'll be glad to know that it's secure, even with the damage after a certain recent incident."

Harry nodded. "That's surprising. I would think the Goblins are not very happy with me right now – especially Griphook after the sword answered Neville's need."

"Griphook has been dealt with by the Goblins," Bill advised him. "When they use that term, it unfortunately always means just one thing. By giving up the Bank's secrets to you, he did something that was unforgivable to the Goblins, regardless of his reason for doing so. He may have thought to trick you, but he wasn't able to fool them. The Minister has explained things to them about what the three of you were doing, and offered Wizarding aid for the repairs, which are already well underway. Regardless of that, though, the Goblins would never steal from any customer's vault, which was likely the other reason for Griphook's fate – not only giving up their secrets, but also helping you to steal from one of the vaults he was sworn to protect. You know first-hand how they'll fight to protect the contents of those vaults."

"Way too personally," Ron agreed fervently.

"The main point is that the Goblins aren't holding your break-in against you, and you again have access to your vault."

"I'm glad to hear that," Harry said gratefully. "Are they keeping you busy in the curse-breaking department?"

Bill nodded, his expression getting more serious. "We're getting more calls for help than we can handle right now. Even at the Ministry of Magic, we've had to deal with cursed objects and other problems that the Death Eaters and their helpers have left behind – like they hadn't caused enough harm already."

"You'll likely be even busier as the Aurors start rounding up all of those fugitives," Ron suggested. "The Parkinson's house should probably be checked out from what I saw there for sure, and Crabbe likely has a houseful of surprises too."

"We're getting regular requests from Auror Robards," Bill advised Ron. "Each case is being prioritized, and we'll get to all of them eventually." He turned his attention to his mother. "We stopped in to see George at the store on the way here. He said he'll be up and running again by tomorrow."

"So soon?" Molly asked him, and Bill nodded.

"I think it's how he's dealing with everything, Mum. It helps him to be there. Keeping busy probably does too."

"At least he's not in the thick of it like you, Charlie, Ron, and Harry are," she told them.

"Charlie and I have been in the thick of it with our jobs for years, Mum, and the only difference between today and yesterday for Ron is that now he's getting paid to fight bad guys." He grinned at Ron. "You should probably start charging him rent soon."

"Hey!" Ron sputtered, as everyone else laughed.

Hermione patted his hand. "You do have a real job now, Ron," she pointed out. "It really does seem fair to help out."

"Especially since you manage to eat about half the food around here," Ginny added, grinning at her brother.

"It's a conspiracy," Ron complained. "Mum, Dad, and I can work that out ourselves without all of your help, so let's move on. We didn't even find out what the job pays yet."

"Twelve hundred galleons a month, a Ministry broom, and a bed at St. Mungo's reserved for you," Hermione supplied, and Ron hugged her.

"That's going to be brilliant!" he said enthusiastically, hugging her again. "Well, all of it except the bed at St. Mungo's," he amended. "I wouldn't mind avoiding having to use it.

The conversation moved on, and when dinner was over, Bill and Fleur left for Shell Cottage, and after everyone else pitched in for the cleanup, they all moved into the sitting room.

"What are you going to do now?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I'll stay here until Wednesday, and then I need to go to Australia to get my parents, and reverse the memory charms I used on them," she answered. "Once I have them back home again, I'm not sure, other than getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. Just having a little time off to relax sounds pretty good right now."

"We should have taken some time off too, mate," Ron told Harry.

"That would have been nice, but there's too much work to do right now, so we'll just have to hold off on getting any holiday time for a while," Harry answered. Ginny was sitting next to him and holding his hand, like she'd been doing most of the time since he and Ron had gotten to the Burrow. "At least we can actually look forward to things like vacations, and being with our families and friends again now, even if we still have a lot of work ahead."

"Definitely," Ron agreed.

It had been just over nine months since Harry had last been in the sitting room of the Burrow, and it felt even more like home now than ever before. Mrs. Weasley turned the WWN on, and they listened to the ongoing news reports, and the current events broadcasts continued, as it had since the news about the Dark Lord's defeat broke the previous morning. There was nothing new being announced, though, so after a while, it was turned off again.

"We've got to be back at the Ministry for eight," Harry said when he realized that it was already after ten o'clock. "You and I should get to bed, Ron. We don't want to be tired when we're out in the field tomorrow."

"No you don't," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Harry, your things are in George and Fr – er – in the same room as last summer." Her eyes had softened and were brimming with tears, and she stood up, suddenly all business. "We should all get to bed now anyway," she declared. "I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well."

With that, she hurried out of the room, and Mr. Weasley quickly stood and followed her, waving goodnight to the two couples as he left to go comfort his wife. Hermione was the next to stand, and she held out her hand to Ron.

"Walk me to my room?" she asked, and Ron nodded, stood, and followed her out of the sitting room and up to the first floor. She was staying in Bill's old room.

"Let's give them a few minutes to say goodnight to each other," Ginny suggested, turning slightly to face Harry. She put her arms around his neck, and smiled at him. "We can do our own goodnight right here while we're waiting."

Harry didn't get the chance to respond – at least not verbally, but when the sitting room came back into focus again a few minutes later, he was pretty sure that Ginny did know that he'd been all for that idea.

"I've missed you so much," he whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder and they held each other close. "Thanks for taking me back."

Ginny laughed softly, and hugged him more tightly. "You're welcome, and I missed you too."

They stayed there together for another ten minutes or so, sharing a couple more kisses, but mostly just content to hold each other. When they heard Ron moving on the stairs again, heading up toward his room, they both stood and headed upstairs too. One last goodnight kiss outside of Ginny's room, and then Harry went up to the second floor, got changed, and climbed into bed. With everything going through his mind, he thought it would take a while to get to sleep, but he actually fell asleep almost immediately after closing his eyes.

Morning seemed to come too early, and other than a pretty great hug and kiss goodbye from Ginny, the rest of the morning had been a blurred rush for Harry. He, Ron, and Mr. Weasley all went to the Ministry together, splitting up when they got to the second floor, with Ron and Harry going to Auror Headquarters, while Mr. Weasley went to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. They were all early, and while Harry and Ron weren't the first to get to headquarters, they were there ahead of Williamson and Neville, so they went to Harry's cubicle and sat down to wait.

"Is it just me, or are there even more pictures this morning?" Ron asked, waving at the pictures plastered all over the cubicle walls.

"There's definitely more," Harry confirmed, then grinned and reached out to pull one off the wall to his right. "Maybe we'll get to work on this one," he suggested, handing the picture to Ron, who looked at it and laughed.

"Wanted for crimes against Muggle-borns," he read before looking up at Harry again. "It's about time – long past, really. She'd better hope that the Wizengamot doesn't give her a sentence of doing all of the lines with a blood quill that she handed out to all of her students."

Harry looked at the scars on his hand and nodded. "That's for sure," he agreed. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone – even her."

"Morning," Neville said as he joined them and sat down next to Ron. "Wouldn't wish what on whom?"

"Lines with a blood quill for a sentence on Umbridge," Ron answered, handing the picture on to Neville. "For some reason, Harry's completely against the idea."

"So am I," Neville agreed. "If we did stuff like that, we'd be no better than the Death Eaters."

The three friends had another ten minutes to chat before Auror Williamson checked in with them, and then they were on the move again, picking up where they'd left off on Sunday. Their first stop was to check out a seedy flat where they had a tip that Marcus Flint was holed up. Marcus had been at Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, and Neville, so it felt a bit strange for all of them to now be going out to attempt to track him down and arrest him, but he'd been seen at the battle of Hogwarts, and was a suspected Death Eater.

When they arrived at the rundown building the flat was located in, they'd climbed the stairs to the top floor in pairs, Harry and Neville covering the stairs at one end of the hall, while Ron and Williamson covered the other end. Harry was in the lead, and had just opened the door that led from the stairs to the top floor hall when he came face-to-face with Marcus, who looked scared, and turned to flee the other way. When he saw two more Wizards at the far end of the hall, he spun to apparate away, and without thinking about it, Harry reached out, grabbing at Marcus' cloak, and apparated along with the other Wizard.

He had no idea where he was, but Harry didn't have time to worry about that, and he dove to the side and hit the ground rolling, a brilliant green streak of light flashing past him even as he threw up a shield that tossed Marcus ten feet away from him, where he hit the ground hard before rolling too and firing off another killing curse. Harry had kept moving too, and the second spell missed him widely to the left. His Expelliarmus spell blasted through the shield charm that Marcus had raised like it wasn't there at all, and both Wizards watched as the wand flashed through the air to land in Harry's hand. A body-bind spell followed, and then Harry walked over to stand in front of Marcus.

"I'm Auror-trainee Potter, Mr. Flint, and you are under arrest for your involvement in the battle of Hogwarts, and on suspicion of being a member of the Death Eaters." He grabbed the other man's upper arm, and a moment later, they were back in the dingy hallway of the seedy apartment building.

"Welcome back," Williamson told them, and Harry smiled and nodded to Ron and Neville, who both lowered their wands. "Did you have a nice trip? We're hurt that you didn't invite us to come along."

"Mr. Flint just wanted to show me around," Harry answered, handing Marcus' wand over to Williamson. "You didn't miss much."

"All evidence to the contrary," Neville joked. "You still need to improve your teamwork skills though, mate."

"Or the rest of us need to get faster," Williamson suggested. "That was quick thinking, Potter. Good job."

Williamson had warned them that chasing down all of the fugitives would get more difficult as they started to go after the stronger, smarter Death Eaters and their associates, but they made two more arrests before the end of the day on Monday, even with all of the paperwork and processing they had to do with each case. It was after seven o'clock when they'd all finished their reports for the third arrest, and they met at Williamson's desk.

"We're not working tomorrow," he told his three trainees. "The Minister has declared a day of mourning, and most of us will be attending the Memorial, and one or more of the private burials after that. We'll get back to work on Wednesday, so be ready to get started again at eight."

"Yes sir," Neville answered for all of them, and Williamson smiled.

"When it's just us, call me Josh, and we'll use first names," he told them. "I'm certainly not going to spend the next three years using that Auror-trainee title for all of you unless it's in an official capacity."

"That works for us, Josh," Ron agreed.

With that, they were dismissed, and Ron led the way to the lifts. They split up again to leave for home when they got outside of the Ministry building, and when Ron and Harry got to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley warmed up the leftovers from dinner and fed them while she, Mr. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny sat at the table with them and they all caught up with what had been going on during the day. Once Harry and Ron had finished eating, and they'd cleaned their own dishes, they all went into the sitting room, again listening to the news on the WWN, and talking quietly until they were all ready to go up to bed and get some sleep.

They'd had breakfast first, cleaned up, dressed in their best clothes, and had gathered in the kitchen by nine o'clock. Though the Memorial service wasn't until ten o'clock, there were going to be a lot of Wizards and Witches attending, so they left for Hogwarts early. Ginny side-along apparated with Harry, and they all walked in from the gates to where wide rows of chairs were set up near the lake, and not far from Dumbledore's tomb. There were rows of biers too, and while Harry had known how many had died in the battle, seeing them laid out like this thrust those losses front and center in his mind, and forced him to deal with the pain he'd been pushing to the side now for days.

He turned to Ginny, and she let go of his hand for a moment so she could use both of her hands to brush tears from his face, then put her arms around him and held him close for several minutes in silent comfort. When she let him go again, she wiped the tears from her own face, took his hand again, and they started walking to catch up with the others, who'd gone on ahead of them.

"There's Andromeda and Teddy," Ginny whispered, nodding her head to where Andromeda was sitting in a section that was marked 'Reserved for Family'. She led him over to her, and Andromeda stood up to greet them.

"This is a tough day to be making happy introductions," she said quietly, "but Dora and Remus would be happy that you're finally getting to meet. Harry, this is Teddy Lupin. Teddy, this is your Godfather, Harry Potter." Holding the baby out to him, Andromeda showed him how to hold his Godson properly, and there were more tears running down Harry's face as he held Teddy, and the little boy captured his Godfather's heart in that first few moments.

"It's nice to meet you Teddy," he said quietly. Teddy opened his eyes at the sound of Harry's voice, and smiled toothlessly at him. He couldn't think of anything else to say right then, and just held the baby, gently rocking him. Teddy closed his eyes again. After another five minutes or so, Harry handed Teddy back to Andromeda. There seemed to be so much more that he should say to her, but he just couldn't put what he was feeling into words – nothing that could help her with not only the loss of her daughter and son-in-law, but also a sister who'd been lost irretrievably to the dark.

"I'd like to help out with him any way that I can," he told her, and Andromeda nodded.

"We can talk about that another day," she suggested. "I'll be happy to take all of the help I can get."

She sat back down again, and Ginny led Harry off to where the Weasley family was gathering. Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and George were there now too. They all knew that Percy would be with Minister Shacklebolt, and wouldn't be sitting with them during the service. The seats were filling up quickly, but before Harry and the others could sit down, they had to work through what was almost a gauntlet of Witches and Wizards who mostly wanted to talk with, or even just touch Harry. There were others that they all stopped to say a few words with, like Dennis Creevey and his parents. By the time they were able to sit down, splitting up and sitting in two rows so they could all be a little closer together, there was only about fifteen minutes left until the service would be starting.

Ginny was sitting between Harry and her mother, with Ron and Hermione right behind them, so she and Harry turned in their seats so they could talk quietly with them while they waited for the processional that would include the Ministry officials and the Hogwarts Professors. Harry spotted Neville, who was being kept nearly as busy as Harry had been with people wanting to talk with him as he escorted his Grandmother to another section of seats where it looked like many of the Witches and Wizards who had fought in the battle had gathered.

The processional started at five minutes to ten, and Harry and Ginny both turned around to face the front, and he put his arm around her shoulders as they watched the front rows fill up with Ministry officials on both sides of the aisle, except for the front left row, which was reserved for the Professors. Interim Headmistress McGonagall and Interim Minister Shacklebolt were among the last to take their seats, and then a wizened old Wizard stepped up onto the low platform that had been set up between the rows of chairs and the biers, and standing behind a small podium. What little noise there had been quieted as he cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"Minister of Magic, Ministry officials, Hogwarts Professors, honored guests, family, and friends, we are here today to pay tribute to, and mourn the loss of our loved ones who fought and died in the Battle of Hogwarts." Harry heard soft sobs as the old Wizard paused for just a moment and looked around.

The litany that followed was meant to soothe and comfort the bereaved. Harry wouldn't remember a single word of that message, but the memories of holding Ginny as she cried softly into his shoulder, the shared looks with Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley, and his own mind replaying scenes with Lupin, Tonks, Fred, and Colin would be with him, he was sure, forever.

The old Wizard then slowly read off the names of the fifty-four Wizards and Witches who were laid out on the biers, and by the time Fred's name was spoken, Harry was brushing one hand through Ginny's hair as she clung to him, her soft sobs making her whole body shake. The tears were streaming down his face too, but this time, he was determined to be strong for her, like she'd been for him at the service for Dumbledore.

Reaching the end of the list, the old Wizard stepped aside, and Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped up to the podium. Harry was pretty sure that he'd never seen tears in the eyes of any other Minister of Magic, and the fact that he did now said a lot about the man. He looked out over the large group, making eye contact with some, including Harry, for brief moments before beginning.

"So much has changed for us, and for all of the Wizarding World in just three short days," the Minister said in a clear, soothing voice that still carried so that everyone could hear him clearly. "From a brief moment where all seemed lost, to now, where the joy of victory is tempered by the high price that so many have paid to make that victory possible, it almost feels like having two different lives." He looked around again before continuing.

"While I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of every Witch and Wizard who lost their lives during this terrible battle, and share my own sorrow with those of you who, like me, have lost dear friends, as we mourn our loved ones, we should also rejoice, for there is also much to be joyful for! We can all be certain that our family and friends are at peace in the light, which is joyous indeed, and as we move forward from here, we should be glad and thankful for the sacrifices that have given us the chance to build a better world for ourselves – one that's filled with the love and light that these heroes would have wanted for us." The Minister paused again for a moment, then wrapped up his speech.

"Today, as many of us go from here to lay our loved ones to rest, be comforted, knowing that we will see them again some day in the light. Do not just mourn what we have lost – take some time to celebrate and share the things that were best about each of them. If we remember them like that, then the love and joy they brought into our lives will never really be gone at all - they will be with us in our hearts and memories, and through each and every way that they touched our lives."

Minister Shacklebolt stepped down and returned to his seat, and the old Wizard returned to the podium, pronouncing a lengthy benediction before leading the recessional back down the aisle. Harry had returned his attention to Ginny as soon as the Minister's speech was over. She'd lifted her head from his shoulder, and he'd been gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. There was only the two of them for a moment, as they shared a silent communication. When that had happened at Dumbledore's funeral, there had been nearly unbearable pain for both of them as they faced being apart, and the likely possibility that they'd never have the chance to be together. This time, it was a shared commitment to each other, a certainty that whatever was in their future, they would face that future together.

Once the Ministry officials and Professors were all on their way, the rest of the Witches and Wizards began to stand and move out. Harry and Ginny stood when her parents did, and when they had room to move, they all stepped into the aisle, moving toward the podium, where they were joined by the rest of their family.

"We're going to the burial service for Remus and Nymphadora from here," Mr. Weasley told them. "After that, we'll meet at the Burrow for lunch, and then we'll have the service for Fred. Molly and I intend to go to the service for Severus, which is at three o'clock, and anyone else who'd like to come along are welcome to join us."

"Do you know when Colin's service will be?" Harry asked him quietly.

Mr. Weasley pulled a sheet of parchment out of his pocket, unfolded it, and scanned it quickly. "Two o'clock," he answered. "You should be able to make that one too if you'd like."

"I'll come with you," Ginny promised, squeezing Harry's hand, and Hermione and Ron both nodded.

"So will we," Hermione added.

With that decided, they all started making their way toward the school gates. The rest of the morning, and nearly all of the afternoon was filled with sorrow and many more tears as they said a final goodbye to Tonks, Remus, Fred, Colin, and then finally, Professor Snape. There were large groups of mourners at each of the first three services, but just a small group there for Professor Snape that included most of the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Professors McGonagall and Slughorn.

When they returned to the Burrow after Professor Snape's service, while Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Hermione, and Fleur started working on cooking dinner, everyone else gathered around the kitchen table, and they all started telling stories about Fred and their friends. That started out quietly, the somber mood continuing, but as they went along, stories were told that brought smiles to their faces, and even some subdued laughs.

They continued to share those memories and stories throughout dinner, and then after the cleanup, it was time for Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, and George to leave for their homes. There was a long round of goodbye hugs, and once they'd gone, Molly and Arthur led their remaining four kids into the sitting room, where they sat and spent another evening in quiet conversation. When Molly and Arthur decided to go up to bed, Ginny took Harry by the hand and led him out of the sitting room too, both of them wanting to let Ron and Hermione have some time alone, since she'd be leaving in the morning for Australia. She shared a long, heart-pounding kiss goodnight with him outside of her bedroom door, and then they both went off to bed, exhausted, emotionally drained, and in need of a good night of sleep.

It had only been three days, Harry thought as his mind drifted on the edge of sleep. Kingsley Shacklebolt had told them that they'd all been given a chance to build a better world for themselves, and he agreed whole-heartedly with the Minister. As he fell into a deep sleep, just as he'd earlier silently committed himself to Ginny, he now resolved that he was going to do everything in his power to help Minister Shacklebolt make that better future a reality.


	2. Revelations

Chapter Two – Revelations

Hermione had left for Australia, and her father, brother, and boyfriend had all gone to work at the Ministry of Magic. She wasn't able to keep from feeling a bit left out – a feeling she'd been used to all of her life. Ginny also felt a happy shiver just at the thought of the words 'her boyfriend'. The last time that Harry was her boyfriend, that same thrill had been dampened somewhat because she'd known that he'd go running off to fight Voldemort, and leave her behind. When she'd told him at Dumbledore's funeral that his stupid nobility was one of the reasons why she really liked him, she had known then, and for years before, that her feelings for him were way beyond 'really like'.

With everyone else gone, her mother had assigned her a long list of chores to do, so as she worked, Ginny had lots of time to think about everything that had happened over the past few days. Yesterday, she'd allowed herself to mourn for the losses that she and her family had suffered during the war and final battle, but now her musings were about what seemed like dramatic, if simple changes in her life. She'd barely even been able to share a hug with Harry after he'd defeated Voldemort, and even that had been with others hugging him too. Later that morning, he'd disappeared with Ron and Hermione, and was gone for the rest of the day and night.

Getting a chance to have even a few minutes with him was looking even less likely on Sunday morning as Harry was again pulled in other directions from her, but when she saw him leaving the Great Hall, she left Luna and the other friends she'd been sitting with, and had gone over to find out what was happening. When Ron and Hermione had told her what was going on, and let her know where Harry had gone, the news that he, Ron, and Neville were leaving soon to join the Aurors had made her decide that now was time to take matters into her own hands.

She smiled as she worked, and that same triumphant, fierce look was in her eyes that had been there when Harry had told her that he loved her for the first time. Another warm thrill shot through her at that thought – Harry _loved_ her! That moment had been brilliant, and it hadn't mattered that it was far too short, or that he'd needed to leave for the Ministry. He was doing what he had to do – what she was sure he was meant to do. That brought her thoughts around to what she would be doing next.

Since she'd be turning seventeen in a few months, it would be up to her whether she went back to school or not, but Hermione had already decided that she was going back, and Ginny was nearly certain that she would be going back too, and if they could work it out, going into her seventh year as she should have been if the past year had been a normal one. After that, she really had no idea what she would do. The fact that she was absolutely sure that she and Harry would be together in that future was enough for now, and she decided that worrying about things like jobs could wait.

There were nearly four months before school would be starting again, though, and with Harry and Ron working, and Hermione likely spending a lot of the summer back with her parents, she was going to need to find things to keep busy with – or her mother would find them for her, just as she'd done today. While evenings and days off spent with Harry were definitely pleasant thoughts, months worth of all-day chores around the house and yard were not, though that would be different too, once she could use magic outside of school when she turned seventeen.

While Ginny was busy with her thoughts and housework, Harry was being kept busy at work. When Josh gathered his three trainees together, they were told that they were going to be assisting in a raid of Borgin and Burke's shop in Knockturn Alley. The two owners of the store were wanted for numerous crimes now, and the Minister of Magic, and Head of the Aurors had decided that it was time to clean up Knockturn Alley, starting with the biggest Dark Arts artifacts dealer in Wizarding Britain.

"How come Neville gets to have all the fun with Josh today?" Ron grumbled as he and Harry crouched behind the low wall they were using for cover. They'd been assigned the job of covering the back of Borgin and Burke, while Neville would be going in the front door with Josh and four other Aurors. There were others covering both ends of Knockturn Alley too.

"Because Neville still isn't much of a flier, and we are," Harry answered. They'd needed to fly in under cover of Invisibility charms, and were now on the roof of the building behind the shop they were watching. It had taken Harry about fifteen seconds into his first flight on the Comet two-ninety he and Ron had each been given as their Ministry issue broomstick to decide that if there was any way he could swing it, he'd be getting himself a new Firebolt. He promised himself that he'd look into that very soon.

"It's started," Ron whispered as they both heard a first explosion that was probably the front door being blown in, and then subsequent crashes and detonations as a fierce battle began. They couldn't see what was happening, and as they listened to the sounds of continuing fighting, Harry and Ron both looked on anxiously. Suddenly, the back door of the shop burst open, and two Wizards backed their way out of the doorway, a shield in front of them, as they continually sent streams of red and green light at the Aurors who must be pressing their own attack, judging by the bolts of energy coming the other way and either smashing into the shield, or the door frame, or missing completely and crashing into the building that Harry and Ron were hiding on the rooftop.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Harry thought in quick succession even as Ron sent two loudly shouted "Incarcerous" spells that bound both Wizards even as they looked up in shock and watched their wands fly high into the air toward Harry, who caught them both deftly. The next looks of shock were on Ron and Harry's faces when a green bolt of light hit one of the Wizards full in the chest, and he toppled over, dead.

Josh, Neville, and two other Aurors came through the open doorway, and the one Auror – Harry didn't even know his name yet, looked down at the body on the ground, his expression hard and uncaring. Josh and Neville looked up at Ron and Harry, both men nodding at them, and Neville's face looking as shocked as Ron and Harry felt.

"You should have come quietly Burke," the other Wizard said in a voice as cold as his expression.

"And you should be arrested for killing an unarmed, bound Wizard," Borgin spat at him. He barked out a dark laugh as he stared at the Auror, his expression just as cold as the other man's. "Oh that's right – you Aurors are above the law, aren't you? Unforgivable curses are only illegal for the rest of us. You're nothing but a pathetic, mudblood, cowardly cur yapping at your betters." He laughed again when his taunting turned the other Wizard's expression from cold detachment to livid anger, and the Auror pointed his wand at Borgin. "Go ahead, dog – do it!" he said derisively.

Harry, Ron, and Neville all had their wands pointed at their fellow Auror now, and the man was shaking with rage. Before any of them were forced to act, though, the other Auror who had come out of the shop with Joel, Neville, and the other man – a Witch with an eye-patch, put her hand firmly over her fellow Auror's wand hand, and with that touch alone, pulled him back from the edge.

"He doesn't deserve the easy way out," she told him. "Let the Wizengamot decide his fate."

Harry put his wand away as he watched the man nod curtly. The two Aurors took Borgin in hand and apparated to the Ministry of Magic, leaving Josh and Neville to deal with what the Wizard responsible had referred to as 'the casualty'. Harry and Ron both got on their brooms and flew to the ground to get further instructions.

"Neville and I will go back to Auror Headquarters with Burke's body," Josh decided. "You two guard the shop at least until we can get a team of curse breakers to come take a look around and decide what needs to be done with the place. Don't touch anything in there – in case you didn't notice, we lost a couple of Aurors to injuries in there, and one was just from being touched by a cursed medallion that Burke had thrown at him."

"Are they going to be okay?" Harry asked.

"I don't know yet," Josh answered. "Auror Proudfoot was able to apparate his partner to St. Mungo's despite his own injuries. When I find out about how they're doing, I'll pass that along to you."

There were no other instructions, and Joel had Ron notify the other Aurors at each end of Knockturn Alley that they could return to Auror Headquarters too while he and Neville apparated away with Burke's body. When Ron returned to the shop, Harry was there, wandering around, after repairing both the back and front doors, though he'd left the rest of the place as it was.

"How long do you think we'll have to stand guard?" Ron asked, and Harry shrugged.

"From what Bill told us the other day about how backlogged the Curse Breakers are, it could be a while," he suggested, and Ron nodded.

"What do you think about what happened back there?"

"I think I understand a lot better now why there have been so many fatalities during these captures," Harry answered. "That killing curse was totally unwarranted. The guy knew we were covering the back, and should have known that we'd have clean shots at Borgin and Burke, since they weren't shielding their backs."

Ron nodded. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"Yeah. You know what Dumbledore told me about how killing someone tears your soul. I'd always thought about that in terms of the bad guys, but it stands to reason that it would happen to anyone – good guys or bad."

"But my mother killed…" Ron began to protest before trailing off, his face clouded with worry and uncertainty.

"Yes," Harry agreed, his eyes filled with compassion. "Your Mum will never be quite the same because of it, but she will be okay, because she's got all of us to love her and be there for her." He thought about it for a minute. "There is one difference between what the Death Eaters, or Riddle did, though, and that's the reason behind their actions. Your Mum fought Bellatrix to save Ginny and the others. That must have an impact too."

"If I forget when we get back to the Burrow, remind me to give my Mum an extra hug, mate," Ron said quietly.

"I'll do that," Harry promised, "and add one from me too."

Ron was quiet for a few minutes, going to look out the front window, but then turned back to Harry again. "Could you feel it happen?" he asked finally. "Do you think Mum did? How much did it hurt?"

Harry knew what Ron was getting at, and he shook his head. "I don't know, Ron. Riddle died because his own killing curse rebounded on him – I didn't kill him. If he hadn't chosen to do that, he would have still been alive." He could also see where Ron's mind was going with this, so he answered the real question. "We won't end up like him. It's going to take some time, but things are going to change, and we're going to help make that happen. This job isn't going to change us, or turn us hard and jaded like that guy has become."

"That's supposed to assure me?" Ron asked, smiling faintly. "You failed at Divination, mate."

Harry smiled too. "Let's just say that I have a dream."

Ron laughed. "You're really scary sometimes, Harry – seriously scary."

Their guard duty ended up being a rest of the day job, and it wasn't until late afternoon that Josh and Neville joined them again, bringing Bill and a small group of Goblins with them to do a first assessment of the store. He had Josh and three trainees stay for the hour or so that it took him, and the Goblins, to decide that the best thing to do for now was to seal the entire building and leave it until they had time to work on clearing out the huge inventory of Dark Arts and Cursed objects. When they were all outside, Bill took care of doing that, and then it was time for Harry and Ron to go back to Auror Headquarters to fill out their own reports, while Neville was allowed to head for home, and Josh went back to Auror Headquarters with Ron and Harry to do some work of his own.

By the time they were done their reports, Ron and Harry had missed another meal at home, and Mrs. Weasley had again warmed up the leftovers for them. She, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley sat at the kitchen table with them while they ate and talked through another daily recap. There had been no word from Hermione yet, but she'd told them that it might take her a while to take care of everything with her parents before being able to bring them home again. Since it was already getting on in the evening by the time Ron and Harry had finished eating and cleaned up, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone up to bed, followed shortly after by Ron, leaving Harry and Ginny to spend a little time alone snuggled on the sofa in the sitting room.

It was already Thursday morning in Australia by the time Ginny and Harry had wrapped up a fairly brilliant snogging session and gone up to bed, and Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table of her parents' temporary home while her mother cooked breakfast for three.

"Do we really have to go home?" her mother asked, turning her head to smile over her shoulder at Hermione. "Not being able to remember you wasn't something I'd ever want to have happen again, but since you have left us the memories of these past ten months or so, we certainly can't complain about how great things have been for us here. Is there a Wizarding school here that you could transfer to?"

Hermione laughed. "There is, Mum, but Hogwarts is the only school for me, and in case you forgot about that part of it, I'm pretty sure that I mentioned having a boyfriend back home now too."

"Isn't that just another good reason why we should stay here?" Mr. Granger joked, and Hermione hugged him.

"Maybe from your perspective," she agreed. "Not from mine, though. I know you both really do want to come back home too, but if you love it here that much, there really isn't any reason why you couldn't keep this house and come here on holidays."

"That's true," Mrs. Granger agreed. "We'd have to come up with a story for our neighbors here, but I like that idea."

"Tell them you were in witness protection," Hermione suggested. "That's what I was planning on using back home to explain why you've been away from your practice and home for so long."

Mr. Granger smiled at her. "In a way, we were," he suggested. "Though nobody would ever believe what we were being protected from."

"Do you think it will take long to book flights back home?" Mrs. Granger asked, and Mr. Granger shook his head.

"I'd say we should be able to be on our way home by tomorrow morning," he answered. "That'll give us time to pack up, and explain things to our friends here."

"And show off our amazing daughter," Mrs. Granger added, looking over her shoulder at Hermione again and smiling happily.

Back at home, when Wizarding Britain got around to getting their Thursday started, it was back out in the field for Harry, Ron, and Neville. While they were busy at work, Ginny and her Mum had cleaned up from the morning activity at the Burrow, and then had gone to Diagon Alley. They started with a stop at Gringotts, where they got to see first-hand some of the incredible damage that had been done to the bank during Harry, Ron, and Hermione's escape on the back of the dragon. It hadn't taken long, since their vault wasn't very deep, and Molly was only taking out a small amount of their limited supply of money, and then they were off to visit George at his store before going to do their shopping.

"The store looks great!" Ginny told her brother as she took a turn to hug him after her mother had. There were quite a few customers in the store, and his two employees were both keeping quite busy ringing up sales.

"Thanks, Ginny," he said, smiling fondly at her. "You need anything at all, like food for Arnold, and it's on the house."

Ginny smiled too. "Don't let Ron hear about that. He's still mad about the time you were going to charge him double." She looked around at all of the amazing displays, and then turned her attention back to George. "I really wouldn't feel right about getting stuff for free, but how would you feel about hiring me part-time until I go back to school? There must be loads of work that even an underage Witch could do, and I'll be seventeen in time to really help you out when it gets busy for the back to school rush at the end of August."

"What do you think, Mum?" George asked, and Ginny held her breath as she waited for the answer that could make or break her suggestion.

"As long as you still help out around home, and work out getting to and from work, it's okay with me," she told them, and then smiled as Ginny hugged her, then hugged George. "Oh, and no using your sister as a test subject for new wheezes," she added, giving George a look that he knew all too well.

"I won't," he promised. "Would you like to start this Saturday?" he asked Ginny. "I could pop over and bring you here, or maybe Dad, Harry, or Ron could drop you off."

"I'd love to start Saturday," Ginny assured him, hugging her brother again. "They'll probably all be working this weekend anyway, so getting a side-along with one of them shouldn't be a problem, but I'll let you know if I need you to come for me."

"That works for me," George agreed. "Welcome to the wheezes team. We'll figure out a schedule for you on Saturday sometime."

Ginny did pick up a box of food for Arnold, and then went with her Mum to go take care of the small shopping list before going back to the Burrow again. They had lunch for two, and after helping to clean up, Ginny went outside, got one of the old family brooms out of the shed, and went out to the orchard, taking the snitch from Ron's set with her to go play for a while. After spending an hour or so chasing the snitch around, she went back inside and up to her room, where she sat at her desk and worked on one of the assignments that Professor McGonagall had gotten to her through the Order when they'd been in hiding after Easter.

Harry and Ron actually managed to get back to the Burrow ahead of Mr. Weasley, and Ginny was glad to have the extra time with Harry. Ron had almost looked jealous when he found out that she'd be working at the wheezes store part time, and Harry had hugged her and thought her new summer job was brilliant. They'd all pitched in to help make dinner, and after they'd eaten and cleaned up, the three teens went for a walk to town, wandering around, and picking up ice creams to have while they walked back to the Burrow.

"What are you going to do tomorrow?" Harry asked Ginny as they walked, and she shrugged.

"I'm sure Mum will have chores for me, but other than that, there's not much to do around here with everyone gone."

"Maybe you could get together with Luna for a visit," he suggested, and Ginny nodded.

"That's an idea," she agreed. "Maybe I'll get Mum to pop me over there for a visit after lunch or something. I suppose it'll just be all work for you again."

Harry nodded. "Mostly, though I've got to make a stop at Gringotts, check out my vault, and pick up some money."

"Is your first room and board payment due?" she teased, and Harry laughed.

"I haven't talked with your Mum and Dad about that, and I hope they'll treat me the same as Ron for that, but I was actually thinking that I'll need some extra money for things like taking you out on dates, and we seem to be out in the field a lot for work, so eating out at lunch all the time costs money too."

Ginny squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "I especially like the sound of going out on dates. We should definitely do that."

"Where do Witches and Wizards go on dates anyway?" Harry asked.

"Seriously?" Ron asked him, and Harry nodded.

"It's not like I have any experience with this, mate. We don't have movie theatres, or any of the usual Muggle date type things to do."

"Maybe we should try some of those Muggle dates," Ginny suggested. "You and Hermione could show Ron and I around."

"We could do that," Harry agreed, "and you can show me what to do on Wizarding dates."

"I'm really glad that you didn't include me in that suggestion," Ron told them, and they all laughed.

"You can do your own Wizarding dates with Hermione," Ginny told him. "For instance, four on a broom is definitely a crowd."

Harry and Ginny shared a few goodnight kisses when they all went upstairs to bed, though by then it was getting late, and they were both tired and ready for some sleep. Friday morning's field assignment was to stake out a house without being seen, and hopefully get the opportunity to catch a Wizard named Pritchard. This Wizard stood accused of being an accessory to the murder of an entire family of Muggle-born Wizards and Witches, and considering Harry's personal perspective on Wizards like that, it wasn't surprising that he would be enthusiastic about helping to get the man off the streets and in prison where he belonged.

That had taken nearly all morning, and they'd captured Pritchard as he'd been on his way into the house, catching him completely by surprise. The man did at least have the good sense to surrender and go with Josh and his trainees instead of attempting to fight or flee, which had been a first for the three trainees. Harry was kept busy for several more hours, including a trip that he and Neville were sent on to help with security to deliver a group of newly convicted prisoners to Azkaban. He was done for the day after that, though, and was finally able to stop in at Gringotts. The Goblin who had replaced Griphook identified himself as Varnuk, and after Harry presented his key, led him to one of the carts, and they went on the wild ride down to vault six-eighty-seven. After opening the vault, the Goblin went inside with Harry.

"Mr. Potter, after you became of age, your full inheritance was transferred to this vault from where it was being stored in trust," Varnuk told him. The goblin walked over to a small table and picked up a thick envelope, carried it back, and handed it to Harry. "This envelope contains your account documents, and the deeds and keys to your properties," Varnuk explained.

Harry could feel that there were a lot of pages of parchment in the envelope, and it felt like there were a lot of keys on a large key ring.

"Thank-you, Varnuk," Harry said, his voice echoing around the room even though he'd spoken quite softly. "Could you tell me how much money is in here?" He'd been looking around, and the stacks of galleons were much more than had been here before, and far more than he had expected, even with what Dumbledore had described as a 'goodly sum' from Sirius.

"The exact details can be found listed on some of the documents you're holding," Varnuk explained, "but the total here in the vault is somewhere around twenty-one and a half million galleons."

Harry's mouth dropped open, and he swallowed hard as he looked around the room again. "Thank-you," was the only thing he could manage to say. He made the withdrawal he'd come for, and after leaving Gringotts, he apparated to the Burrow. Ron and Mr. Weasley had both gotten back there already, the two of them sitting at the table while Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were working on making dinner.

"Looks like Bill was right, and the Goblins did decide to forgive and forget," Ron joked. "Is it still a big mess down deep in the vaults?"

"There was in the tunnel near my vault, but you can't see much of anything else during the ride in the carts, so it's hard to tell how far they've gotten on the repairs," Harry answered. Ginny met him as he got to the table, hugging and kissing him, and then went back to work. Harry went over to Mrs. Weasley and hugged her too, smiling as he pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and placed it firmly in her hand, closing her fingers around it. "Ron and I can sit down with you and Mr. Weasley when we get our first pays, but I want you to have this to help out for this month, and all the other weeks you've had me here with you over the years."

"Harry, you don't need to do this," she told him, but he was ready for that, and had kept his hands gently but firmly over hers.

"Actually, I really do need to," he told her. "Please keep it, Mrs. Weasley. It would mean a lot to me if you would."

She looked at him uncertainly, then over at Arthur, who nodded imperceptibly. "Alright, Harry," she finally said, giving him a hug. "Thank-you." Harry hugged her back, and smiled happily. There were only two hundred galleons in the pouch, and he would have loved to give them a lot more, but knew they would never have let him, and this was at least a start. Ginny had another hug for him too, and then he sat down at the table across from Ron, next to the end of the table that Mr. Weasley was sitting at.

"Ron's told us all about catching Pritchard," he told Harry. "It's been a busy week for the Aurors."

"Like you haven't been run ragged with your offices," Ron said. "Big sales this week on defensive magic artifacts – especially all the counterfeit ones."

"We're getting loaded down with cases of charmed Muggle objects too," Mr. Weasley told them. "Nobody was doing anything about that since Riddle took over the Ministry, and the Death Eaters and their pals seem to have spent a lot of their spare time entertaining themselves by setting up traps for Muggles."

"Will you be working this weekend?" Harry asked, and Mr. Weasley nodded.

"I'm sure that everyone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be putting in extra time – probably for the next several months. It won't be much slower in the other departments either."

"Harry's probably the only one of us who'll think that's an improvement over his usual summer holidays," Ron said, and he and Harry both laughed.

"There's no probably about that," he agreed.

"Maybe we need to have the boys checked out at St. Mungo's Mum," Ginny suggested, grinning at Harry. "Most people would think they're nuts to find chasing bad guys day and night for months a best ever summer."

Molly laughed. "We don't need a Healer to confirm something that we already know for sure."

"Hey!" Ron protested, and Mrs. Weasley laughed.

"I'm just teasing, Ron. Relax," she told him.

The conversation moved on to other news from around the Ministry, and the somewhat less reliable news that Ginny had learned from Luna and her father, which she assured them they were welcome to read about in the copy of the Quibbler that Luna had sent home with her. Dinner and the cleanup was followed by another evening walk that they all went on, and it wasn't much longer after that when everyone except Harry and Ginny went up to bed, leaving them alone in the sitting room.

"Whatever should we do now?" Ginny asked, smiling and putting her arms around Harry's neck. She'd kissed him before giving him a chance to answer, and he smiled back at her, his emerald eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Do a little studying?" he suggested, and Ginny laughed, and then realized that he was serious.

"Study what?" she asked, trying to connect his obvious enthusiasm with the idea of studying.

He pulled out the envelope that he'd brought back from Gringotts, and with a wave of his wand, returned it to full size. "I haven't looked at this yet," he said in a near-whisper. "This is all of the paperwork for my inheritance."

Ginny's eyes widened, and she hugged him again. "Whatever you did find out must have been pretty good for you to be looking like this."

"What I did find out was way better than pretty good," he answered, opening the envelope and sliding out the two-inch thick stack of parchment and the large key ring.

Setting the keys aside, they both began to read the first pages of parchment, which were an itemized list of everything he now owned. That included everything from furniture, decorations, and curios to Kreacher. Besides Grimmauld Place, there were many other properties, the first one that caught his eye being the Potter family estate – presumably the house his father had grown up in, and where Sirius had come to live with James during holidays while they were at Hogwarts starting in their sixth year.

"You own the building that George's store and flat are in!" Ginny whispered; pointing to the line that listed ninety-three Diagon Alley as one of several buildings he owned along that street.

Harry grinned at her. "We'll have to see what we can do about getting him a better rate on his lease," he joked, and Ginny laughed softly, then leaned close to kiss him tenderly.

"I love you Harry," she breathed before kissing him again.

"I love you too," he assured her when she'd leaned back again.

They went back to reading through the rest of the itemized list, and Ginny had gasped, and hugged and kissed him again when she saw the totals on the last page of that section. He flipped through some of the other pages, which were mostly deeds and rental or lease agreements for businesses, apartments, or houses.

"We don't have to go through all of these tonight," he decided. "That'll take hours to read all of them, and it's not like we need to make any decisions right away." Ginny hugged and kissed him again, and his soft laugh was full of joy and happiness.

"I really like the sound of the word 'we'," she told him. "Since we don't need to read through the rest of that right now, though, why don't you put it all back in that envelope so I can snog you senseless before we both have to go get some sleep so we'll be ready for work in the morning."

Everyone at the Burrow was still fast asleep in the early hours of Saturday morning when an exhausted trio of Grangers arrived at Heathrow airport and started making their way back home. After what was pretty much an entire day of travel, Hermione had wished more than anything that she could have taken a portkey home, but since that hadn't been an option, there wasn't much she could do about it, and she wouldn't have gone on ahead without her parents. The important thing was that they were almost home, and later, after they'd all gotten some sleep, and once Ron was done work for the day, she'd be able to see him again, and maybe he'd come and spend a couple of days at her house so they'd have more time together to catch up.

Hermione and her parents were all in bed asleep when Harry side-along apparated Ginny to the front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and she was smiling happily after sharing a brilliant hug and kiss goodbye with him before he left for Auror Headquarters. With a light knock on the door, she heard a soft click that told her George had unlocked the door for her, and then she went inside, locking the door again behind her, since it was still fifteen minutes until they'd open.

"Come on back," George called from just outside the door to the storage rooms. When she reached him, he tossed her a robe, and she laughed as she caught the bright magenta-colored garment.

"I never even thought about these," she told him. "It's going to so clash with my hair."

"You'll look fantastic," George told her. He was already wearing his robe, so she was reminded of just how much the robe clashed with her family's trademark hair color. This was probably the only store in the Wizarding World where that combination actually fit in and worked.

"Let's see," George continued as Ginny put the robe on over her jeans and top and began doing it up. "Since you already know how to take care of Pygmy Puffs, I'll have you take care of them, and keep the displays for the food and toys for them stocked, and for now, why don't you start with doing the same for all of the WonderWitch products we have? You can help the customers, nudge them into sales, and maybe do some demonstrations when you've got groups gathered around. You'd be amazed at how quickly the ten second pimple remover flies off the shelf after a little demonstration. We'll make some time a little later to start you on the counter too, but we can do that when it gets a bit slower in the afternoon. It'll be pretty crazy here this morning."

"Sounds good," Ginny agreed. "Can you show me where you keep everything in the storage room before you set me loose?"

"Sure can," George agreed, and then laughed when Ginny hugged him. "What was that for?"

"In case I forget later," she answered. "Thanks for making this a really great day."

"You're welcome, Ginny. No refunds on hugs later if you change your mind about that."

Harry, Ron, and Neville were meeting with Josh in his cubicle by the time Ginny was getting started with her new job, and were discussing their plans for what they were going to work on over the weekend. Things at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were starting to get more organized now that the initial chaos after the war ended had passed. Most of the slower and dimmer new fugitives, as Josh had put it, had been caught, and Gawain Robards was putting each of his Auror teams on the trail of specific fugitives.

"Our primary assignments are the Lestranges and Averys," Josh told Harry, Ron, and Neville. "Of course, if we find any of the other fugitives while we're trying to track them down, we can always pick them up as we go along, but starting today, we're going to be after the big boys, and we're all going to need to be very careful."

"Where do we start?" Neville asked, and there was a fire in his eyes. Bellatrix hadn't been the only Lestrange in on torturing his parents, and he was all for being given this case.

"We'll start by doing a little surveillance on the Lestrange estates," Josh answered. "They're almost certainly not there, but hopefully we'll get some leads by watching who does come and go from there." He went on from there to outline what he wanted each of them to do, and then they left the Ministry, split up, and while Ron and Harry apparated to a spot more than a mile north of the Lestrange estate, Josh and Neville went to another spot more than a mile to the southeast.

"Let's make one little change to the plan," Harry suggested as they began walking after disguising themselves and checking each other to make sure they hadn't missed anything. "When we find the place we're going to hide to watch the place and get set up, I'll throw on my invisibility cloak. That way, I'll be able to get a lot closer, and maybe even be able to pick up any conversations with anyone coming and going."

"Since you're bringing that up now, I take it that you don't want Josh to know about the cloak," Ron surmised, and Harry nodded.

"I'm sure that word's getting around that I have one now, but if we can manage it, nobody has to know just how special mine is," he agreed. "Hopefully only a few of us ever will find that out, mate."

Ron nodded too. "Just let me know where you're going to be so that even though I won't be able to see you, I can still have your back."

There was certainly nothing unusual about hikers out in the country on a fair weekend, so while they were likely being watched as they passed the front entrance to the Lestrange estate, they wouldn't draw any more attention than other hikers when they just passed by. After locating a number of potential hiding spots within about a hundred yards of the estate entrance, they spent another hour working their way carefully back to one of those spots, making a wide loop, and using the land and copses of trees to mask their passage. When Ron was settled in, Harry put his cloak on, and slowly and cautiously made his way to a spot right next to the narrow lane, immediately across from the estate gates.

Harry and Ron could both see the large manor house well back on the estate grounds, but at the moment, there was no activity at all outside on the grounds. A pair of hikers approached, coming in from the same direction they'd walked on their first pass of the estates, and Harry knew that Josh and Neville must be nearly through their hike all the way around the estate, on the lookout for other entrances or paths into the estate that might warrant watching. He made a mental note to talk with Neville later when they had the chance – he'd known it was them because, while they were both disguised, Neville still had the same walk and a few telling mannerisms. While he might be in disguise and hidden under his cloak, when he pushed his glasses up on his nose, he smiled to himself – Neville wasn't the only one who needed to watch how he acted and moved around while in disguise.

Hours passed with no activity at all, other than the occasional real Muggle hiker passing through in one direction or the other. They'd all taken standard field packs with them, which included water bottles and some really quite lousy-tasting trail rations, but there was basically nothing to do while they watched the place, and with no activity at all, as the day rolled on, it got very tedious. When a lone hiker passed by, pausing not far from the entrance to tie a hiking boot, Harry and Ron knew that they'd been given the signal to make their way carefully back to Auror Headquarters.

Ron waited for Harry to join him again, and then they retraced the route they'd taken to reach their hiding spot, then hiked another mile to the southwest. They undid their disguises, and apparated back to the Ministry of Magic. Josh and Neville were both already there, and they sat down together to recap their day.

"Are all stakeouts that boring?" Ron asked.

"Pretty much," Josh agreed. "It's important to stay alert all of the time, though. You need to be ready to act when the exciting part does start, and you never know for sure when that's going to be." He looked at each of his trainees and received nods of agreement from them. "Let's call it a day, and tomorrow I want the two of you," he said, pointing to Ron and Harry, "to just go straight to the same place you hid today. They must have been good enough, 'cause I didn't see you, and I was looking. Neville, you can meet me here, and we'll head out together. Go with wrapping up again the same time tomorrow evening, and unless something comes up, we'll meet here Monday morning before continuing."

"Sounds good," Harry agreed. "Anything else?"

"Re-stock your packs," Josh suggested. "If you think a stakeout is boring when nothing's happening, try doing one without rations or water for a day or two."

They wrapped up their meeting, and Ron, Harry, and Neville left Auror Headquarters together. Harry spoke with both of his friends about what he'd noticed wrong with Neville's disguise while they were alone in the lifts, and when they were outside of the Ministry, they split up, with Ron and Harry apparating to the Burrow. When they got inside, Ron whooped with excitement when he saw Hermione, and she jumped up from the kitchen table to rush over and throw her arms around his neck.

"Don't mind me," Harry said, grinning as he stepped around his now-kissing friends. "Welcome back, Hermione. Good to see you too. We can talk later when you have more time."

Ginny laughed, and came over to hug and kiss Harry before taking his hand and leading him to the table, where they both sat down with Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley had gotten up from the table, and was now bustling around, again getting leftovers ready for Ron and Harry.

"How was your first day with your new job?" Harry asked Ginny, and her bright smile and flashing eyes answered his question.

"It was brilliant," she told him happily. "George says I'm way better than he is at selling his WonderWitch products, and I helped to sell loads of Pygmy Puffs, food, and toys."

"Congratulations," Harry said, hugging her. "Did you work out a schedule with him too?"

Ginny nodded. "I'm going to work Wednesdays all day, Friday afternoons until they close in the evenings, and this same shift on Saturdays."

"That'll give us lots of time for studying too," Hermione said approvingly. "I really hope they'll let you go into seventh year with me. That'd be absolutely brilliant."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but she was smiling at Hermione. "Maybe I should see if George could take me on full-time," she teased.

"How are your parents doing?" Harry asked Hermione.

"They're coming around, but it was a bit of a shocker for them for sure," she answered. "They loved it so much in Australia that they've decided to keep the place, and go there on holidays."

For the next hour, and while Ron and Harry ate, they caught up with each other, and then, while Harry and Ginny cleaned up, Ron went to pack a bag, having agreed to go spend a couple of nights at Hermione's place, even though he'd be working long days too. He and Harry decided to meet at the same place they'd apparated back to the Ministry from when they'd finished for the day, and after a round of hugs, they were down to just two couples at the Burrow.

"Is there anything you'd like to do tonight?" Mrs. Weasley asked them, and even though there wasn't going to be a lot of daylight left, Harry had an idea.

"Have either of you been to my family home before – the one my Dad grew up in?" he asked them, and both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"We've both been there, though it was a long time ago," Mrs. Weasley told him.

"Could you take Ginny and I there?" Harry asked next. "I didn't find out about it until I went to Gringotts yesterday, but the deed for it is in my name now, just like it is for Grimmauld Place. I'm not even sure where it is."

"It's in the country, about ten or twelve miles outside of Godric's Hollow," Mr. Weasley told him. "I don't know what kind of shape it'll be in after being empty for all of these years, but it did have beautiful lawns and gardens once, and a very nice house, though nothing like the big mansions that a lot of the old pureblood families seem to think they need."

"We should go before it's too late," Mrs. Weasley suggested. Harry ran up to his room to get the key for the house, and then Mr. Weasley side-along apparated Harry, while Ginny went with her mother. An instant later, they were standing at the end of the laneway of Harry's family home. They were all surprised to see that the grounds were all well kept, the flower gardens full of blooms, and the house looked to be in pristine condition. Harry went to step forward, but Mrs. Weasley reached out and put her hand on his arm.

"I think they've used a freezing charm," she told him. "This looks exactly the same as it did twenty years ago."

Mr. Weasley nodded, and drew his wand. "I think you're right, Molly. Let me check." It only took a moment, and then he nodded to himself. "Definitely a freezing charm," he told the others. "It's amazing that it's lasted this long, but not unprecedented. Harry, you should be able to remove the charm, since you're the rightful owner now. Do you know the spell?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, pulling out his wand and quickly performing the spell that would reverse the freezing charm. There was a shimmer in the air all around the estate, and it was then that Harry noticed that nothing had been moving before. Now the wind gently blew the leaves on the trees and caressed the flowers, ferns, and bushes. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," he said, hugging her before they all started to walk up the laneway. "I really doubt that I would have found spending a few decades frozen here in the laneway much fun."

"You're welcome dear," she assured him, smiling.

Ginny took his hand, and they led the way, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed them. They were all looking around, and everything about the place was perfect – or at least Harry thought it was. They climbed the steps to the large, covered front porch, and Harry opened the door with his key.

"You can charm the locks so they'll recognize you now if you wanted," Mr. Weasley suggested, and Harry nodded, though he didn't do that right now.

"This is just the same as it was in here too," Mrs. Weasley told them. "If you go through the door on your right, the sitting room is in there, and the two doors to the left of the hallway are for the library and dining room. The kitchen, laundry, and a bathroom are through the door at the back of the hall. I've never been upstairs, but I seem to remember someone saying there were four bedrooms. There must be at least three, since Sirius lived here with James and his parents for a while."

Harry continued to hold Ginny's hand as they explored the house. The floors in the sitting room, hallway, library, and dining room were all gleaming, smooth hardwoods, and the stairs leading to the second floor had a wide, darkly stained wood banister that Harry could easily picture his father sliding down as a young boy. The kitchen was spacious, and was immaculately clean, as were the laundry room and bathroom. They went out onto the back porch and Harry got his first look a the wonderful yard – one with enough privacy that he could picture Quidditch games being played in one particularly nice spot near the back of what he could now guess was about ten acres of land. With daylight running out, they went back inside and upstairs, where there were indeed four bedrooms, though it was the three bathrooms, including an ensuite bath in the master bedroom that had seriously impressed the two Witches.

"Are you going to come live here?" Mrs. Weasley asked Harry, and she looked a bit sad when he nodded.

"I will be, but if it's okay with all of you, I'd really like to stay with you for a while longer."

"Like maybe until Ginny goes back to school?" Mr. Weasley joked, and they all laughed.

"I'm not sure how long," Harry answered seriously, "but I am sure that staying with you is making it a lot easier to deal with everything that's happened, and is going on now."

"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need to, dear," Mrs. Weasley assured him, "and whenever you do move here, I expect to see you over at our house for regular visits and dinners."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said gratefully.

When they went back to the Burrow, Ginny side-along apparated with Harry, and they all went into the sitting room to talk for a while before Harry and Ginny were again left alone when her parents went upstairs to bed. She stretched out on the sofa, with Harry's arms around her as she laid her head back against the arm of the sofa and his chest. She reached up and pulled him close for a soft, sweet kiss, and smiled up at him after letting him go.

"That was a lot of fun getting to go see your home tonight," she told him. "It's wonderful there."

Harry smiled too. "I really hope you like it," he said quietly. "We could be very happy there."

Ginny pulled him close again. "We definitely will be," she agreed happily before rocking his world with a much more serious sort of kiss.

Harry was thinking about that kiss, and the ones that had followed it, smiling as he continued his stakeout of the Lestrange estate on Sunday morning. Since absolutely nothing was happening again so far, he had a lot of time to think, but since thinking about snogging Ginny just made him wish he were back at the Burrow doing that, he reluctantly pushed those thoughts away. Ron must have spent at least a little time snogging Hermione last night, if the grin on his best mate's face this morning was any indication. He laughed to himself – it hadn't take long for his thoughts to go right back toward snogging – and turned his attention toward considering something he'd spent a lot of time on Saturday pondering.

While he couldn't exactly sit here experimenting with his magic, since that would alert everyone on the estate, he was able to look inward and try to work out what had changed in him since before the Battle of Hogwarts. There had been changes, and while he maybe didn't fully understand them like he expected Hermione would, he could recognize and appreciate what those changes meant. The biggest might be that he now seemed to be _whole_. That word didn't exactly say it all, and he hadn't even realized that he wasn't before, but he was now certain that before he'd faced Riddle's killing curse, he hadn't been.

He also had found that there weren't any feelings of hate in him at all – the kind of hate that had fueled using such a strong Cruciatus curse on Carrow that the man had passed out from it, or the hate he'd felt for Snape, Malfoy, and so many others. He thought that fact affected his ability to use his magic too. When the bit of Riddle's soul within him had been destroyed, he'd wondered what effect that might have on his abilities. The connection to Riddle had been broken – he'd felt that even before their fight, and he was sure that he was no longer a Parselmouth either, but as he searched inward, everything else seemed to be intact, and those talents were much stronger than they had been before.

The scope of that increased strength was what he mostly spent his time considering. The biggest surprise he'd had when taking down those shields at Pansy's home was that he hadn't even been putting a lot into it, and he'd been doing it with non-verbal spells that less than a year ago he'd found incredibly difficult. While he felt deep down that he had full control of his power, it was still a bit scary to consider what he might be able to do if he really tried to push the boundaries.

Then there was his wand. Something more had been added to it in Dumbledore's – Professor McGonagall's – office when he'd repaired it with the Elder Wand. Harry had no idea what that something was, but he knew without knowing why that his wand hadn't just been repaired, it was better than it had been before, and would be able to handle anything that he was able to do with his magic. What all of that came down to was that, while he might not feel any of the hate anymore that he could vividly remember feeling in the past, he did still get angry sometimes, and he was going to need to be much more careful, and always concentrate when using magic. Too many surprises like that shield incident would bring him way more attention than he wanted, and he was hoping that the furor that had been all over the news about him would die down, not get worse.

When it was about time to wrap up for another day, Harry worked his way back to Ron, and they started hiking away from the estates, this time, heading east. "What a complete waste of time that was," Ron grumbled. "I could have been spending the day with Hermione and gotten as much done on this case."

Harry laughed. "Maybe, but that might not be something you'd want to put into a Ministry report. At least you'll be able to spend the rest of the evening with her."

"What are you going to do tonight?" Ron asked.

"Your Mum and Ginny were going to talk to Mrs. Tonks about Ginny and I going over there to see Teddy for a bit," Harry answered. "Hopefully we'll be able to do that."

"Sounds like fun, Dad," Ron joked. "Or would that be God-Dad? He'll be okay with his Grandma," he added. "Mum says she's one of the best, like my own Grandma Cedrella or Sirius, not like most of the rest of the Black family."

"Imagine what things might have been like if they'd all been in charge of the Black family instead," Harry mused. "Things might have been a lot different."

"No doubt," Ron agreed. "What are you going to do with Grimmauld Place?"

"Rent it to you?" Harry joked, and Ron snorted.

"Not a chance, mate," Ron told him fervently, and Harry laughed again.

When they'd decided that they were far enough away, Ron apparated to Hermione's house, and Harry went to the Burrow, where Ginny was there by herself, and Mrs. Weasley had left a pair of sandwiches and some leftover soup for him. Ginny had a warm welcome home hug and kiss for him, and then they sat at a corner of the table to talk while he ate.

"Mrs. Tonks said she'd be happy to have us come over, so we can do that once you've finished eating," Ginny told him. "She said that the later Teddy's up in the evening, the better he sleeps at night."

"It's going to be nice to spend a little time with him," Harry answered. "Somehow, I'm going to find a way to do that at least a couple of times a week, even if Ron, Neville, and I do end up working seven days a week for a while like your Dad expects most everyone at the Ministry will."

"You're going to do just fine by him," Ginny said confidently. "How'd work go today?"

"Other than having a few stray Muggle hikers pass by, there wasn't anything happening, so it was pretty boring. Josh seems sure that we'll get a lead eventually, so we'll keep at it until we do, or he decides otherwise."

They talked quietly until Harry had finished eating, and then he went upstairs to clean up a bit before they apparated over to Andromeda Tonks' home. She met him at the door, and was carrying Teddy in her arms. Smiling at Harry and Ginny, she handed Teddy over to him, and Harry happily took him, and followed the two Witches into the sitting room, where Andromeda invited them to sit on one of the sofas.

"Good timing," she told them. "He's been a bit fussy this evening, so maybe you'll keep him entertained for a while. Can I get you anything to drink? I'm going to make myself a tea while I have the chance."

"I'll come help,' Ginny offered, popping back up again, and they went out of the sitting room, heading for the kitchen, and leaving Harry alone with Teddy, who was watching him, and grinning his toothless little smile.

"I don't know if all babies are like this, but you're pretty amazing," Harry told him. "You and I are going to be very close, and do all sorts of things together. Ginny and I will be able to tell you all about your Mum and Dad, and we'll play together, and teach you all about flying and Quidditch. I didn't grow up in the Wizarding World like you will, so we should have loads of fun discovering things like Wizarding toys together."

Teddy gurgled happily in answer, and Harry hugged him gently. He spoke quietly to the baby, not really talking about anything in particular, but Teddy seemed happy to watch Harry and listen to the gentle timbre of his Godfather's voice. Andromeda and Ginny returned, and Ginny was carrying a tray with a teapot, cups, and a plate of snacks.

"He seems to have managed okay," Andromeda told Ginny, "and Teddy looks quite content."

"Let's wait and see how he does with his first diaper change," Ginny suggested, and Andromeda laughed.

"Harry's gone into the wrong business if he can be scared off by a soiled diaper," she said. "I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Ted introduced me to Muggle disposable diapers, so it'll be much easier than cleaning dirty cloth ones."

"I don't have any experience with babies at all," Harry told the two Witches, "but I'm willing to learn." He looked across at Andromeda, who'd sat down in a comfortable looking wing-backed chair. "How well are you and Teddy set up? Do you need any help?" He looked uncomfortable about asking the question, and Andromeda smiled at him.

"We're fine that way, Harry," she assured him. "The only help I'll be happy to have is with taking care of Teddy. If he's even half the handful his mother was when she was a baby and toddler, I'll need regular breaks, and sitters for when I'm busy with work."

"I could help out with that, at least until I'm back at school," Ginny offered, "and I'm sure Mum would help too." She smiled at Harry. "Do you think I could have a turn?" she asked, and Harry laughed.

"I'm sorry," he said, turning to pass Teddy to her, and grinned when Teddy promptly forgot all about him, his attention drawn to Ginny's beautiful, long red hair. "Just like that, and he's moved on," he joked. "At least he's got really great taste in Witches, so I can't fault him there."

They spent nearly two hours with Andromeda and Teddy, and when the baby finally decided that he was ready to sleep after Ginny fed him his bottle, Andromeda led them upstairs, gave Harry his first lesson in diaper changes, and let him tuck Teddy into his crib and kiss him goodnight. She saw them to the door after that, and Harry and Ginny both hugged her in thanks before going outside and apparating back to the Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were still up, waiting for them in the sitting room, but only stayed long enough to hear about Harry's day and their visit to the Tonks house before leaving the young couple alone again and going up to bed.

"That was fun tonight, but we are going to need to remember to work on making time for you and me," Ginny told him as they snuggled close on the sofa.

"Yes we are," he agreed, leaning close and kissing her. "You look as tired as I feel, though, so we should probably go get some sleep soon."

"In a bit," Ginny answered, laying her head on his shoulder. "I really just want to stay here and cuddle with you for a while." They did that, and Harry had watched as Ginny had closed her eyes after sharing a few more soft kisses, and then the next thing he remembered, she was gently waking him up.

"We both fell asleep," she whispered, brushing a hand through his tumbled hair. "I really liked snuggling with you here, but we should probably sneak up to our beds before Mum or Dad find us still down here – it's already past three."

Harry kissed her, and they shared another hug before getting up and quietly going up to their respective rooms. When he was changed and in bed, it took a while to get back to sleep, his thoughts flitting around as he mused about work, the evening with Teddy and Andromeda, and how great it had felt to wake up to see Ginny's beautiful face and happy smile. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was that if everything that was happening in his life now was what was what the prophecy had meant by getting to live, his future was going to be absolutely brilliant!


	3. Night Shifts and Day Dreams

Chapter Three – Night Shifts and Day Dreams

Harry and Ron found out on Monday morning that Josh had decided that they needed to cover the Lestrange place twenty-four hours a day, and then they were sent home to rest all day while Neville and Josh would take the day shift. They were to be in position to take over the stakeout by eight o'clock that night, and they'd be taking the twelve-hour long night shift until further notice.

"Like we'll be able to sleep all day so soon after getting up," Ron complained. "If you hear me snoring later tonight, just put a silencing spell on me."

"Sorry, mate," Harry answered. "You'll have to figure out a way to stay awake. If we do any magic that close to the shields, they'll know someone's out there."

"Well, at least we'll have the day to spend with the girls," Ron said grudgingly. "Hermione was going over to the Burrow after her Mum and Dad went in to get things started back up in their dental office again."

"That'll be great for today, but by tomorrow, we'll be asleep most of the day, and I doubt they'll find watching us do that much fun."

"I'll cut back on my sleep," Ron declared. "Hermione wants to study to get ready for September anyway, so I can nap when she's doing that."

"Good luck with that plan," Harry told him. "If I can manage to spend some time with Ginny before falling asleep in the mornings, and maybe get up in time for dinner before going back out at night, that's about as much as I expect to be able to handle." They apparated to the Burrow, and Hermione was already there, so they got to surprise both Witches when they walked into the kitchen.

"Did they finish rounding up all of the bad guys and give you the day off to celebrate?" Ginny joked as she hugged Harry in welcome.

"No," Ron answered. "We've been stuck with the night shift surveillance starting tonight, so we're supposed to rest up and be back at work for eight o'clock tonight."

"Then this works out pretty great," Ginny told him. "Hermione would like to go see Harry's house, and you guys need to do something to tire yourselves out so you can get some sleep today. I vote for a road trip!"

Harry laughed and hugged her again. "Maybe we could wander Diagon Alley after that, and have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. I'd really like to see about picking up some food we could have on these stakeouts that isn't as horrid as the Ministry field rations while we're shopping."

"Can you live without a whole morning of studying?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Try not to be shocked, but yes I can," Hermione answered. "Going shopping sounds great, and I really want to see your house, Harry. Ginny just finished telling me all about it."

"Then I guess we should just tell your Mum what we're doing, and head out," Harry said, and Ginny went to do that.

They spent about an hour and a half at Harry's house, Ginny leading the tour inside, and then they all wandered around the lawns and gardens outside. From there, they went to Diagon Alley, where they shopped until they were all ready to go have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. They sat at a table that was along one wall and away from the main aisle leading back to Diagon Alley, placed their orders, and Harry tried to ignore the fact that half the people in the room were either openly or covertly staring at him, just like people had been staring at him all along Diagon Alley and in every shop they'd visited. For some reason he kept getting a mental picture of a crowd of Witch and Wizard groupies all following him around on his stakeouts like Minister Shacklebolt had his group of Ministry followers trying to go everywhere with him.

Hermione leaned in close so she wouldn't be overheard. "That's one really brilliant thing about your family home," she told Harry. "If you were going to live here in the city, you'd probably get gawkers coming by all of the time."

"We can hope that'll help," Harry agreed. "Is there anything else any of you want to do in town after lunch?"

"There's no such thing for Witches as too much shopping," Ginny told him, "but you and Ron need to get some rest this afternoon, and we're already pushing our luck – Mum's probably going to want a word with me after she sees all of the clothes you bought me today."

Ron snorted. "When she's sees you in that one pair of shorts and the top set, she's going to make you wear your school robes over it before letting you out of the house."

"Funny, you didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with the set that Hermione bought, and they weren't that much different than mine."

"From my perspective, there's a very big difference, since the words 'sister' and 'hot' should never be used in the same sentence."

"I think that was actually a compliment for both of us," Hermione suggested to Ginny.

"In a backhanded, unintentional sort of way," Ginny agreed, "but definitely a compliment."

"Are you both going to hit the books while we're having our afternoon naps?" Harry asked, and Ginny waved to Hermione to answer.

"We can do that for a while, but I'll have to be home by four-thirty," she answered. "I sent Professor McGonagall an Owl Post, and hopefully we can get in to see her to discuss getting ready for going back to Hogwarts."

"They must already be working on how to deal with that," Ginny suggested. "It's going to be a crazy year if they keep everyone back a year. The first year class alone would be doubled, and we'll already likely have a lot of students coming back after their parents have kept them out because of all of the trouble there over the past seven years."

"The school should be safe now that I'm not going back," Harry joked. "I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't pointed that out already."

"Well, we weren't actually students there this past year, so I don't think you should be busted for that one, mate, but give them time, and I'm sure they'll run something," Ron told him. "They're probably just lying low right now, after being Riddle's mouthpiece for so long."

Their food and drinks were delivered, and the conversation turned to other topics, and after finishing their lunches, they all went back to the Burrow, with Ron and Harry both going up to their rooms to attempt to get some sleep while Ginny and Hermione sat at the kitchen table and studied for a few hours before Hermione had to go home. Harry hadn't thought he'd be able to do that, but eventually he did get to sleep, and woke up to Ginny's gentle nudge and the sound of her calling his name close to his ear. She jumped a little when he put his arms around her, but her soft laugh was muffled by the kiss he'd pulled her close to share.

"Mum said you have twenty minutes to grab a shower and get ready for work before dinner will be ready," she told him; brushing a hand through his hair. She kissed him again, and then stood up, laughing softly, and deftly avoiding his attempt to keep her where she was sitting on the bed and draw her into another kiss. "I'll see you downstairs when you're ready."

With his impromptu plan A nixed, Harry got up, grabbed fresh clothes, and went to have that shower, making it back downstairs to the kitchen just in time to sit down next to Ginny and have dinner. Ron had already been up, and told Harry he'd been awake in time to see Hermione off. Harry expected his best mate was going to be in for a long night on just a couple of hours of sleep. The dinner conversation revolved around what the four teens had done in the morning, and Mr. Weasley told them all about the work that was going on in the offices he was in charge of at the Ministry. When they'd finished eating, Harry and Ginny had time for a short walk, and a long goodbye hug and kiss out in the orchard before they went back to the Burrow. He and Ron left then, with about a half hour left to make the trip from their apparation point to the stakeout spot outside of the Lestrange estate.

"At least we've got something better than field rations to eat while we're stuck here," Ron said as they walked in from the northeast.

"Hermione's parents would be appalled if they saw what you've brought along," Harry suggested. "All of those chocolates and sweets should keep you wired all night, though."

"Yours isn't much better," Ron shot back, and Harry grinned at him.

"True," he agreed, "but I'm not dating the daughter of a pair of dentists."

"Dentists who seem to forget that we can fix things like cavities with a wave of our wands, or just grow new teeth," Ron told him. "Hermione did get us to buy some healthy food too. Do you think Josh is on the right track with this stakeout?"

Harry nodded. "I actually think there's a better chance that we could see more action during the night, if anything is going to go on around here at all."

Josh and Neville had picked other places to conceal themselves, and there was no contact between them when Ron and Harry took over and both young Wizards settled in for a long, lonely night. Hour after endless-seeming hour dragged on with nothing happening, until shortly after three in the morning, when Harry caught the sounds of hushed voices down the road, still shrouded in darkness. By the time he could see the outlines of two dark forms, the voices were clear enough to overhear from his hiding spot at the side of the road.

"I haven't had a decent sleep since our masters went on the run," the voice coming from the dark shape on the right said in a raspy growl. "We're stuck in that little hovel, and they continue to demand the royal service like we were still here at the mansion."

"When they're not raging at thin air and taking out their anger on us," the other added, his voice shaking slightly and nervous-sounding. "At least we're away from them for a bit now, even if we don't get any sleep."

"You do realize that being sent on these errands means that they've decided that we're expendable, don't you?" the man on the right asked.

"Probably," the other man agreed. "We have no choice, though, so let's get what we have to do done, and get out of here. The masters will just make it worse for us if we're late getting back again."

Harry watched as the two Wizards turned into the Lestrange estate lane, one of them waving their wand before they stepped through onto the estate grounds. They were soon swallowed by the darkness, though Harry did see lights moving from room to room within the mansion after a few minutes. They were at the estate for just over a half hour, and then left again, though on their way out there was nothing about their conversation that was of any interest to Harry. He'd briefly considered following them, but in the near-absolute silence of the night, he doubted whether he could stay close enough to see them without his footsteps being overheard. Instead, he'd waited nearly twenty minutes to make sure they were long gone, and then worked his way back to Ron's hideout spot to talk over what he'd overheard.

"I don't think there will be anything else going on here tonight," Harry told him. "Why don't you make your way out of here and go to Auror Headquarters, fill out our report, and maybe Josh will be in early enough that you can talk to him and see what he wants us to do if they come back."

"That works for me," Ron agreed. "I'll hang around there until Josh gets in, and then see you back at home later."

Ron left then, and Harry made his way back to his stakeout spot next to the lane and settled in to wait out the rest of the night. While he waited, he considered the problem of tracking the two Wizards when they came back, and he was sure they would be back. They could be hiding brooms somewhere out in the countryside and then walking in from wherever they were flying to, but he expected they were likely apparating in and out, just like he, Ron, Neville, and Josh were doing.

Remus had told him that the only way to follow someone who was apparating was if you were actually touching them when they left – like the Death Eater had been doing when he tagged along with him, Hermione, and Ron to Grimmauld Place from the Ministry. That was how he'd known what to do to follow Marcus Flint, but doing that without being found out might be impossible. Attempting Legilimency would likely give him away just as quickly if either Wizard were even moderately talented at Occlumency.

He hadn't really come up with any solid ideas by the time eight o'clock rolled around and he was able to leave. He'd spotted both Josh and Neville coming in, though they certainly didn't see him under his cloak or notice his passage as he left the area, heading to the northwest. When he was far enough away, he apparated to the Burrow, where Ron was already having breakfast, and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were nearly finished cleaning up from their own breakfast.

"Dad's already gone to work," Ginny told him as she met him for a hug and kiss. "Ron's just started to tell us about your night at work. Come sit down and eat." He did that, and Ginny sat down next to him, holding his hand while he ate and they listened to the rest of Ron's recap.

"Did Josh have any suggestions or orders?" Harry asked.

"No suggestions," Ron answered. "We're just supposed to keep watching for now, and hope that someone slips up and says something."

"Maybe Hermione would have some ideas," Ginny suggested. "She and Luna are coming over today to study with me."

"That's a great idea," Ron told her. "If she can't come up with anything, nobody else will."

They talked quietly until Ron and Harry were done eating, and then Mrs. Weasley sent them off to get some sleep while she and Ginny cleaned up their dishes too, though Ginny did have a bedtime hug and kiss for Harry before he went tiredly upstairs to his room, got changed, and collapsed into his bed, totally out of it until he woke again late in the afternoon. Getting up, he grabbed a shower and got ready for the day – or night for everyone else – and went downstairs, finding Ginny, Hermione, and Luna working at the kitchen table, their books, parchment, quills and inks spread out and taking up most of the space.

"Getting stuck with the night shift is looking really great right now," he joked; going over to hug and kiss Ginny, then hug Hermione and Luna in turn. "You're probably all having a blast though, aren't you?"

"Hi Harry," Luna said in her whimsical, dreamy voice. "Hermione says that it's a brilliant change studying with us compared to you and Ron." Harry grinned at Hermione, who blushed and smiled back at him ruefully. They were both used to Luna's sometimes uncomfortably honest statements.

"I'm sure it is," Harry agreed. "Ron and I were always reluctant study mates, though we did always love and appreciate Hermione's help."

"That's really very sweet, Harry," Luna told him.

"Did you hear back from Professor McGonagall yet?" he asked Hermione, who nodded.

"I got an Owl Post this morning," she answered. "We're not going to have a meeting with her, but she sent me an advance copy of the letter they'll be sending out to all of the students soon. All of the first to sixth year students will get the chance to take their exams near the middle of July, and if they pass, will be advanced, or will take the year over if they don't, or choose not to write them. The seventh years can study for, and take their NEWTs through the Ministry, or take the year over. They're recommending that any seventh years who want to get their NEWTs should repeat the year."

"And we'll get to use magic to get ready for our practical exams," Ginny added, smiling happily.

"As long as you're supervised, and only for your studies," Hermione agreed.

"It's too bad that you and Ron and Neville won't be going back too," Luna told him, "but you've all got things to do instead."

That was certainly an understatement, Harry thought. "Without us holding her back, Hermione should be able to get straight O's for her NEWTs instead of just missing out by getting one E like she did on her OWLs."

"Was helping Ron and Harry with their studies harder than all of the time we spent trying to keep Riddle and his Death Eaters from killing him?" Ginny asked, and the other two Witches laughed.

"Some days," Hermione agreed, smiling at Harry fondly.

"Where's your Mum?" Harry asked Ginny.

"She went out to pick up a few things, and should be back any time now." Closing the textbook she had open in front of her, she began rolling up the parchment she was working on. "That's it for me today," she told Hermione and Luna. "I'm only going to get a few hours to spend with Harry before he has to go to work tonight, and I'll be at George's store working all day tomorrow."

"I should go home soon now anyway too," Luna agreed, starting to pack up too. "If I don't get home early enough, Dad will cook dinner, and that hardly ever turns out very well."

"Do you want to get together again on Thursday?" Hermione asked, and Ginny and Luna both nodded.

"We'll need to if we're going to be ready for those exams in two months," Ginny agreed. "I doubt that hardly any of what Luna and I were taught in some of our classes will be on any of those exams, so we have a lot to cover."

When the girls were packed up, Luna left for home, Hermione went upstairs to give Ron his wakeup call, and Harry and Ginny went outside to wander around and have a little time to themselves, though that didn't last long before Mrs. Weasley got home and put them both to work on helping her with getting dinner made. Hermione joined them to help out after a while, and Harry enjoyed watching as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had fun with teasing Hermione about why it had taken so long to wake Ron and get him going. Mr. Weasley got home from work at nearly the same time that Ron made it down to the kitchen after getting ready for work.

With just the six of them at the table, it was still much quieter than when the whole family was together, but things were starting to return to normal again, and there was more laughter and fun as they talked and ate their meal. Moments like this were one of the reasons that Harry wasn't in any big hurry to move out on his own, where there'd be a lot of dinners for one and solitary hours. After dinner, the four teens sent Mr. and Mrs. Weasley off to relax while they did the cleanup, and then they all went for a walk to town and an ice cream run to finish off their evening before Hermione left for home, and Ron and Harry needed to get to their stakeout.

For the rest of the week, there was almost nothing going on during the nightly stakeouts for Harry and Ron. There wasn't even a stray late evening or early morning hiker on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, and they didn't learn anything at all from the same pair of Wizards who came at one-thirty in the morning on the Thursday night – Friday morning shift. Harry side-along apparated Ginny to work on Wednesday, and got up early enough in the afternoon to both pick her up from work, and make stops first at Gringotts, and then at Quality Quidditch, where he picked up a new Firebolt.

With Ginny studying with Hermione and Luna on Thursday, and working at the wheezes shop both Friday afternoon and evening, and all day Saturday, Harry didn't get to spend much time with her, but compared to spending three-quarters of the past year apart, just getting a few hours together every day seemed brilliant by comparison. The only other non-work things that Harry took care of during the week was to finally talk with Kreacher, who'd been continuing to help out at Hogwarts over the past nearly two weeks now, and spend a couple of hours with Teddy on Saturday morning after taking Ginny to work.

Kreacher was going to continue to help out at Hogwarts, but Harry had asked him to take care of Grimmauld Place as he saw fit until Harry decided what to do with the house – though he'd needed to assure Kreacher that he would be keeping the place. The house elf had stared at him in wide-eyed wonder when Harry had suggested that he take Regulus' room for his own quarters, had bowed and thanked him profusely before popping out of sight when Harry had indicated that he had no other instructions for him. Harry had thought about having Kreacher help out with the Potter home too, but had decided that he would rather just keep up with the work there himself.

Ron and Harry finally got the break they'd been hoping for early on Sunday morning, when Harry was again able to listen in to the conversation between the two Wizards coming to the Lestrange estate to do whatever it was their masters required of them. This time, they arrived at about a quarter past two, and their voices were loud enough that Harry thought Ron would probably be able to hear them too.

"This is getting ridiculous," the Wizard who Harry thought of as 'raspy voice' complained. "First they make us walk for miles away from the hideout before we're allowed to apparate, and then we have to walk another mile or so to here. When we go back, it'll be miles more walking from Beck Lane again."

"And out near the river on Carr," the other Wizard agreed. "Why they picked Appleby of all places to hide is as ridiculous as all of this walking and skulking around."

"We ought to all just come back here," raspy voice suggested. "There probably aren't even enough Aurors left to break through these defenses even if they wanted to try coming after our masters."

"You're probably right about that," the nervous-sounding Wizard said. "If they do decide to return, I'll be glad to be back in my own room and bed again. You snore is louder than the Hogwarts Express."

Harry waited until he saw lights moving around in the house, and then made his way back to Ron, who was looking as excited as Harry felt. "Let's get out of here, and take a trip to Appleby, and with luck, we'll get there first," Harry whispered.

They still took their time, being extra cautious in the dark not to make a mistake and alert the other two Wizards to their presence. They went the opposite direction to the one their quarry had come from, and when they were sure they were far enough away, they apparated to Appleby. Since Ron didn't have the advantage of the invisibility cloak, he'd wait at Beck Lane where they'd hidden while Harry would follow the two Wizards, and hopefully find out where the Lestranges were hiding out.

It wasn't a long wait before the two Wizards appeared about a half-block away from where Ron and Harry had hidden, and without even looking around, they started walking off. Harry put his cloak on after nodding to Ron, and followed after them, giving them as much of a lead as he dared, and picking up his pace each time they turned a corner, until they were on Carr Lane, and then he kept them just in sight, making each step as soundless as possible. There were still lights on in the cottage they eventually turned into the driveway for, and Harry was able to get close enough to watch them walk up to the small house, knock, and wait to be admitted, which had only taken moments.

Harry only stayed there long enough to check out the area before making his way back to where Ron was hiding. They then spent an hour working their way back to a spot that Harry had picked out to watch the little cottage from, and after watching the place again for a while and seeing no new activity, they moved away again to a spot where they could discuss what to do next.

"We don't know that the Lestranges are there for sure," Ron pointed out, and Harry nodded.

"True, but there's a really good chance that they are, and if we act soon, we could take them by surprise. Why don't you go back to headquarters and wait for Josh and Neville, and I'll keep an eye on the place. If Josh agrees, you should bring extra help, since we also don't know how many Witches and Wizards might be hiding out in there either."

"Couldn't we sleep on this plan first, or at least get some sleep?" Ron joked, and Harry grinned at him.

"Come on, mate. You complain when there's no action, and now when there might be some fun and excitement, you want to go have a nap."

"You've got a seriously warped idea of what fun and excitement is," Ron told him. "I'll head for the Ministry and see what Josh wants to do. Do you want me to meet you back at that same hiding spot to let you know what they want to do?"

"Works for me," Harry agreed. "Be careful, and I'll see you in a few hours."

They split up, and Harry, with his cloak on again, went back to watch the cottage and wait. A couple of lights that he could see through the front windows stayed on right through until dawn. Between dawn and the time that Ron returned, one Wizard, and then later a Witch and Wizard came outside and walked around the yard, apparently just to stretch their legs and get out of the place, though they didn't leave the property. When Ron did get there, he told Harry what Josh and Gawain Robards had decided to do. They'd agreed with Harry that the chance of catching them by surprise was worth the risk that the Lestranges weren't actually there, and Ron had returned with Josh, Neville, and eight other Aurors who were now surrounding the cottage.

Harry's first task was to take down the shields and wards at precisely nine-thirty, and then he and Ron were to approach the cottage from the front, while there would be two Aurors coming from each flank at the front too, with Josh and Neville coming in from the east. Ron had told him that Neville was in charge of the anti-Muggle charms, while another Auror would put up an anti-apparition spell immediately after Harry destroyed the protections around the cottage. There was nothing to suggest that their closing trap was noticed by anyone within the cottage, and at nine-thirty, Harry pulled out his wand and with a loud detonation, blasted the shields around the cottage apart, and he and Ron rushed toward the place at the same time that the other nine Aurors and one trainee did.

Josh had opened his mouth to announce himself to the Wizards and Witches in the cottage, but before he could do that, the front door flew open, and several Wizards stepped outside, putting up shields and firing curses at the Aurors even as others followed them outside. Harry had a shield up too that was covering both him and Ron as they each counter-attacked. Thinking about the statues that Dumbledore had thrown around to protect him at the Ministry from killing curses, Harry also began throwing rocks and other objects in the way of any green bolt of energy he saw, and when that line of defense worked against the killing curses, Josh, Neville, and Ron quickly joined him to do the same.

There were now twelve Wizards and Witches in a group around the front of the cottage, and they were trying to push their way out. The only two Harry recognized were Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange, and they were shouting orders, though he couldn't make out what they were saying over the din of the fight. He blasted away one of the shields, and Ron and Neville took advantage of the opening to each immobilize one of their foes while Harry then disarmed them, the two wands flying to his waiting hand. He fluidly dropped them into his pocket even as he continued to attack, throwing another Wizard backward through the air until he hit the wall of the cottage and crumpled to the ground before the remaining fighters closed the gap made by the missing shield and fought on.

"Aguamenti!" Neville shouted, dousing their opponents with a deluge of water, but it just ran off of most of them, including the Lestrange brothers, as they each countered with impervius charms to waterproof themselves. Harry understood where his friend had been going with that line of attack when a moment later, the water that was now on the ground was frozen, and two of the fighters slipped and fell, losing control of their shields.

Neville and Josh each had a wand soaring toward them, and Harry was binding the Witch and Wizard who had fallen, while Ron stunned Rabastan Lestrange, and bound the man with ropes. Rodolphus saw that, and roared with rage, turning and firing a string of powerful curses at Harry, who calmly put obstacles in the way of the killing curses, and let his shield handle the other, less dangerous attacks. Bellatrix's enraged husband was so focused on attacking Harry that he didn't even see Neville's counter-attack, and Harry smiled when the man's eyes widened in shock as Neville hit him first with a full body-bind, and then disarmed him, the Dark Wizard's wand flying through the air to land in a triumphant Neville's hand.

"Throw down your wands!" Josh ordered the remaining Witch and Wizards. "You are all under arrest!"

The five servants who were still standing did not surrender, though, and fought on. That didn't last much longer, because the servants who'd apparently been holding the back of the cottage had been over-run. When two of the Aurors who'd been attacking from the back came through the front door, they caught the last four combatants by surprise – the fifth had just been taken out by Josh – and ended the fight by knocking out two of the Wizards, while the others were subdued by Harry and Neville when they made the mistake of turning to face the new attack.

"That was fun," Josh told them, panting hard as he and Neville met up with Harry, Ron, and the other four Aurors. "Is everyone okay?"

"One of our guys has a pretty bad cut and broken leg out back," Auror Proudfoot reported. "One fatality and two injuries on their side plus three other captures." He looked around and nodded to himself. "Looks like just the one who hit the wall out here for injuries."

"So we've got seventeen prisoners, and three with injuries," Josh summarized. "Was the old man with the group out back?"

Proudfoot shook his head. "No. It appears he wasn't here with his boys. Nobody got past us, and the anti-apparition shield is holding."

Josh nodded. "We've still had a good haul here," he declared. "I'll keep the trainees here with me to watch this lot. The rest of you can get the prisoners you have out back and as many of these as you can take with you in the first trip back to Auror Headquarters. Hand them off to others, and then come back to help us with the rest."

Auror Proudfoot and the other three Aurors all nodded their agreement. Two of them left immediately with two of the prisoners from the front, while the other two went out back to pass on the instructions and take care of the five prisoners and one body back to the Ministry of Magic. When they were gone, Josh walked over to where Rodolphus was standing immobilized, his expression hard and his eyes glowering with hate.

"This must have been quite a step down from the luxury you're used to at your mansion," Josh told him conversationally, "though it is quite a bit nicer than your next home is going to be." He smiled then and Rodolphus was turning red and shaking now with rage. "Oh, that's right, you're very well acquainted with Azkaban, aren't you? I personally think there's some poetic justice in the fact that Alice and Frank's son should be the one to catch you."

"I'd say it's brilliant," Ron suggested, laughing and clapping Neville on the shoulder as their friend smiled, his eyes still bright with triumph and excitement.

"Your prisoner seems to want to talk to us," Josh pointed out, waving to the furious Rodolphus.

"There's nothing I'm interested in hearing from him," Neville told him. "If we let him shoot his mouth off, I'll probably be even more tempted than I already am to repay him in kind for what they did to my Mum and Dad."

Josh nodded. "I suppose we'd better not tempt fate then," he agreed.

They had nearly a half-hour long wait before the other Aurors returned and they could all leave for Auror Headquarters with the remaining ten prisoners. By the time they arrived at the Ministry of Magic Atrium, there were reporters and quite a crowd of gawkers who'd heard that there had been a major capture, and there were cheers and applause as the twelve Aurors and Auror-trainees escorted their prisoners through security after running the gauntlet of reporters who shouted questions at them and the jubilant onlookers.

"Well done!" Gawain Robards told Josh, coming over to greet their group as they got ready to process their ten prisoners. "I've already sent word ahead for the guards to get Rodolphus and Rabastan's old cells ready for their homecoming."

"That's really very considerate of you, sir," Josh joked. "Auror-trainees Potter and Weasley have been on-duty for quite a while, so if you don't mind getting their reports later and can spare the extra help to deal with this lot, I'd like to send them home to get some rest."

"That's fine," Gawain agreed. "Have your reports on my desk by the end of the day tomorrow," he told Harry and Ron, who both nodded. Harry had been watching the Head of the Aurors, and while he did act pleased about the capture, there was something that just didn't feel right about him, and Harry had the distinct feeling that Auror Robards was not nearly as happy about what was, after all, his Auror-trainees' capture. He'd barely even looked at Harry and Ron when agreeing to let them leave for the day.

Josh took them aside, and told them to meet him and Neville at Auror Headquarters first thing in the morning, and then the two young Wizards were free to leave. It took a while to get back out through the Atrium, and then they apparated back to the Burrow, where Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were both waiting for them a bit anxiously. Ginny's hug had been fierce, and she'd held on to Harry for a long couple of minutes before kissing him and then leading him to sit down at the kitchen table after her mother had hugged him too.

"They said on the WWN that there was a big fight and a lot of Wizards and Witches captured in Appleby," Ginny said as she sat next to Harry and held his hand tightly. "The first reports said there were injuries and one death, and then that there was at least one Auror taken to St. Mungo's and one body brought back to the Ministry. Mum and I have been so worried."

"It was pretty hairy there for a while," Ron told them, "but we were brilliant. You should have seen Harry – he started throwing up rocks and things in front of killing curses, and they'd get blasted, but doing that shielded us from those curses, and our other shields kept us from getting hit by flying debris. When Neville, Josh, and I saw that, we jumped right in and started doing that too." He took a breath, and Harry couldn't help but smile at his friend's excitement as he proudly told his mother and sister about the fight.

"They had us outnumbered two to one, but we took them all down," he continued. "I knocked out Rabastan Lestrange, and Neville got Rodolphus. How many did you get, Harry?"

"The two wands of the guys that you and Neville bound first, bound the two who fell on Neville's ice while he and Josh got their wands, and knocked the one guy out when he hit the wall after I blasted him off his feet," Harry answered quietly. "He was the only one injured out of the twelve up front."

Ron nodded. "You and Neville each got one of the last two standing at the very end too. That water and ice idea of Neville's was great," he said enthusiastically. "I would have never thought of it. Anyway, we didn't actually hear about everything that happened out back, but there were six of Lestrange's people against six more Aurors, and the Auror who was hurt got a broken leg and bad cut, and they injured two of their opponents and killed one of them."

"I wonder that nobody has tried throwing things in front of killing curses before," Mrs. Weasley said from where she was working on making up a late breakfast for Harry and Ron.

"Dumbledore did it to protect me in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic when he fought Riddle," Harry explained. "That's where I got the idea from, though he was throwing statues in front of me instead of rocks or bushes or things."

"Well, you saved both of those Aurors flanking us on the west, and probably saved Josh from a bolt that I don't think he saw coming his way," Ron told him. "I'm sure they're all glad you decided to try it, even if Josh was the only one of them who seemed to catch on to what you were doing. Those other two didn't accomplish anything in the fight that I saw."

"That just makes you wonder who should be training whom," Ginny suggested. "I'm just glad you're both okay – and that Neville is. You're probably both tired, but just in case Hermione's been listening to her WWN, you should probably go let her know you're not hurt after you eat too, Ron."

Ron had agreed that was a good idea, but didn't end up needing to do that, since Hermione came rushing into the kitchen about ten minutes later, her expression going from pale and worried to relief and happiness when she saw that Ron wasn't hurt. She'd hugged and kissed him, and then sat down next to him, holding on to his hand as tightly as Ginny was still holding Harry's. Ron repeated his account of the fight and capture for Hermione while he and Harry finished eating, wrapping up by the time they'd finished cleaning up after their meal. They all sat at the table for a while longer after that until Mrs. Weasley noticed Harry starting to doze off.

"You boys go up and get some sleep," she ordered. "Harry looks about ready to fall over, and you're not looking much better Ron."

Harry would have liked to stay and sit with Ginny a while longer, but she pulled him to his feet, led him up to his room, and shared a soft kiss and warm hug with him before pushing him into the room and closing the door firmly behind him. He made it to the bed and crawled in, but didn't remember anything from that moment until he woke up again sometime in the evening. A quick, hot shower woke him all the way up, and once he was cleaned up and dressed, he went downstairs, finding Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny in the sitting room talking and listening to the WWN, which was now thankfully back to playing music like they normally would after what they'd told him was mostly another news day as they covered the big story out of the Ministry of Magic.

"Ron's already up and gone to stay overnight with Hermione," Mrs. Weasley told him. "He said that he'll meet you at headquarters in the morning. There are leftovers from dinner if you're ready to eat."

"We can take care of that Mum," Ginny offered when her mother started to get up. "You've been running all day. Relax, and stay here with Dad."

Mrs. Weasley sank back into her seat and smiled gratefully at Ginny. "Thanks, honey. It really has been a long day." Ginny and Harry went into the kitchen, and it only took a few minutes to heat up the plate Mrs. Weasley had made up for him, get drinks, and sit at a corner of the table where they could face each other and talk quietly.

"I thought you might end up sleeping through until morning," Ginny said, smiling at him. "I'm glad you didn't. We're a bit overdue for some cuddle time."

"Yes we are," he agreed. "Did I miss much while I was out?"

"Not really," she answered. "Hermione went back home after you and Ron went to get some sleep, and Mom and I went out to work in the garden so it'd be quieter in the house, and when we were done that, and we were sure you were both out for the count, we did some laundry and cleaning. Dad had a busy day at work too, but nothing as newsworthy as the stories out of Auror Headquarters. Now that you've caught the Lestranges – or at least caught two of them – what do you think you'll be doing next?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure whether Josh will have us chasing down Rodolphus and Rabastan's father, or leave that for now and start chasing down the Averys. If I had to guess, I'd say it'll be the Averys, and Ron and I will be right back on nights again."

"Maybe you should think about being a little less successful, and get back on days again," Ginny joked.

"They won't be able to keep going seven days – or nights – a week indefinitely," Harry pointed out. "I don't know about the other Aurors, but I'm definitely going to need some down time in the not too distant future."

"Just make sure that you don't book those days off when I'm working," Ginny reminded him.

They sat and talked until Harry finished eating, cleaned up, and then spent another hour in the sitting room visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. When they went up to bed, Ginny stretched out on the sofa and snuggled with Harry, sharing a fairly brilliant snogging session before she happily drifted off to sleep in his arms. He'd been wide awake still after sleeping most of the day, and had stayed there holding her until nearly one o'clock before finally feeling tired enough that he could get a few hours of sleep too. He gently woke her with soft caresses and softer kisses, and they spent a little more time in each other's arms before finally going up to their bedrooms and off to sleep for the rest of the night.

Harry's guess about moving on to the Averys had been right, and after he and Ron had spent a few hours filling out reports from their weekend activities and handing them in to Gawain Robards, they went to the Avery estates, doing another disguised walking tour and daytime stakeout. Josh and Neville had gone ahead earlier, and had already been watching the place, and they all spent the rest of the day there before meeting back up at Auror Headquarters late in the afternoon.

"It's back to working nights again for us, isn't it?" Ron asked when he saw the look on Josh's face.

"Yes it is," Josh agreed unapologetically. "At least there's more activity going on around there than at the Lestrange estate."

"Is there anything you want us to do about all of those people coming and going from the place?" Harry asked, and Josh shook his head.

"Nothing specific. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and we'll see what kind of leads we get. There are other Aurors out working other angles, and eventually we'll get something useful."

The change again from days to nights gave Ron and Harry a bit more than twenty-four hours off. Hermione was home with her parents that evening after spending the day studying with Ginny and Luna, so after dinner, Harry, Ginny, and Ron went out to play Quidditch for a while, with Ginny using Ron's Cleansweep while he used his new Ministry Comet, and Harry finally got to give his new Firebolt a go. The two couples decided to spend the morning in London on Tuesday before Ron and Harry needed to get back to the Burrow and rest up before going back on nights again.

After that, over the next few weeks, they all settled in to a pretty set routine. Harry and Ron were working seven nights a week, sleeping during the day, and spending time when they could with the girls. Ginny had her Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday shifts at George's store, and studied at least two days a week with Hermione and Luna, and sometimes three. Near the end of May, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley both started helping Andromeda out with Teddy, taking him for a morning or afternoon, and for two overnight stays when she'd needed a break from constantly being on the go. Harry had spent most of those mornings or afternoons helping with Teddy too, and while there'd been no real progress with the stakeout, he thought that the time he got to spend with Ginny, Teddy, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and their friends when he and Ron weren't off working was absolutely brilliant.

"What do we have here?" Harry thought to himself as he watched Pansy Parkinson walk up the road and turn into the Avery estate. "Ms. Parkinson, whatever could you be doing coming here at this time of the morning?"

It was Thursday morning, the second Thursday of June, and while he had no idea why Pansy Parkinson was making a visit to the Avery estate just after dawn, he was sure that whatever the reason, this was the break they'd been waiting for. She didn't stay long, and was only in the manor house for maybe five minutes before leaving again, and Harry watched her head back down the road, this time carrying a large bag over her shoulder. Harry made his way to Ron's hiding spot from where he'd been posted next to the road.

"Let's go to Auror Headquarters and try to catch Josh and Neville before they leave," he told Ron.

"You think Pansy's our new lead?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"I'm sure she is," he agreed. "Time for us to move our stakeout again."

They made it back to the Ministry and still had more than a half-hour wait before Neville, and then Josh, made it in to work. Josh was willing to follow Harry's hunch and while Harry and Ron went off-duty, he and Neville went to set up their first daytime stakeout of the Parkinson house. For the next week, they observed Pansy going on trips several times a day, though they hadn't been able to follow her, since she apparated to and from her front yard each time. By the time Ron and Harry were on duty, she was always in for the night, except for the occasional evening walk in the yard, and just one early morning departure that they weren't able to follow her for any more than Josh and Neville had been able to do for any of her other trips.

Ron and Harry were just finishing with cleaning up the dinner dishes on the following Wednesday evening while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were sitting at the table and talking with them when Neville knocked on the door, and then came rushing into the kitchen, his face flushed with excitement.

"They're at the house!" he exclaimed. "Josh wants you to come back with me right away."

"The Averys?" Ron asked, and Neville nodded.

"We both saw them. They came outside and walked around the yard for a while, and then went back inside. It was definitely the Averys."

"They probably figured that since we'd already raided the place and arrested Pansy's parents that we'd never think to go back there to look for anyone else," Ron mused, and Neville nodded enthusiastically again.

"That's what Josh thinks too," he agreed. "Come on," he urged his friends. "Josh wants to go in before it's dark."

Ginny had already gotten up from the table, and she went over to Harry, wrapped her arms around his neck, hugged him fiercely, and then kissed him. "Be careful," she breathed into his ear, squeezing him tightly one more time before letting him go. Mrs. Weasley had gotten up too and hugged all three boys before letting them leave.

"What's the plan, boss?" Ron asked when he, Neville, and Harry joined Josh where he was still watching the Parkinson's house.

"They're still not using any shields or wards," Josh answered. "I want you and Harry to do the Muggle hiker disguises, and when you get to the lane into their house, Harry can put up an anti-apparition shield, and you're to take the front. Neville and I will work our way around and come in from the back. Be ready, because there's no way that the Averys will go quietly."

"We're not exactly on Pansy's most-loved Wizards list either," Neville reminded them. "Don't underestimate her."

"Or turn your back to her," Ron agreed. "Too bad she didn't learn anything from her parent's arrest and trial."

Harry and Ron left to make their way out of the area, and while they gave Neville and Josh time to make their way around to the back of the Parkinson's property, they got into disguise, being careful to make sure that everything was done right before starting the walk back to the Parkinson's house. When they got to the lane, Harry put up a massive anti-apparition shield that covered the entire property and quite a large section of the surrounding area too, and then he and Ron hurried up the lane toward the house.

Whether Pansy and the Averys had spotted Josh and Neville first, or there was some other reason, the two Wizards and young Witch came rushing out of the front door of the house, wands raised, shields up, and on the attack. Their plan was likely to just over-run Ron and Harry, but that didn't happen as Harry shielded both of them, and threw obstacles in the way of the killing curses while Ron counter-attacked.

"We've got to get past them!" the older Avery shouted, moving to flank the Auror-trainees. He glared daggers at Pansy. "She must have led them here. Kill her too," he ordered. "We've no use for such an incompetent."

Harry sent a potted plant flying into the air to intercept the killing curse that the younger Avery Wizard immediately fired at a momentarily stunned Pansy, who'd just stood there open-mouthed after hearing her own murder being ordered and as the curse had shot toward her. Harry then knocked her out with a stunning spell and disarmed her before he and Ron both faced off against the Averys.

"Watch our backs!" the older Avery bellowed as he sent more curses flying toward Harry and Ron. Walking in a kind of side-step, and nearly back-to-back, the men were attempting to work their way past Ron and Harry, but they were moving too, and keeping them from getting to where the Dark Wizards thought they needed to be to apparate and escape.

"You're under arrest!" Josh shouted as he and Neville finally made it around the house and faced off against the younger Avery. "Surrender your wands – NOW!"

"Kill them!" the older Avery spat, and his son sent two quick killing curses toward Josh and Neville, but each one was met with a pair of large rocks which Neville sent to intercept the attacks, and there were two loud detonations as the rocks exploded, sending debris flying everywhere, including against Josh and Neville's shields.

"Get ready," Harry told Ron quietly, and then fired a spell that blasted the older Avery's shield apart, and knocked him backward into his son. Ron immediately bound him with ropes, and Harry disarmed him, catching the man's wand a moment later as it shot across the distance to his waiting hand. By then, the son had turned and released his father, but now that the older Wizard was wandless, it was too late, and a moment later, his wand was in Harry's hand too, and both men were again tightly bound.

"How's the girl?" Josh asked as he and Neville joined Harry and Ron next to their two prisoners.

"Just stunned," Harry reported. "They tried to kill her, and seem to think that she gave them away."

"You gave yourselves away," Josh told the two glowering Death Eaters. "You were seen when you went for your little walk earlier. Coming here, and staying without putting up wards and shields was quite a good idea. Too bad you didn't wait a bit longer to deal with your cabin fever – we were nearly ready to call off the surveillance here, since Ms. Parkinson seemed to be here alone, and doing nothing suspicious."

"Too bad for them, good for us," Ron murmured, and Josh laughed.

"Quite true," he agreed. "Auror-trainee Longbottom, could you please revive Ms. Parkinson and take her into custody? I'm afraid that this time, aiding and abetting known fugitives is serious enough to warrant her arrest too."

Neville did that, and when he had her ready to go, they all apparated to the Ministry of Magic, making their way to Auror Headquarters, which by then was deserted, so they had the place to themselves while they processed their three prisoners before delivering them to the holding cells on the dungeon level. They gathered at Josh's desk after that, and he smiled at his three trainees.

"Fill out your reports before you leave, and then take the day off tomorrow," he ordered. "We'll get back to work on Friday morning, but I think we've all earned a day off."

"And then some," Ron agreed. "What will we be starting next?"

"I'll stop in tomorrow to check in with the boss and find out," Josh answered. "We've been so busy with this that I haven't tried to keep up with the status of the other cases."

Harry, Ron, and Neville all spent another nearly two hours filling out their reports, and then they headed for home, all of them looking forward to having a day off on Thursday. Ginny and her parents were still waiting up for them, but once they were assured that both young Wizards were okay, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed, followed shortly after that by Ron, while Ginny and Harry were left to snuggle and have some time alone in the sitting room.

"I'm beginning to think that our job is harder on you, Hermione, and your parents than it is on us," Harry said, and Ginny nodded.

"It's hard having to wait and not knowing for so long whether you're alright," she agreed. "Mum is definitely having the hardest time." She smiled at him. "Now that you've got the day off tomorrow, we should definitely cancel our study day so Hermione and I can do something with you and Ron instead."

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to do?" he asked.

"Not really," she answered. "We can discuss that with Hermione and Ron in the morning." Pulling him closer, she kissed him. "Right now, I'm not feeling much like talking anymore."

Harry didn't know it at the time, but his night shifts were over, at least for a while. Ginny had the best of intentions for snogging with Harry, and they did share some seriously heart-warming kisses, but it wasn't long before she snuggled happily in his arms and drifted off to sleep. He was content to hold her until he finally got tired too sometime into the early hours of the morning, gently woke her up, and they went up to their rooms for the rest of the night. A brilliant day off followed, where the two couples spent the morning doing a little shopping, an afternoon playing at the beach, and for Harry and Ginny, a wonderful evening walk and sitting room snogging session that was a perfect ending to another one of those really great days.

There were still many Dark Wizards out on the run, and while Harry and Ron would continue to be busy with work, Hermione would be continuing to help Ginny and Luna get ready for the sixth year exams, which were now just under four weeks away. Summer was heating up, and it wouldn't be just the weather making that happen!


	4. The Passed, Presents, and Future

Chapter Four – The Passed, Presents, and Future

"How brilliant was that?" Ron asked Harry and Neville as they sat down to have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.

"You're probably just as happy about us being assigned Dolohov's case as about the days off," Neville suggested, and Ron nodded his agreement.

"He nearly killed Hermione at the Ministry, and I'm glad that we're the ones going after him now. I hadn't heard of Yaxley before, but from the looks of his file, he's definitely another one seriously needing to spend a lifetime or two in Azkaban."

"He killed Remus too," Harry reminded them, and then pointed at his watch and added - "and in case you missed it in the file, he was in on killing your Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon, Ron, so I'm glad we've got that case too."

"I didn't read through that part of the file," Ron said, his expression going from being momentarily stunned to fiercely determined. "Even more reason to put him away."

"Yes it is," Harry agreed. "It's pretty great that we'll have some time off now too, and that we got to have our pick. I'm sure that Ginny is going to be happy that we'll be off on Monday and Tuesday every week."

"She'll be happy that you are," Neville told him with a grin. "Hi, Hannah," he added, his grin turning into a welcoming smile when she brought them their food and drinks.

"Hey Neville," she answered, returning his smile. "Hi Harry, Ron."

Harry didn't know exactly when Hannah had started to work with Tom at the Leaky Cauldron, but it had been sometime during the past month and a half while he and Ron had been working nights. The place was busy, and Hannah didn't talk much with them, needing to hurry off to keep working the other tables. Her long, blonde hair was now held back in a ponytail, and she was very pretty – a fact that Harry was sure that Neville had noticed, judging by the glances his friend directed her way from time to time each time she passed anywhere near to them as she worked the room.

"I like that we're sort of on our own to go poking around for a while," Neville continued as they began eating. "Starting some real training with Josh now will be pretty great too, though he's been teaching me some while we've been on stakeout together."

"Good," Ron told him. "Since Harry and I won't have Hermione to translate for us, you'll be able to do that instead."

"I think our training will be a lot different than classes at Hogwarts," Neville said. "We'll probably need to help each other for different parts of it."

"Ron and I will happily give you anything to do with Herbology," Harry only half-joked.

"As long as you do the same for me with Transfiguration, that's a deal," Neville agreed. "Where do you want to start this afternoon?"

"We've got a long list of places to check out, so why don't we start doing that?" Harry suggested. "That'll probably take us the entire weekend just to get to all of them once, and then we can decide how we want to work the case after we've done that."

Ron and Neville agreed with Harry's plan, and after leaving the Leaky Cauldron, they disguised themselves, and started visiting the different places that were known haunts for Dolohov, Yaxley, and other Death Eaters. Since Ginny was working until George's store closed for the night, when Ron and Neville were ready to head for their homes after dinner, Harry had told them to go on ahead, and he'd continued to work until just before Ginny would be done, and went to pick her up at the wheezes store.

"Is that some new sales tactic?" George asked Ginny when he caught her hugging and kissing Harry when he'd come into the store with just a few minutes left before they closed.

"If it is, I'll buy the whole lot," Harry told him, and George laughed.

"That wouldn't work out so well for me, since you know that anything you ever want in here is on the house. You can go on ahead if you want, Ginny. We're nearly done anyway, and I can finish closing up from here."

Ginny went over and hugged him. "Thanks, George. I'll see you in the morning."

She went out back and hung up her magenta robe, and then left the store with Harry. He side-along apparated her to the Burrow, and they went into the kitchen where they shared the leftovers that Mrs. Weasley had waiting for Harry to have for dinner while they talked with Ron and their parents. Ginny had loved it that Harry was going to start having time off that they'd be able to spend together, though she reminded him that she was still going to need to do at least some studying those days, since her exams were getting so close.

Going back on days was a welcome change, though for the first few days, Harry and Ron both found themselves having troubles sleeping through the night. The only time that had been inconvenient was when Ron came downstairs to have a snack at around one o'clock on Saturday morning, and found Harry and Ginny still snuggled together on the sofa in the sitting room. Harry had been amused, and Ginny had told her brother to stuff it when his exclamation of surprise had woken her.

On Saturday morning, Harry took Ginny to work again before meeting up with Ron and Neville and getting on with their visits to taverns, old abandoned buildings, private houses, and other locations. They had another long day on Saturday, and were back at it again on Sunday. They hadn't really been expecting any results from their efforts so soon, but on Sunday afternoon, they were checking out a place in Wimbourne when they were the recipients of an unexpected gift. They had finished a walk-around and visit to the tavern they were interested in, and were getting ready to leave town when they were all stopped dead in their tracks when they came face-to-face with one of their most-wanted, who'd stepped out of a shop, and turned and started walking directly toward them.

"Make way, boys," she demanded, but she was forced to stop when they made no attempt to move out of the way, but instead all drew wands on her. She jumped back, pulling her own wand out, and glaring at them. "How dare you hoodlums draw wands on me! Incarcerous! Incarcerous! Incarcerous!" she shouted in her shrill voice.

Harry had his shield up and protecting all three of them, while Neville set the anti-apparition shield. Ron had her in a full-body bind, and Harry disarmed her before she had time to do anything else.

"What is the meaning of this?" she screeched at them.

"The meaning of this is that you, Dolores Umbridge, are under arrest for crimes against Muggle-borns," Harry told her, smiling as he enjoyed the moment.

"You are not Aurors," she told them. "I know every Auror at the Ministry. I demand that you release me at once and return my wand!"

"Technically you're correct," Harry agreed, waving his wand and dropping the disguise he'd been using all weekend, enjoying seeing the stunned look of recognition on her face as she stared at him. "However, since we are Auror-trainees, we do indeed have every right to arrest you, and I assure you that it is our pleasure to do so."

"She doesn't seem to doubt your honesty now," Ron said conversationally as Umbridge's face went from being red with anger to palest white.

Harry laughed, looking down at his scarred hand. "Well, if her gentle lessons didn't convince me to always tell the truth, then I'm pretty sure nothing ever will."

"While this is fun," Neville said, "we're going to have loads of paperwork back at Headquarters now, so why don't we get going, and we can talk about the good times we all had with the former High Inquisitor while we're booking her. I'd really like to make it home in time for dinner with Gran tonight."

Harry and Ron let Neville side-along apparate Umbridge to the Ministry, and none of the boys minded at all when a group of reporters wanted to photograph Umbridge and ask them questions while they waited to clear security and take her to Auror Headquarters. Gawain Robards was there, along with several other Aurors, and he'd seemed to be nearly as pleased about Umbridge's capture as his three trainees were, though Harry still got that same impression that he wasn't really as happy as his words suggested. It took the rest of the afternoon to get their prisoner booked, take her down to the holding cells, and then fill out and file their reports, but then the three friends were done, and could look forward to having two whole days off.

The first part of those days off was hardly all fun and games, since the girls had decided that they should get their studying out of the way first, and since they were busy with that, Mrs. Weasley decided that Harry and Ron should pitch in with doing their own laundry and help out with some cleaning, gardening, and de-gnoming the yard.

"This is brilliant," Ron groused as he and Harry worked on grabbing and tossing the gnomes far out over the fence into the field. "We're working harder than at our jobs, and don't get paid a knut for the work."

Harry grinned at his best mate. "I personally think we get paid loads. Besides, doesn't doing this make you appreciate your Mum more? She works full time around here and doesn't get paid either."

"You had to go and put it that way," Ron complained. "Now there's nothing I can say to that without sounding like a git. At least we're able to help out with room and board now. That's at least taken some of the stress off of Mum."

"What are you and Hermione going to do for the rest of the day?" Harry asked. Ron was going to stay overnight at Hermione's house, and they were going to do their own thing, and then they'd all decided to spend the day together on Tuesday.

"Dunno," Ron answered. "Hermione said she'll surprise me." "You?"

"We may go and see if Andromeda would like a break from Teddy later this afternoon for a couple of hours, but other than that and maybe wandering around Diagon Alley or something, we're just going to take it easy."

Spending the rest of the day doing that sounded good in theory, but by later that night, after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone to bed and he and Ginny were snuggled on the sofa in the sitting room, they were both pretty much worn out. Andromeda had been happy to hand the baby over to them – especially since Teddy had been having a fussy day, and while they were both glad to help out for a few hours, and wanted to spend time with Teddy, that few hours had not exactly been fun. The rest of the evening had been pretty great on the fun scale, and Harry had talked Mrs. Weasley and Ginny into letting him take them all out to dinner at the Leaky Cauldron and meet Mr. Weasley there after work. When they got back to the Burrow, Ginny and Harry went out to the orchard to have a little Seeker duel, and both of Ginny's parents came out to watch their daughter outrace Harry to catch the snitch two out of three times despite the fact that he was flying his Firebolt, and she was on a Cleansweep.

"Thanks for a really great day today," Ginny told Harry after her Mum and Dad had gone up to bed. "It wasn't exactly a date or anything, but I'm glad we got to spend most of the day together."

Harry laughed softly. "You're awfully easy to please," he joked. "The fussy baby, dirty diapers, and Teddy spitting up on both of us weren't exactly best-ever memories material. From your perspective, I'm sure that kicking my broomtail for a couple of hours, and nearly out-racing me to all three snitch catches was great, though." He leaned close and kissed her tenderly. "Thanks for letting me catch that last one."

"You're welcome," she breathed between the next kiss and the one after that. "We should go out and play more often. I really love flying with you."

"I love flying with you too," Harry answered, and smiled again. "If you'd kissed me like that during tryouts at school, you would have been Gryffindor's Seeker since your first year instead of me."

"Now you tell me," Ginny teased. "That was fun too, and it was worth it just to hear Mum and Dad laugh."

"Catching them kissing after that second catch of yours was fun too, though it seems they were bored with watching the Quidditch action."

"Speaking of action," Ginny said, kissing him again, "why don't we try a little less talk and a bit more me and you." Harry was happy to follow her lead, and they both lost track of time, and pretty much everything else except each other until some fairly brilliant snogging made way for a little drowsy snuggling before they decided to go upstairs, share a couple more soft, sweet goodnight kisses outside of Ginny's door, and then go off to bed.

Tuesday morning started with breakfast for four, and after Mr. Weasley left for work, Harry and Ginny took care of the cleanup while they waited for Ron and Hermione to come over after her parents went off to work at their clinic. They got there by a bit after nine, and after visiting with Mrs. Weasley for a bit, the two couples left for London.

"I should have known," Hermione said as they stood in front of the building Ron had led them to.

"Should have known what?" Ron asked, his grin totally blowing his attempt to look innocent.

"That when you suggested going to a museum that it'd be the Museum of Quidditch," she answered. Ron laughed and hugged her.

"Come on," he cajoled. "It'll be fun, and I thought you loved all things history."

"If you've never been here before, you will like it," Ginny told her. "There are all sorts of artifacts like medieval broomsticks, diaries and letters that are hundreds of years old, and the place covers everything from the start of Quidditch through to today."

Harry thought that most of the displays in the museum were fascinating, and happily followed Ginny around as they did the tour with Ron and Hermione, and they learned about some of the highlights of the sport that three out of four of them loved. They'd all laughed at the broomstick that Ginny had mentioned, hardly able to believe that Witches and Wizards back then actually flew on something like that. Hermione had been seriously put out over the stories of the poor snidgets that had nearly been driven to extinction by the sport before the Golden Snitch had been invented.

Ron was the contemporary history expert when they reached the rooms for the Quidditch World Cup and the British and Irish League. Harry and Hermione had both needed to fight hard to hold back from laughing while Ginny had some fun with her brother as he led that part of their tour. When Ron proudly told them about his Cannons' twenty-one League titles, Ginny reminded him that the last had been one hundred and six years ago, while her Harpies were now one of the top teams in the league.

"I wonder how Viktor is doing these days?" she asked Hermione when Ron was talking about the ninety-four World Cup that Ireland had won. "He looked pretty good when we saw him last summer at Bill and Fleur's wedding, don't you think? Maybe you should send him an Owl Post. You never did get out to Bulgaria to visit him did you? I thought that was lovely of him to invite you."

Harry wasn't sure which one of his friends turned redder at Ginny's comments, and he squeezed her hand appreciatively even as he'd needed to cough to stifle a laugh.

"She's just having sport with us," Hermione told Ron, hugging and kissing him. "If Ginny thinks that's funny, then maybe next week on one of your days off, you should invite Dean and Michael over to play Quidditch with the three of you. That might be a lot of fun for her too."

Ginny laughed. "Michael Corner couldn't play Quidditch any better than you can," she told Hermione, "and if you're trying to get Harry going, he knows he's got nothing to worry about from those guys or any other Wizard, so invite away."

"Michael may not be able to play, but if he's still going out with Cho, we could have her play Seeker against Harry," Ron suggested.

"Sure, Won, Won," Ginny agreed, "and we could invite Lavender over to make it an even eight. Would you like to keep playing?"

Ron had turned red again as Ginny had perfectly mimicked Lavender. "No, I don't think so," he decided, and Hermione hugged him again.

"Good decision," she said approvingly.

After the visit to the Museum, they went out for lunch, spent the afternoon shopping, had dinner out too, and then Hermione and Harry introduced Ron and Ginny to Muggle movies. While there had been other options that she and Ginny might have liked better, Hermione had let Ron pick, and after getting drinks, popcorn, and a few other snacks that were mostly for Ron to try, they'd spent a couple of entertaining hours watching Godzilla rampage through and under New York City.

"That wasn't nearly as cool as the Dragons in the Tri-Wizard tourney, and totally unbelievable, but it was still fun," Ron said as they sat around the kitchen table with his Mum and Dad after they'd gotten back to the Burrow.

"I liked the movie quite a bit better than the Dragons," Harry told him. "Of course, I didn't have to worry about getting eaten tonight, so that might just mean that my perspective is a bit different than yours."

"You've got a point," Ron conceded, "but seriously, if the Muggles who made that movie ever saw what a pack of angry giants could do, or even a single dragon if one ever got loose in the Muggle World, they'd think that story was a toddler's bedtime tale by comparison."

"I think it was brilliant," Ginny said, "and I'm really glad Hermione suggested it. We should definitely do that again sometime, though next time, it should be Witches' choice."

"That only seems fair," Hermione agreed. "Maybe your Mum and Dad would like to come along for that date night."

Ron snorted. "Mum and Dad going on a date? Be serious, Hermione."

"I am being serious," she told him. "Why shouldn't they go out on dates?"

"Because they're my Mum and Dad," Ron answered as if it was so obvious that he couldn't believe she didn't know that.

"My Mum and Dad go out on dates lots of times, Ron. Is there some maximum age limit for dating in the Wizarding World that I don't know about? If there is, does that mean that snogging is banned at that age too?"

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "I sure hope not, or Auror-trainee Potter should have arrested Arthur and I last night in the orchard."

Ron looked at Hermione, and then at his mother, trying to decide if she was teasing him or not. "The words parents and snogging shouldn't be in a sentence together any more than sister and hot," he declared. "Will you all please start writing these things down so you'll remember these little details in the future?"

Mr. Weasley laughed. "Sure, Ron. I'll even get you to sign it so I can dust it off some day when you have kids and remind you about your rules." He stood up and held his hand out to his wife. "Let's go up to bed, and I'll snog you goodnight there so we don't upset the children." Mrs. Weasley laughed at the look on Ron's face; took his hand, and after wishing the four teens a good night, they went upstairs to get ready for bed.

"That was so not funny," Ron grumbled.

"More like brilliantly funny," Ginny countered, still laughing softly over her parent's comments. "Since I have to work in the morning, and it's probably your turn to get the sitting room to yourselves, I'm going up to bed too. Will you walk me to my room, Harry?"

"Sure," he agreed, standing up and helping Ginny to her feet. "See you in the morning," he told Ron and Hermione before Ginny led him upstairs, where she spent several minutes kissing him goodnight before she went into her room, and he went up to his for the night.

Ron and Hermione moved into the sitting room, happy to snuggle together on the sofa. "This works out pretty great for us," Hermione said quietly. "We apparently get turns to have this room to ourselves when we're here, and can have some alone time every evening when you're at my house after my parents go to bed."

"Doesn't that work out about the same for Harry and Ginny then?" Ron asked. "They've got this place to themselves whenever we're at your place."

"It probably should," she agreed, "though Ginny seems to be including those days too, since I'm pretty sure she told us it was our turn the last night I stayed over too." She kissed him, and then smiled. "Were you really as jealous about Viktor Krum as you looked when Ginny was teasing us at the museum?"

He could see that there wasn't anything more to her question than honest curiosity, so he answered her honestly. "I was, and am," he agreed quietly. "He's a world-famous Quidditch star, probably rich, and must be really handsome, if the girl's reaction to him at school was any indication, and I'm just a nobody. You're the smartest Witch of our time – everyone knows that – and you're beautiful, and totally amazing. I'm not famous, rich, or even particularly bright. I get jealous whenever I even think about you and Viktor, but mostly I'm afraid that you'll figure all of that out, and I'll lose you."

Ron hadn't been able to look at her while he'd been talking, and he seemed terribly embarrassed to be telling her such things. Hermione turned his head so she could look into his eyes. "You don't need to be afraid of anything when it comes to me and you," she told him. "I could care less about fame, though you might want to remember that we are heroes of the war and Battle of Hogwarts, and you're on the way to being a famous Auror." She smiled at him. "Don't expect me to sit here for an hour and pump up your ego. There's really only one thing that matters to me – I love you. Get used to that fact, and stop worrying about Viktor Krum – who, by the way, is only in love with himself – or any other Wizard, because you're the only Wizard I want to be with." She pulled him close for a long, heart-stopping kiss to emphasize her point, and they were both breathless and smiling when she let him go again.

"I love you too, Hermione," Ron told her, and laughed when she hugged him fiercely – at least until she kissed him again.

"It's about time," she breathed as they both caught their breath again.

"About time for what?" he asked, and Hermione laughed.

"That you finally told me that you loved me," she answered.

"I must've told you before now," he protested. "You knew that I love you."

"I knew," she agreed, "but this is definitely the first time you've said it to me. A Witch remembers things like that, and we like hearing it a lot too, so try to work on that for me."

Ron smiled. "I love you, Hermione Granger."

He was still smiling the next morning. Ginny had seemed amused every time she looked at him during breakfast, and when he'd told Hermione that he loved her as they hugged and kissed goodbye, he'd caught a look on his mother's face that he didn't even try to pretend to understand. While Harry side-along apparated Ginny to George's store, he'd gone on to catch up with Neville at Auror Headquarters, where they'd be meeting with Josh to update him on what they were doing, and to do their first actual training session with him.

"That must have been a long goodbye hug and kiss," Ron suggested when Harry finally joined them.

"I can't be more than a few minutes behind you, and we talked to George for part of that time," he answered, not mentioning that Ginny had also taken the opportunity while they were alone to update him on her morning girl talk session with Hermione. "It doesn't look like I've missed anything."

"You haven't," Josh told him, walking up to where Harry was standing in front of Ron's cubicle, a stack of three large, thick books floating along with him. They separated, continuing on to land in the middle of each trainee's desk. "We'll be doing practical training this morning, but have the first ten chapters of your Introduction to Concealment training manual read by the time we have our session next Wednesday morning."

"Nobody told me there'd be books to study with this job," Ron protested, and Josh laughed.

"That's just the first one," he informed Ron. "You'll need to read between ten and fifteen chapters a week for most of the next couple of years. That one should take about three months, and there are nine manuals in total." Smiling at Ron, he added – "that's the smallest one." Looking at his watch, he nodded to himself. "I've got a lot to do today, gentlemen, so give me your update and plans for the rest of the week, and then we'll do your training and get you out of here and back to work."

They did that, and after Josh gave his approval to their work plan, he led them through a nearly three-hour long training session that Harry, Ron, and Neville all found was, for lack of a nicer way to put it, really lame. There was nothing that Josh worked with them on that they hadn't needed to learn years ago, and were well beyond the lessons now, though Neville had gotten to that point through his nearly year-long fight at the school, while Harry and Ron had Hermione teaching them a lot while they were on the run and trying to stop the Dark Lord.

"If those lessons are all going to be like that, our training isn't going to be anything to worry about," Ron told his friends as they had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. "Our DA meetings were tougher than that."

"I'm sure they'll get tougher as we go along," Harry answered. "The three of us have had quite a bit more experience than most new trainees would have, so it's not really a big surprise to me that we're ahead of things."

"That does surprise me a bit," Neville said. "We may have done a lot more fighting, Harry, but all trainees are supposed to have at least five NEWTs with Exceeds Expectations or above. You guys haven't taken any of the seventh year material, and I certainly didn't learn much of what would normally be taught to get ready for the NEWT exams. You'd think there would be a lot that will come up in training that we don't know anything about." He smiled up at Hannah, who was coming to their table to deliver their drinks and lunch. "That smells great. Thanks, Hannah."

"You're welcome, Neville," she answered, smiling back at him before moving on to put plates and drinks in front of Ron and Harry.

"I wonder why she always serves Neville first," Ron asked Harry as he grinned at Neville after Hannah had left.

"I'd guess it's because he tips better," Harry answered, and Ron nodded.

"But then that begs the question of why Neville does that," he countered.

Harry laughed, and Neville blushed, suddenly finding the need to concentrate on his plate, which also seemed to have more food on it than there was on either Harry or Ron's plates, even though they'd ordered the same thing. "That's easy, mate – so he's served first and gets a bit extra. I'm surprised you didn't think of doing that first, since you're usually way ahead of everyone when it comes to food."

Ron sighed. "So true, but in this case, I have to weigh my love of food with my newfound appreciation for how much work goes into getting money."

"That was a bit scary mate," Harry joked. "Since we didn't get much time to talk earlier, what'd you do with your days off, Neville?"

With that timely change in subject, the conversation moved on, and they all dug into their meals. After lunch, it was back to work, and that afternoon, and for the rest of the week, they alternated between watching different places and following potential suspects and leads. By the time they wrapped up late on Sunday, they hadn't found Dolohov, Yaxley, or anyone else, but they did all think they were on the right track, and getting close.

Their Monday and Tuesday off were the last two days of June. Now that Ginny and Luna were down to two weeks left until exams, they worked with Hermione both mornings, and then Luna would head home just before lunch, and Ginny and Hermione spent the rest of each day with Harry and Ron. While the girls were busy in the morning, Harry helped Mrs. Weasley out around the house, while Ron spent most of that time reading the ten chapters that he and Harry needed to have done before their training session with Josh on Wednesday morning.

Harry had read them already, which had surprised and somewhat bugged Ron, but then Harry had time to do that when Ginny was busy doing some reading of her own, and he'd even found the Introduction to Concealment interesting enough to read for a while most nights after they'd gone to bed. He hadn't told Ron, but he'd actually read about half of the book so far, and had tried all of the spells at least once, though for him, many of them were actually pretty useless, since he could conceal himself much more effectively with his cloak than by doing any of the concealment techniques in the book.

On Monday, Ron and Hermione again went off to spend the rest of the day together, and he'd be staying at her house overnight, and Harry and Ginny had another play day that included a short outing with Teddy, where they took him for a walk, an afternoon battle of the Seekers that Ginny won three out of three catches. Since there had been a lot of mid-air hugging and kissing, Harry had thought they'd both won, even if he had technically lost. They helped out with making dinner, and had gone for a walk into town with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley after eating and cleaning up, where they picked up ice creams for dessert. They'd gone back to the Burrow after that, where they spent the rest of the evening in the sitting room, listening to the WWN while they were each either reading textbooks, an Auror training manual, or the paper and magazine that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were reading.

Tuesday afternoon, the two young couples decided to spend the afternoon in Exmouth and at the beach, having a late dinner there before going back to the Burrow later in the evening, where Ron and Hermione again ended up being the last two in the sitting room after everyone else had decided to go up to bed. They weren't going to see each other until Friday, since Hermione wasn't going to be at the Burrow on Wednesday, and had other plans with her parents on Thursday night, so they'd stayed up until nearly one o'clock. Ron had thought that had been a brilliant few hours, and he was again a happy camper on Wednesday morning.

"Get rid of that 'I'm in love' grin, Weasley," Josh told him as they worked. "Your bad guy disguise won't work with you looking so bloody happy all of the time."

"Sorry," Ron answered, though he was still grinning.

"Your charm work is good, Neville," Josh complimented him. "It's about as good as doing it with Transfiguration, but we'll need to work on hiding the fact that you're using glamour charms, since they are detectable. Look it up in the book I gave you. I'm not sure off hand which chapter, though." He smiled at the look on Neville's face. "Don't worry so much about not being a Transfiguration whiz. There isn't an Auror here who isn't weak in some area, and from what I've heard about you, we're going to all love having you on the team just for your Herbology skills. We may not have needed it yet, but there are definitely cases where we could have, and will, use your talents in that area."

"What's your weakness?" Ron asked.

"Same as yours – Potions," Josh answered. "The only reason I Exceeded Expectations on my NEWT was because their expectations for me were so low."

They again worked with Josh until noon, and then went for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before getting back to their fieldwork. The current focus of their case was on a business in Falmouth that the Aurors suspected had been a front for Death Eater activity and one of the ways they moved money. Since none of the Death Eaters or anyone else on the most wanted list could just walk into Gringotts and make a withdrawal, eventually they were going to need money.

Since Harry could use his cloak, he mostly stayed at the building while Ron and Neville would do their best to track as many of the Witches and Wizards who visited the business as they could, though most just eventually apparated away at some other location in town. They didn't find out anything of particular interest on Wednesday, but on Thursday morning, Harry was there watching when he saw Yaxley come walking up the street, looking nervous, and watching everything around him. When he'd gotten to the building, he had stopped and taken another look around, and then gone inside. Ron and Neville were both away, Ron following a couple who'd maybe been in their thirties, while Neville had followed an older Wizard who'd only left the business about ten minutes ago.

Moving out from his hiding place, Harry went across to the same side of the road as the business, and into a small alley a couple of doors down where he could take his cloak off and store it while getting ready to face Yaxley when he came out of the building. He was not using a disguise, and though he didn't have Ron and Neville there to back him up, he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to take the Dark Wizard in when the man had been so accommodating to just show up like this. When he heard the door open, he waited just a second, and then stepped out of the alley, putting up anti-apparition and Muggle-repelling spells even as he turned to face his fugitive.

"Auror-trainee Potter!" he announced loudly. "Mr. Yaxley, you are under arrest. Please surrender your wand and come with me."

Yaxley had turned away from Harry, looking in the other direction, and he spun to face him, his wand drawn, and he immediately went on the attack. Harry shielded himself, and sent a window box full of flowers to meet the killing curse while letting his shield handle the other three curses that Yaxley had fired at him even as he saw that Ron and Neville were both now at the other end of the street. They both looked surprised, so they must have just turned the corner, but they had their wands out, and Ron hit Yaxley in the back with a binding spell at the same time that Neville disarmed him, picking up Yaxley's wand from the ground by his feet a moment later and dropping it into his pocket.

"I'm pretty sure that was the opposite of surrender your wand and come with me," Ron joked when he and Neville joined Harry next to Yaxley. "Why do you think they always attack first?"

"Because they're the bad guys?" Neville suggested. "I'm pretty sure that it's against the rules for them to surrender without a fight."

"That must be it," Ron agreed. "What would you like to do now?" he asked Harry.

"I was thinking that you and Neville could take Yaxley in, and I'd stop in to that business and have a little visit with the owners," Harry answered. "I'll leave up the anti-apparition shield, so you'll need to move out a block or so. If you happen to find anything when you process your prisoner that might have something like, say, fingerprints of any of the people who work here on it, then you could come back with a team, and we'll take a closer look at the place."

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Neville told him. When we get safely to Headquarters, though, I'll return to back you up, and let Ron and Josh search and process Yaxley."

"You guys are just trying to get out of doing all of the paperwork," Ron accused, and Neville and Harry both laughed.

"Yes we are," Harry assured him. "We'll let you take a turn getting out of it another time to make up for getting stuck with that job this time."

While Ron and Neville took Yaxley and started walking to a spot outside of the anti-apparition area, Harry went into the building he'd been watching, entering a moderately sized reception area where four very nervous-looking people were all standing at a long counter, and facing him.

"C-can we help you, sir?" the oldest-looking of the three Wizards asked, while the other two Wizards and Witch continued to watch him warily.

Harry focused his attention on the Wizard who had spoken to him, pinning him with a piercing look that the other man only held for a moment before looking away. Harry was sure that they were all holding their wands behind the counter.

"I'm sure that you all recognize me," he finally said, "but for the record, I'm Auror-trainee Potter, and we will be spending a little time together while we wait to find out whether you have been aiding and abetting a known Death Eater and fugitive. Is there anyone else in the building?"

"There is nobody else here," the same Wizard answered, though Harry was certain he was lying. "We have no idea what you're talking about, and resent your accusation. This is a reputable business."

"You've got a fair bit of nerve saying that just minutes after we arrested Mr. Yaxley the moment he stepped out of your office. How many others are there in here?"

"I told you, there is no one else," the man snapped, and Harry shrugged.

"Have it your way," he said, waving his wand, and disarming everyone in the building. It took a minute, but when he was done, there were eleven wands in his pocket, and the seven Witches and Wizards in the rest of the building were finding out that all exits were sealed except the front door.

"You do not have the right to attack innocent Witches and Wizards on our own property," the older Wizard told Harry. "I demand that you return our wands immediately and leave."

"You have not been attacked, and if it's proven that you did not aid Mr. Yaxley, then I will return your wands, and you will be free to go," Harry informed him. "You lied to me about there being others in the building, though, and until this matter is resolved, none of you will be going anywhere."

The only place that four of the eleven ended up going was to Auror Headquarters. Neville had advised Harry that they'd found two large bags of galleons on Yaxley, and that they were being tested right away. When Josh brought a team of four Aurors and ten Hit Wizards, they were able to link the older Wizard and one of the younger ones directly to Yaxley, while the Witch and other Wizard in the front office had been released along with five of the seven that were rounded up out back. The other two were criminals on the Hit Wizard's wanted list, and when Harry and Neville left with Josh and the other Aurors, the Hit Wizards were already finding a treasure trove of information, stolen property, and a fair bit of money as they conducted a top to bottom search of the place.

Yaxley's capture was pretty much the only excitement that Harry, Ron, and Neville had at work for a while as they returned to the often-tedious job of hunting for Dolohov, or any of the other wanted Dark Wizards and their accomplices. Harry was happy to spend any time he could with Ginny, but as the start of her exams got closer, she was spending most of her time studying when she wasn't working at George's store. He helped Mrs. Weasley out as much as he could so that Ginny could work instead, and the rest of the time, he'd either sit with her as she worked at the kitchen table, or hold her in his arms on the sofa in the sitting room when she was just reviewing her notes or reading from textbooks.

It wasn't unusual for her to fall asleep in his arms, and there were two evenings where they'd both fallen asleep and woken up in the middle of the night before going up to bed. The girls were working all day on both of Ron and Harry's days off between their capture of Yaxley and the start of exams for Ginny, Luna, and the other Hogwarts students who'd be writing them, so both Wizards worked around the house, played a little Quidditch, and Ron even went with Harry to spend a couple of hours with Teddy while the girls were busy. Since Hermione wasn't writing any exams, she did go out with Ron both evenings while Harry stayed with Ginny, but other than that, she was there for her friends, helping them get as prepared as possible for their exams.

"You're going to do great," Harry told Ginny as they got ready to leave for her first exam. He was going to side-along apparate her to the gates at Hogwarts, since it was Tuesday, and a day off for him anyway, and he was going to pick her up again after the exam was over. Parts of the school were open just for the exams while repairs continued in other areas.

"I hope so," Ginny said, hugging him tightly. "I really want to be able to start my seventh year in September. The thought of having to take sixth year over, and be away from you for two school years is just too awful to think about."

"Thinking about that for one year isn't much fun," he answered, and Ginny nodded as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Luna's going to meet me there, so we should get going," she decided finally. Pulling him close, she kissed him for a long, incredible minute. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good. Now if only you could tell me where we are, what we were going to do, and what my name is, I'll be ready too," Harry joked.

"I love you," she told him, laughing and kissing him again.

"I love you too, Ginny," he said happily.

Ron had gone home with Hermione before dinner on Monday, and was staying there until Wednesday morning, so after taking Ginny to Hogwarts, kissing her goodbye, and wishing her luck, Harry went on from there to pick up Teddy and take him back to the Burrow, where he and Mrs. Weasley worked around the house and took care of the now nearly three-month old baby for the day while Ginny was writing her exam. She was writing six in total, having two this week, three in the second week, and just one on the last week of exams before they'd be done on the last Wednesday of July, though her last exam was on that Monday. The only conflict her exam schedule had with work for Ginny was the Wednesday of the second week, since her exams were on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and she'd need to miss her Wednesday shift at George's store.

Harry was outside the gates waiting for nearly fifteen minutes before he saw Ginny walking toward him, and he smiled as he saw that fiery, exultant look on her face that he loved to see so much. He laughed and swung her around when she launched herself into his arms and hugged him.

"That went brilliantly!" she exclaimed, then kissed him happily. "Professor Flitwick said my practical was the best he's ever seen from me! Let's go home, and I'll tell you and Mum all about it."

Harry took her back to the Burrow, and then took over watching Teddy while Ginny told them all about her written and practical exams while she and her mother worked on making dinner. Since they had Teddy anyway, when Andromeda came over to pick him up, she'd accepted Molly's invitation to stay for dinner, giving Harry and Ginny a little extra time with the baby, and an added break for her to not have to juggle Teddy and try to cook dinner for herself. Since Ginny was working all day on Wednesday, she had to hit the books right after dinner to study for her Arithmancy exam on Thursday while Harry helped with the cleanup and Andromeda took Teddy home with her.

Harry, Ron, and Neville continued to be busy at work, even if they weren't getting any solid leads on Dolohov. When they'd worked with Josh on Wednesday, Harry had asked him for the next training book when he'd had a moment to do that while Ron and Neville were at their own cubicles. He'd finished Introduction to Concealment, and getting the next book – Introduction to Tracking - gave him something to do while Ginny was busy with her studies every evening. After Arithmancy on Thursday, she'd needed to spend every spare moment on the weekend getting ready for her Potions exam on Monday, and after that, it was non-stop to prepare for Transfiguration and DADA on Wednesday and Thursday.

While Ginny was beginning to see the light at the end of the exam tunnel, things were getting more interesting at work for Harry, Ron, and Neville. On Wednesday afternoon, Neville had managed to track a Wizard who had stopped in at the house they'd been watching to a tavern in Montrose, after hearing him mention the name of the place to a Witch who'd been with him, though they'd gone their separate ways when he'd apparated from where they'd been having that conversation.

Disguised, he'd gone into the tavern, and eventually the man had re-appeared, returning to the main room of the tavern from one of the upper levels before leaving again. After getting back together with Ron and Harry and talking it over, they decided to move their stakeout to that tavern, and for the rest of the week, Harry would sneak in under his invisibility cloak shortly after the place opened, following Ron and Neville into the place, each of them using different disguises, and returning to the Inn several times a day.

That did mean that the three of them were working much longer days, since they were pretty much at the tavern from open to close. Harry hadn't seen Ginny at all on Wednesday night after getting back, since she'd long since gone to bed, and it had been morning before he'd been able to hear how her Transfiguration exam had gone, though she didn't go into much detail, since she was trying to stay focused on her impending DADA exam. He'd seen her for a few minutes on Thursday night only because she'd woken up when he and Ron had gotten home, and come out of her room long enough to talk with him for a few minutes, and share a sweet kiss goodnight before letting him go on up to bed.

The surveillance had been working out for Ron and Neville, in that they were able to have regular meals, drinks, and even snacks in the afternoon and evenings, but Harry had been stuck with having a few tidbits from his pack here and there while also having to smell the food all day without being able to order any. On Wednesday and Thursday, he'd taken his time and checked out the entire tavern, from the wine cellar, storage room, and kitchen to the rooms for let on the upper two floors, though he didn't actually go into each of those rooms.

On Thursday, the Wizard who Neville had followed here returned and went upstairs, but it was at a different time, later in the evening, and Harry hadn't been in a position to follow and find out which room he visited, or what he did there. He, Ron, and Neville had all seen that at each of the meals on Wednesday and Thursday, there were servers who took a number of trays up to the rooms, so on Friday, Harry had positioned himself on the second floor in time to observe the lunch deliveries. The only thing he was sure of after watching those deliveries was that one of the guests who received one of the trays was a Witch, her voice his only clue, since she did not step out into the hallway. He'd done the same thing for the evening deliveries on the third floor, but again he didn't find out any new information from doing that. Neville's Wizard, as Harry thought of him, didn't show up at all on Friday, and Ron and Harry went home to the Burrow together after the tavern closed for the night.

"I've got to get some real food to eat," Harry said quietly as he and Ron walked into the kitchen. "You feel up for a late night sandwich?"

Ron nodded. "Sure, mate. I'd hate for you to have to eat alone." Harry made up a pair of thick sandwiches while Ron got a couple of drinks for them, and they sat at the table to eat and discuss the case.

"We didn't find any wards or shields," Ron mused. "That would have been a dead giveaway, though. Maybe Neville and I should rent one of those rooms. That'd save us having to change disguises so much."

"Those rooms make the ones at the Hogs Head look top notch," Harry told him, "and if you rented them, they'd be suspicious if you didn't stay in them overnight."

Ron nodded. "Good point. Neville's guy will be back, and we'll find out what he's doing there. I know you're not too happy about missing out on meals when we can have them, but trust me, you're probably the lucky one. There's only so much of that food a Wizard can take before you just don't want any more of it – ever."

"I'll have to write that one down somewhere," Harry joked. "Never thought the day would come when you'd find any food that you didn't want to eat, and considering some of the wheezes your brothers have come up with, that's saying something."

"Speaking of wheezes," Ron said as he reached into his pocket, "I thought about this last night, but forgot to give it to you today." Harry looked at what Ron put in his hand and grinned at the neatly coiled extendable ear. "Thought it might come in handy for finding out who was in those rooms they keep delivering food to."

"That's a great idea," Harry told him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, mate. Just be careful. Up until Draco used the Peruvian instant darkness powder, I'd have thought the bad guys wouldn't have a clue about any wheezes, but I guess you never know."

"I forgot about that powder," Harry admitted. "Maybe you, Neville, and I should go shopping and see what else George has that might come in handy for our field packs."

Ron snorted. "Why am I having a hard time picturing skiving snackboxes as being standard in every Auror field pack?"

Harry laughed quietly too. "I was thinking more about the products they came up with for defensive magic, though that stuff probably isn't selling much now that the war's over."

Yawning, Ron got up and took his plate and glass to the sink, and Harry followed him. "This has been fun, but I'm ready to get some sleep," Ron told him as they cleaned up after themselves and put everything away.

"Same here," Harry agreed. "Let's try to get up to our rooms without waking Ginny. She's got work in the morning too, and she looked wiped out last night after two straight days of exams."

If they did wake her up, she didn't come out to see them, and Harry and Ron were both quickly in bed and off to sleep. In the morning, Harry took Ginny to work, and then moved on to Montrose, meeting Ron and Neville there before he got under his cloak, going into the tavern with the first pair of Wizards to enter after he was ready, while Ron and Neville had decided to watch the place from the outside until noon, neither of them interested in having to sit down and eat there any sooner than they absolutely needed to, or unless Neville's Wizard showed up. Harry had spent most of his day on the upper two floors, carefully using Ron's extendable ear when it seemed safe to risk it, and getting out of the way whenever there were guests or tavern staff in the hallways.

"Finally!" he said to himself as he saw the Wizard he'd been looking out for step into the second floor hallway before continuing on up to the third floor. It was late, nearing one o'clock in the morning, and Harry had been looking forward to going back to the Burrow soon, but all thoughts of that were immediately forgotten. With nobody else around, he was able to follow the man up the stairs to the third floor, and hear enough to know that the other Wizard had entered a room somewhere mid-way down the hallway, judging by how far away the sound of the opening and closing door had been when he had neared the top of the stairs.

Pulling out the extendable ears, he carefully trailed it out under the hem of his cloak, and began to slowly make his way down the hallway. He paused in front of every door on his right on the way down, the end of the extendable ear just brushing the thin gaps between the door and floor. Hearing no conversations going on in any of those rooms, he came back up the hallway, checking the doors on the other side. There were two men talking quietly in room three-sixteen, so he moved to the side of the doorway and listened.

"I'm not sure what you expect from me," the first voice Harry had heard said, sounding defensive and apologetic. "Everyone is on the run, and there've been so many traitors talking to the Aurors, that nobody trusts anyone else enough to share any information about where the others are."

"That's not good enough," a voice that Harry definitely recognized growled. Dolohov! "If you cannot get the job done, then it must be time for me to deal with your contacts myself, and I assure you they will not like that." There was a cry of pain and the sound of what Harry was certain was Dolohov's guest hitting the floor in a heap. "Do I make myself clear?" Dolohov added after a long minute had passed.

"Y-yes," the other man croaked in a hoarse, quavering voice.

When Dolohov started asking the man other questions, Harry decided to leave them, and made his way down to the main room of the tavern. It took a few minutes to get over to Ron and Neville's table. "Dolohov. Third floor. Room three-sixteen," he whispered so that only the two of them would hear. "Go up there and cover the stairs. I'll be in the hall past the room. You'll know when I'm ready."

With that, Harry went as quickly as he could back across the room and up to the third floor. He saw Ron and Neville getting up from their seats as he went up toward the second floor, and gave them a minute to get in place. When he put up his anti-apparition shield over the tavern and a pretty large section of the entire block, every Witch and Wizard in the building would have felt it, and he could hear shouts and running feet coming from all over the building. The door to room three-sixteen burst open, and Dolohov ran through first, the other Wizard right behind him, both men turning toward the stairs.

"Stop, and drop your wands!" Ron bellowed as he and Neville stepped out from the top of the stairs into the hallway. "You're both under arrest!"

Dolohov sent a zigzagging purple bolt of energy at Ron, who threw up a shield and dove out of the way, but then both Dolohov and the other Wizard shouted in surprise as Dolohov's wand went flying backwards into Harry's hand while the other wand flew into Neville's. Ron had already shouted "Incarcerous!" and Dolohov was tightly wrapped in thick ropes. Harry bound the other man in a full-body bind, and then swept his cloak off and put it away before going to meet Neville and Ron.

"You should probably loosen those ropes a bit," Neville suggested to Ron. "He seems to be having difficulty breathing."

"Do you think so?" Ron asked conversationally, and looking at Dolohov's face as it turned from red to purple. "We wouldn't want to take the chance that it's just a ploy to try and escape."

"True," Neville agreed, but he doesn't have his wand, and if I'm right, and he dies, you're going to have to fill out the extra paperwork, 'cause I did warn you."

Ron sighed. "There is that," he conceded, lifting his wand, putting Dolohov in a full-body bind, and removing the ropes. Dolohov gasped, and then began sucking in air, his color returning slowly, though his look of panic when he couldn't breathe at all was replaced by towering hate and fury. "It looks like you were right, Neville. I'll have to work on that spell. It seems I haven't quite got it down."

There had been several doors on the third floor that had been opened, and then slammed shut when the occupants of the rooms had seen the short fight and capture, while the noise of the rest of the tavern emptying out had pretty much come to an end. Harry nodded to Ron, indicating that he should do the honors, and then they needed to get going, and take their prisoners back to headquarters.

Ron smiled, and his eyes were flashing with triumph. "Antonin Dolohov, you're under arrest for the murder of Remus Lupin and various other crimes committed during the Battle of Hogwarts, for all crimes committed during your escape from Azkaban, and all of your actions during the Battle in the Department of Mysteries, including my own personal favorite, the attempted murder, and serious injury inflicted on my girlfriend, Hermione Granger." Ron had been keeping his wand pointed at Dolohov, and with that last pronouncement, the big Wizard went flying backward against the wall, hitting quite hard. "Sorry 'bout that," Ron told Dolohov, not sounding sorry at all. "I still get a bit mad about that, not to even mention the fact that you were one of the Death Eaters who killed my Uncles Fabian and Gideon." He smiled at Neville as Dolohov was slammed back into the wall a second time. "Remind me to get Auror Williamson to work on that spell with me too," he suggested, "though I think he'd be impressed with how strong it was for being non-verbal and unintentional."

"I will, and he would be, Ron, though I'm not sure you can claim it as being unintentional when you did it twice," Neville answered, managing to keep a straight face. He turned to the other Wizard. "We'll get your personal information back at Headquarters, sir, but you're under arrest for aiding and abetting a known Dark Wizard fugitive. I'm sure that Auror-trainee Potter will be happy to escort you to the Ministry of Magic while Auror-trainee Weasley and I bring Mr. Dolohov along."

Harry had been happy to let his friends take the lead on this capture, and thought that Neville must have known what he was feeling when it came to Dolohov – especially now that he was thinking about him being the man who had killed Remus, Ron's Uncles, and tried to kill one of his best friends. He gave himself a mental shake. While the hate and bitterness he'd often experienced before the Battle of Hogwarts had ended might no longer be a part of him, he apparently still needed to work a bit on his capacity to forgive. He definitely wasn't feeling very forgiving right now, and had also felt some small, if a bit guilty, satisfaction at Ron's handling of Dolohov.

"That works for me," he agreed. "Let's leave together. I want to make sure that none of us have any problems getting out of here."

There were four Wizards in the main room of the tavern, each of them with their wands out, but when they saw Dolohov bound and in custody, once Ron announced who they were, and ordered them to put their wands away and stand aside, they quickly complied, none of them willing to test their power against the three Auror-trainees who were already earning a towering reputation in the Wizarding world.

When they were outside of the tavern, Harry dropped his anti-apparition shield, and then side-along apparated his prisoner to the usual spot outside of the Ministry of Magic. Ron, Neville, and Dolohov were right behind him, and they all went inside together. The Atrium was deserted except for security, and the two Wizards were smiling as they cleared the three trainees and their two prisoners. They had the lifts to themselves, and Auror Headquarters was deserted too, so they processed their prisoners, which took a while for the unknown Wizard, and then delivered them to the dungeon holding cells, where another group of guards were especially happy to lock Dolohov and his little helper into a pair of matching cells.

"So do we go get some sleep now, or stay and do all of the reports?" Ron asked. "It's already after four-thirty."

"Let's just stay and get it done," Harry suggested. "By the time we're done, it'll nearly be time for breakfast at home."

"I'll vote for that, if we get to take the day off too," Neville told them. "If we don't see any of the other Aurors before we leave, I'll stop in later today and check in after getting some sleep." Neville didn't end up having to do that, since Gawain stopped in at about a quarter to seven, just as Ron, Harry, and Neville were getting ready to leave.

"Had an Owl Post waiting for me when I got up," he explained. "Security notifies me of any overnight activity. So you caught Dolohov. Any problems I need to know about?"

"Nothing major, and it's all in our reports," Ron answered. "My Incarcerous spell was a bit too tight, and Dolohov couldn't breathe for a half minute or so, and when I told him what he was under arrest for, I accidentally knocked him fairly hard into a wall with a non-verbal."

"Why'd you do that?" Gawain asked, and Ron actually looked a little sheepish about it now.

"He's one of the Death Eaters who killed my Mum's brothers, and he nearly killed my girlfriend in the Department of Mysteries a couple of years ago. I'm still a bit mad at Dolohov about all of that."

Gawain nodded at him. "Very well. We don't condone mistreatment of any prisoners, but your reaction is understandable. Don't let it happen again, Auror-trainee Weasley."

"Yes sir," Ron answered, and while he tried to keep his face impassive, Harry could tell he wasn't happy with their boss' response and reaction to what was, after all, a pretty great capture. Robards left them after confirming that he had copies of their reports, and it wasn't much longer before Harry and Ron went back to the Burrow, and Neville left for home too.

Ginny and her parents were in the kitchen already by the time Ron and Harry got back to the Burrow, and she jumped up and ran over to throw her arms around Harry's neck, hugging him tightly. "Whom did you catch?" she asked, and Ron answered as he continued on toward the table.

"Antonin Dolohov and another Wizard who'd been helping him hide out at that dumpy tavern we've been stuck on stakeout in. This one is definitely my favorite catch so far."

Ginny kissed Harry then led him to the table, grinning at Ron. "I guess Luna and I can work on our own without Hermione when they get here," she told him. "Unless you'll be too tired for the snogging she's going to have for you when she finds out you've put Dolohov away, and this time, it should be for good." Her smile dropped away when she turned to see the look on her mother's face. "Mum? What's wrong?"

Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes, her face had drained of color, and she went over and hugged Ron tightly for a long minute. Mr. Weasley looked a bit misty-eyed too as he answered Ginny's question. "Dolohov was in Azkaban before for killing your Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon," he explained, not sure if they'd ever told their daughter about who'd been responsible for her uncle's deaths. "He's one of the worst and most dangerous of the Dark Lord's followers. Was anyone hurt in the capture? Is Neville okay?"

"He only got one shot off at me before Harry disarmed him," Ron answered, "and I was able to dodge and block it. Nobody was hurt, except Dolohov's got a few rope burns and bruises. I sort of knocked him into a wall by accident – a couple of times."

"Oh Mum, I'm sorry," Ginny told her, and Mrs. Weasley smiled at her.

"That's okay, honey," she assured Ginny. "I'm sure you're right about Hermione wanting to thank your brother. Catching Dolohov is something I'm pretty glad about too, but mostly I'm just relieved that the boys weren't hurt." She had a hug for Harry next, and then ordered them both to sit at the table while she got back to work making breakfast.

"When do you have to go back to work?" Ginny asked Harry, and he smiled. "Not until Wednesday."

Ginny sighed. "Figures. You've got nearly three days off, and I'll be spending two of them studying and writing my last exam."

"But then you'll be done, and we'll still have the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday to spend together."

They had breakfast together, and Ron told his parents and sister all about their night. Hermione got to the Burrow first, and while she didn't take Ron off somewhere to snog him, she did have a long hug and kiss for him before wanting to hear the entire story. By then, Harry was beat, though, so he let Ginny lead him upstairs, where she hugged and kissed him goodnight before sending him into his room to get some sleep. It was mid-afternoon by the time he woke up, and after getting cleaned up and dressed, he went downstairs to the kitchen. Ginny and Luna were working away at the kitchen table, but they were the only two in the house.

"Mum and Dad are having dinner at Bill and Fleur's," Ginny explained, "and we told Hermione to take the rest of the day off an hour or so ago, so she and Ron left, and he's staying over at her house until Wednesday, though they're going to pop over on Tuesday morning to get together and do something with us."

"Would you ladies like to go out for dinner tonight instead of taking the time out of your studying for cooking and cleaning?" he offered. "Your Dad could come along too if he'd like, Luna."

"Thank-you, Harry," she answered. "I'm sure he'd love to do that."

They studied for another hour or so, and then while Ginny went upstairs to get ready to go out for dinner, Luna packed up her books and went home to let her father know of their plans, promising to meet Harry and Ginny at the Leaky Cauldron. That hour and a half was entertaining as Luna and her father both regaled Harry and Ginny with the latest stories fresh from the pages of the Quibbler.

After dinner, Harry and Ginny had gone back to the Burrow, and she'd happily snuggled in his arms on the sofa in the sitting room with her Herbology textbook and notes. He'd closed his eyes for what seemed like a minute, but then opened them when he heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley getting home. Since it was nearly dark out, he knew that he'd dozed off, and when he looked down at Ginny, she was sound asleep, her arms folded over the arm he had around her waist, her head resting against his chest. Mrs. Weasley walked into the sitting room first, and she smiled at Harry.

"She's been working so hard, it's no wonder that she ran out of steam," she whispered, coming over and gently picking up the textbook and notes from where they were laying open on Ginny's lap. "How long has she been out?"

"I'm not sure," Harry answered. "I dozed off too, and just woke when you got home."

"Would you like to wake her up now so you can go up to bed?" she asked next, and Harry shook his head.

"Why don't we let her sleep?" he suggested. "I'm sure she'll wake up on her own in a while, and then we can go up to our rooms."

"That's fine, dear," she told him. "Arthur and I are going up to bed, and we'll see you both in the morning."

She patted his shoulder, and Mr. Weasley smiled and waved at him before they both went up to their room. Harry leaned down and brushed his lips gently against Ginny's forehead, then sat back and watched her sleep for a long time, content and a little mesmerized by his beautiful, amazing girlfriend. He had drifted off to sleep sometime later, and when he woke again, it was because Ginny was waking him up with a soft, warm kiss.

"Thank-you," she breathed, and then kissed him again. "This was much nicer than spending the whole night alone in my bed."

"You're welcome, and I like this much better too," he answered. "If you're ready, let's go upstairs, and you can get a bit more sleep before you have to get up and get ready to go take your last exams."

Ginny hugged him, then brushed a hand through his now-mussed and absolutely adorable hair. "We can go upstairs in a few minutes. We missed out on our goodnight kisses two nights in a row now, and I'd really like to catch up on them first."

On Monday, after taking Ginny to Hogwarts, Harry went back to the Burrow and spent the morning helping Mrs. Weasley with everything from gardening and de-gnoming to laundry and cleaning. After having lunch for two and cleaning up from that, he went to spend some time with Teddy before going back to Hogwarts to pick up Ginny and take her back to the Burrow.

"I think that was the hardest exam," she told Harry and her Mum as she and Harry sat down at the table with drinks while Mrs. Weasley was busy puttering around the kitchen. "Luna's much better at Herbology than I am, but I'm pretty sure that I still did well enough on the practical, and the written exam was fine, if a bit long."

"You're done with exams now," Mrs. Weasley told her. "I'm sure you did as well on them as you did on your OWLs last year."

"How did you do on your OWLs?" Harry asked Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley answered his question, obviously quite proud of her daughter.

"She earned Six O's and three E's. Could have gone on with all nine subjects, though Arthur and I were happy with the six she did decide to continue with."

"Luna was the only one in our year who actually wanted to go on with Care of Magical Creatures," Ginny told him. "I didn't want to go on with History or Astronomy either."

"Hagrid will be excited to have even one NEWT student this year," Harry suggested. "Luna should have been Gryffindor. Taking that class, knowing that Hagrid will want to have her work with Grawp, the spiders, and everything else he'll have her doing is really brave."

"We've known she's really brave for years," Ginny reminded him. "Other students may pick on her a lot, but she really is quite brilliant and suited to Ravenclaw."

"Bravery's never been restricted to Gryffindors," Mrs. Weasley told them, and then smiled ruefully. "We do seem to have more than our fair share of pride, and probably too much daring by half than anyone with sense should have."

Ginny laughed. "You mean like a mother of seven jumping into a duel with a Dark Wizard to save her only daughter and friends?"

Mrs. Weasley laughed too. "That's exactly what I mean," she agreed.

Mr. Weasley joined them in the kitchen when he got home from work, and it was just the four of them for dinner, and afterward, they all went out to the orchard again, with Ginny and Harry putting on a Seeker show for her parents for an hour or so before they all went back inside where they relaxed in the sitting room, listening to music on the WWN and talking quietly, though Harry had mostly been listening, while the others chatted.

"You're very quiet tonight, dear," Mrs. Weasley told him. "What are you busy thinking about?"

Harry smiled ruefully, and sighed. "I guess there's no good time to discuss this," he said quietly. "It's been really great living here with you since the war ended, and I didn't want to bring it up while Ginny needed to concentrate on her exams, but I think it's about time for me to move into my own house now."

"I thought you'd stay here at least until I go back to school," Ginny said, squeezing his hand as if holding on more tightly would keep him at the Burrow with her longer.

"So did I," he agreed, "but there are lots of reasons why I should move. I haven't spent nearly enough time so far keeping the place up, and there is a lot of work to do, just like there is around here. Living out on my own is going to take some getting used to, and it might be easier to start that now when you and Hermione will still be around than it will be if I moved in September and had to deal with that and with missing you as much as I will then too."

"When will you go?" she asked.

"I was thinking about next Monday on my day off," he answered. "Josh will probably tell us on Wednesday what our next assignment will be, so that might change if we get tied up with something at work."

"You'll probably need both of your days off," Mrs. Weasley told him. "Just getting the pantry stocked from scratch, and all of the other supplies you'll need will take most of a day to shop for and get set up properly. Even with that freezing spell, you shouldn't keep any foodstuffs that might have still been in the pantry from back then. Ginny and I can make up a list of what you'll need sometime this week."

"And Hermione and I will be happy to help you with the shopping," Ginny added. "You had better keep coming over here to visit a lot for the rest of the summer, though, or you and I will be having a very long, one-way discussion that you definitely will not like."

Harry laughed, and hugged and kissed her. "I'll probably be here so much, you'll all forget that I moved out," he joked.

They sat up and talked for another hour after that, and Ginny and Harry had a little time to themselves when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed, but when Ginny started falling asleep, tired out after a tough day of exams, Harry led her up to her room, kissed her goodnight, and sent her in to go get some sleep while he went up to his room and spent an hour or so reading and working on some of the lessons from the Introduction to Tracking training manual before he was ready to get some rest too.

Tuesday was a play day. Hermione introduced Ron, Ginny, and Harry to the world of Muggle amusement parks, taking them to spend the day at Thorpe Park, where they all had a blast going on all of the thrill rides, which even Ron had to admit were brilliant. It was late evening by the time Harry and Ginny got back to the Burrow, and they sat and talked with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for a while, but then, after a long, exciting day, they actually went up to their rooms first, ready to get some sleep before they both had to get up in the morning and get back to work.

Harry had taken Ginny to work, and after getting to Auror Headquarters, had joined Ron and Neville for their training session with Josh. This week, they continued their work on concealment techniques, spending nearly three hours practicing them, with Ron and Harry, and Neville and Josh paired up for the exercises. They had their usual meeting around Josh's desk after that, where Harry, Ron, and Neville found out what their next assignment was.

"We're going to be hunting down Walden Macnair and Augustus Rookwood," Josh informed them, handing out copies of the two Death Eater's files to each of his trainees. "When we can, we'll work together, but Neville will be with me, and he and I will work on tracking Macnair, while you," he said, indicating Harry and Ron, "will be chasing down Rookwood."

"What do we have to work with?" Ron asked him.

"It's all in the file," Josh answered. "Family, known friends, favorite places, and everything else that's been gathered that has anything to do with them. Macnair could be almost anywhere – even living with the giants, but Rookwood likes his comforts and the city life, though that won't necessarily make him any easier to find. Read up on them, and then we'll get to work on seeing what kind of leads we can dig up."

They spent the rest of the morning working at their desks, and after lunch, Ron and Harry went on their own little tour of some of the places listed in Rookwood's file until late in the afternoon, when Harry went to pick Ginny up from work while Ron went on ahead back to the Burrow. The three teens helped Mrs. Weasley with making dinner, and then sat down to eat shortly after Mr. Weasley got home from work.

"What are you doing tonight?" Mr. Weasley asked them after they were all seated and starting to fill their plates.

"It's Neville's birthday tomorrow, and Bill and Fleur's anniversary on Saturday, so I was thinking about popping over to London to do some shopping to get gifts for them," Harry answered. "Would you like to come along, Ginny?"

She smiled and nodded. "Definitely," she agreed. "Shopping is always good. Did you have anything in mind?"

Harry shrugged. "Not really. I thought we could just look around and see what we can find, though if you and your Mum know of anything Bill and Fleur need for the house or anything, that'd be great too."

"I should check with Hermione to see if she wants to pick up something for Bill and Fleur, and Neville too," Ron told them.

"Which gives you a good reason to spend another evening with her," Ginny pointed out, and Ron grinned at her.

"That's a rather nice bonus. Now I just have to come up with an excuse – I mean good reason – to see her tomorrow night too, and I'll have the week covered."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided to go to Diagon Alley and wander around for the evening too, so while Ron went over to Hermione's to see what she wanted to do, everyone else apparated to Diagon Alley. Harry and Ginny went around with her parents to pick out gifts for Bill and Fleur, and then they split up after doing that, with Harry and Ginny going off on their own to get gifts for Neville. They picked up a boxed quill and ink set, wrapping paper, and a card at the stationary store, a new book on plants at Flourish and Blotts, and a box of Neville's favorite chocolates, getting the gifts wrapped while they had a drink and snack at one of the cafés.

"I'm surprised we haven't seen Ron and Hermione," Ginny said as they started wrapping the gifts.

"Maybe Hermione had already picked something up," Harry suggested. "They might have gone to a Muggle Mall instead if she hadn't."

Ginny nodded. "Maybe. What would you like to do next?"

"I was thinking about stopping in at St. Mungo's," he answered.

"What for?" Ginny asked, confused for a moment, but then she smiled and nodded. "You bought one of these for his Mum and Dad to give him, didn't you?"

"I thought that even if his Mum doesn't know who he is, that maybe she'd like to have something more than gum wrappers to give him on his birthday. The quill set should do nicely, don't you think?"

Ginny leaned over, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. They both laughed when they heard a little girl at a table nearby giggle, and Ginny winked at her before turning back to Harry. "I love you, and the quill set will be just perfect."

They wrapped the gifts, finished their snack and drinks, and made another stop at the stationary store for another card before leaving Diagon Alley and going on to St. Mungo's. It didn't take long to make their way up to the fourth floor, and ward forty-nine. The Witch in charge of the ward was quite happy to let them in to visit the Longbottoms, and Harry was thankful when she distracted Lockhart, who jumped up from the chair by his bed, offering to sign autographs for them.

"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom, Mr. Longbottom," Harry said quietly as he and Ginny sat down in two chairs that were between her bed and her husband's. They were both propped up in their beds, and Alice smiled at them, while Frank just turned his head toward them, staring vacantly as if he didn't see them at all. Ginny squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"There's a young man who comes to visit you," Harry continued, smiling back at Neville's mother. "His birthday is tomorrow, and I thought you might like to have a gift and card to give him when he comes to see you in the morning."

They watched as Alice's smile brightened at the word 'gift', and she reached into her pocket for something, and then held it out to Ginny, who was closest to her. Ginny and Harry both grinned when she showed him the Drooble's best blowing gum wrapper.

"Thank-you, Mrs. Longbottom," Ginny said, patting her arm.

Harry suddenly had an idea, and pulling out his wand, he drew the curtains around the two beds so they could have a little privacy. Ginny looked at him curiously, and he smiled. Leaning close, he whispered – "I've just thought of something, and didn't want anyone looking on for a minute."

Ginny nodded, and watched as he turned his attention back to the still smiling Mrs. Longbottom. "Legilimens," he thought, though he did this much differently than he'd ever tried before – more like a gentle breath than the brutal force that could be used, and there was no resistance as he entered Mrs. Longbottom's mind, ever so carefully sifting through the wreckage that he found there until he located a memory so deeply buried that it lay there, forgotten by it's owner. A memory of a baby boy – her baby – as she rocked him in her arms, while her handsome husband held them both, smiling happily down at Neville, the little miracle they'd made together.

Without really thinking about the how, he restored that memory to her, moving on to find fragments of others that he could also restore, and then tied those in with the memories she had of the baby, child, teen, and more recently, young man who'd either been brought in, or come alone to visit his parents. When he was done, he withdrew, and repeated the process with Neville's father. When he was finished, he turned and smiled at Ginny.

"What did you do?" she whispered, and he leaned close before answering.

"I've tried to put some of their memories back together for them," he answered. "I'm not quite sure whether it will help or not."

"N-Neville?"

It was less than a whisper, but Harry and Ginny both heard, and turned to look at Neville's mother, who was staring at Harry and looking confused.

"No, I'm not Neville," he answered quietly. "Neville will be coming to see you in the morning. It's his birthday tomorrow, and he always comes to see you on his birthday." Mrs. Longbottom's face brightened, and she reached into her pocket again and then handed another gum wrapper to Ginny.

"Thank-you," Ginny said as the woman happily patted her hand this time.

"We brought a gift and a card that you can give Neville for his birthday tomorrow," Harry said, thinking that the more he repeated Neville's name, and the fact that it was his birthday, the better the chance she'd remember. He stood up and set the gift onto the table next to her bed. There was a book there, so he picked it up, opened the card, and handed them to her. Ginny handed him a quill out of her bag, and he passed that on to Mrs. Longbottom too. She looked up at Harry, smiling and seemingly waiting for instructions.

"Do you think you could manage 'Happy Birthday, Neville'?" he asked gently, and she looked from him down to the card. Her hand shook slightly as she began to write, and her face was a mask of concentration. It took her quite a while, but when she was finished, she looked up at Harry again, her smile bright and she seemed quite proud of herself. "That's absolutely perfect," he assured her, and she beamed at him. He took the quill, card, and book from her, and handed the quill and card to Ginny, who smiled when she read it.

"Happy Birthday, Neville… Love, Mum and Dad."

Harry showed the card to Mr. Longbottom, who took it in his hand and looked at it, though his gaze still seemed vacant and unseeing, and when his hand dropped back down to his side, Harry retrieved the card, slid it into the envelope, and put it on top of Neville's birthday present. He'd sat down next to Ginny again, and talked to the Longbottoms about their son for another fifteen minutes. He told them about how much he had done during the war and the battles he'd fought in, told them how proud they should be of how well he was doing as an Auror-trainee, and even got a soft, happy little laugh out of Mrs. Longbottom when he confided in them that he was sure that their son was sweet on a pretty young Witch named Hannah Abbott.

"Are you having fun, Alice?" the Witch who'd let Harry and Ginny into the ward asked, sliding the curtain back and joining them just as Mrs. Longbottom had laughed. "What have we here?" she added, seeing the present on the table.

"We thought that Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom might like to have a gift for Neville when he comes to visit in the morning," Harry explained, and the woman smiled at him. "We don't have to let him know who helped his Mum and Dad out with that, do we?"

"No we don't," she agreed. "This is a lovely thing for the two of you to do for them. I'll make sure that Alice remembers to give it to him tomorrow." She laughed softly, her eyes sparkling and a bit teary. "I hope he'll like this gift as much as he likes the wrappers."

Ginny laughed too and showed the Witch the two wrappers she still held. "They are pretty great, but I think he'll like that gift too."

"I really hate to break this up, but visiting hours are almost over," she told them, and Harry and Ginny both stood up.

"We have to leave now, Mrs. Longbottom," Harry told her. "Say Hi to Neville for us when you see him tomorrow." He smiled when she held her frail arms out, and he leaned close to gently hug her, then stepped back so Ginny could do the same. While she was doing that, he turned to Neville's father.

"Have a good night, Mr. Longbottom," he said quietly, putting his hand in the man's hand and squeezing gently. He didn't think that either Ginny or the other Witch noticed, but for just a moment, Frank Longbottom squeezed Harry's hand back, and when his eyes locked with Harry's, it seemed that he was really seeing him, but then the moment was gone, and he was again staring vacantly, and his hand was limp in Harry's grasp.

They were escorted out of the ward, after one more, brief stop to collect the envelopes that Lockhart had made up for them with autographed pictures of himself that they thanked him for. When they left the hospital, Harry side-along apparated them back to the Burrow, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were in the sitting room, talking with Ron and Hermione.

"Is it our turn to get you overnight?" Ginny asked, and Hermione laughed.

"No. I'll be heading home in a bit," she answered. "Did you get lost? We looked all over Diagon Alley for you when we finally got there."

"We were at St. Mungo's for a while," Ginny explained. "Harry and I picked up a gift for Neville's parents to give him tomorrow when he stops in to see them. We stayed until visiting hours were over." Digging into her bag, she pulled out the envelopes and handed one each to her parents, Ron, and Hermione, grinning at them. "Professor Lockhart wanted to make sure we had enough of them for all of our family and friends."

The others laughed, but as Harry sat down with Ginny, he leaned close, kissed her cheek, and whispered – "Thanks."

Ginny smiled at him, and snuggled close before turning her attention back to Hermione. "So that's why we weren't in Diagon Alley anymore. What kept you from getting there earlier when we were still shopping?"

"We popped over to one of the Muggle Malls first," Hermione answered. "I picked up a book about dangerous Muggle plants that I thought Neville would find interesting, and that only took a few minutes, but then Ron got caught up checking out a Muggle toy store."

"They had some pretty cool toys there, even if they weren't magical," Ron protested. "Dad would have loved the flying toy airplanes."

"They have those?" Mr. Weasley asked, his eyes lighting up.

Ron nodded. "Airplanes, remote-control cars, and all sorts of things."

"Maybe you and Hermione could take your mother and I there sometime and show us," Mr. Weasley suggested.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at him. "And maybe you could stick to playing with that Muggle motorcycle that you don't think I know about, and be happy."

Mr. Weasley looked surprised for a moment, and then smiled ruefully, looking a lot like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I love you, Molly."

Leaning close to him, Mrs. Weasley kissed her husband and patted his arm. "I love you too, honey."

"Oi, Mum!" Ron said, looking away. "Cut that out, you're scaring the children."

"Write that one down, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley suggested. "I'm going to love using that line back on him when he's got kids of his own."

They sat and talked for a bit over a half hour, and when Ron walked Hermione out to see her off, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took that opportunity to go up to bed. Ron stopped in a while later to wish them a good night, and then Harry and Ginny had the sitting room to themselves. She stretched out on the sofa, laying her head on the armrest as usual, and sighing contentedly as Harry pulled her close and held her in his arms.

"What exactly do you think might happen with Neville's parents?" she asked him quietly. "I thought they were incurable."

"From what I saw, they probably can't be healed," he agreed. "I'm hoping that what I did do will allow them to at least, in some small part, recognize that Neville is their son."

Ginny nodded. "How'd you do that?"

"I'm not completely sure," he admitted. "I sort of put together what I know about Legilemency, and Memory Charms, and the way you work with memories in a pensieve. Their minds are so shattered, though, I just don't know how well they'll be able to comprehend the memories I patched back together of Neville."

"Mrs. Longbottom did say his name, and sign that card Mum and Dad," Ginny reminded him, "and you didn't prompt her for either of those, though you did suggest the 'Happy Birthday, Neville' for the card."

"That was pretty great," Harry agreed, "but we'll have to see whether any of that will stay with her over time or not."

"I knew you wouldn't want to talk with the others about that, but other than your deep need to strive for the impossibility of anonymity, why?" Harry smiled and looked into her beautiful, bright brown eyes, brushing a hand along her cheek and through her long, lustrous hair.

"You already suspect the answer," he said, and Ginny smiled too, her eyes flashing, and quite as fiery as her hair.

"Yes, but you haven't really talked about it," she agreed.

"I'm still trying to figure it all out," he explained. "You deserve the truth, though – or at least as much of it as I understand so far." He took a breath and she nodded for him to go ahead.

"You know already Riddle hit me directly with a killing curse," he continued. "The reason that his attack didn't kill me was because it killed something else instead. When he tried to kill me after killing my Mum and Dad, and the spell rebounded on him, a piece of his soul was torn – unknown to him – and ended up in me." He leaned down and kissed her when he saw there was nothing in her eyes other than love and complete trust, not the horror that probably anyone else would feel at hearing those words.

"That's what he killed in the forest – the part of me that had become his unknown horcrux. With it gone, I've been changed, or made whole. I don't exactly know what to call it, but I'm also stronger than before, by a lot. There've been other things happening, like tonight, when I just sort of knew I should try to help Neville's Mum and Dad. It was just like when your Mum fought Bellatrix, and I knew that she was going to win their duel, and how, before it happened."

Ginny put her arms around his neck and pulled him close for a long, passionate kiss, then let him go again and smiled at him, her eyes searching his. "Nope, you didn't see that coming," she teased. "Better keep working on that talent."

"Seeing things before they happen, or kissing you like that?" Harry asked, smiling too.

"Work on both," Ginny decided. "Any other new talents?"

"I'm going through the Auror training lessons a lot faster than I ever managed with my classes at Hogwarts," he answered. "Some of the lessons are things I've already learned, but others are new, yet I seem to be able to learn those new spells and charms easily - almost like I already knew them somehow."

"That would come in handy for me this year," she mused. "Any chance you can teach me how?"

Harry laughed. "I don't even understand how I do it myself, or I'd love to show you the trick."

Ginny sighed. "Oh well. I guess I'll just have to muddle through my NEWT year on my own talents and a little help from my girlfriends."

"With all of that going for you, I'd say you're in for a brilliant year," Harry predicted.

On Thursday morning, after having breakfast, and sharing a rather brilliant kiss goodbye from Ginny, Harry left the Burrow with Ron, and they got straight to work, continuing to do initial evaluations of the different places that they were hoping they could get leads on finding Rookwood. The only break in their day was when they met up with Neville, Ginny, and Hermione at the Leaky Cauldron to have a birthday lunch with their friend.

"Are you having a good day?" Ginny asked him as she took her turn hugging him after Hermione. "You look really excited."

Neville's smile was brilliant as he nodded. "It's been my best birthday ever," he confirmed. "Mum and Dad had a birthday present for me when I went to visit them before work, and I got a really great quill and ink set. There was a card, and Gran said the writing was shaky, but definitely my Mum's, and she'd written 'Happy Birthday, Neville', and 'Love, Mum and Dad' on it. The very best part of the visit was that Mum actually wished me a Happy Birthday out loud for the first time – well, I guess except for back on my first birthday, but I don't remember that anyway. At first, I thought I'd imagined it, but when I looked at Gran, I knew that she'd heard it too." He was still smiling happily, but his eyes were full, and Ginny hugged him again.

"If that wasn't enough," he continued, "after she said that, my Dad looked over at my Mum, and said – "That's our boy," and Gran started crying and shouting for the Witch who watches Mum and Dad, and the other patients on that ward." He laughed happily.

"She thought we were nuts until Mum said – "My Neville. His birthday today," and Dad repeated what he'd said earlier, just like they were having a little conversation. It was absolutely brilliant!"

"I'm so happy for you," Hermione said, giving him another hug too. "Let's sit down and order our food, and you can tell us the whole story."

They did that, and the girls had Neville open his presents between ordering their food and when it was delivered. Hannah had smiled and wished Neville a happy birthday when she'd seen the presents in front of him, and as they were finishing their meal, she brought over five pieces of chocolate cake, one slightly larger than the others, and with a single, lit candle in it.

"Don't forget to make a wish," she reminded him with a bright smile before she hurried off again. Neville did that, and was blushing slightly when he looked up at his friends.

"With as great as his day's been, I wonder what he could have possibly wished for?" Ron asked innocently.

"Whatever he wished for, I hope it comes true," Ginny told them, then smiled at Ron. "Unless he wished for a sense of humor for you, 'cause that'd just be a total waste of a wish."

They had their chocolate cake, and then it was time for Harry, Ron, and Neville to get back to work, so Harry paid their bill, and after a round of hugs and kisses goodbye, he and Ron got back out on the road, working until nearly eight o'clock, getting caught up in following a Witch around London who seemed to be doing some kind of rounds, though other than making quite a number of stops, didn't end up giving away anything specific of interest. When they finally got back to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley had leftovers for them, and she, Mr. Weasley, and Ginny sat at the kitchen table, having a little bedtime snack and drinks, talking with the boys while they had their late dinners. After that, Harry and Ginny were left alone to have a little late evening cuddle time in the sitting room, but after so many long days in a row, they didn't stay up very much longer before going up to bed too.

"Happy Birthday, Harry."

Before his brain had fully registered those words, he was being kissed rather seriously, and he put his arms around Ginny, and held on as she threw herself into that moment and completely rocked his morning. It was a good thing he was in bed, because if he'd been standing, by the time she moved back to where she could look down at him, her smile bright and lighting up his room, he would have been a puddle on the floor.

"Wow," he breathed. "And I thought your present last year was a best birthday present ever."

Ginny laughed and kissed him again, this one soft and incredibly sweet. When she moved back this time, it was so she could plop a present onto his chest. He grabbed his glasses and put them on, then sat up, leaned close, and kissed her again before opening the present. Ginny looked as excited as he was, and she held her breath when he opened the box.

"You're brilliant!" he exclaimed, putting his arms around her and kissing her until they were both breathless and laughing. "I love you!" he added, reaching into the box that was still on his lap and taking out the two small mirrors. He handed one to her and she smiled happily at him, thrilled that he so obviously loved what she'd gotten for him.

"We'll need to work out times when it's best for both of us, but we'll be able to talk to each other when I'm away at school."

"Ginny, they're…" Harry trailed off as his mirror vibrated slightly in his hands, and he looked down to see Ginny's smiling face in it. He laughed, and heard his own voice coming from the mirror she was holding, and he could see his own smiling face in her mirror. "I love you. Thank-you so much."

"You're welcome," Ginny assured him. She put her arms around him again, and they shared another brilliant kiss.

"Wherever did you find another set?" Harry asked. "I've only ever heard of the set that Sirius and my Dad used, and I broke one of that set."

"Hermione and I made them," she answered, and laughed when Harry hugged and kissed her again. She stood up, and held out her hands to him. "You've got to hurry up and get ready for work. Mum's cooking breakfast, and we've got company coming, since we couldn't be sure whether a birthday dinner was an option when you never know what will come up when you're out in the field."

Harry took her offered hands and stood up, then put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She kissed him once more, and then left his room and hurried downstairs to help her mother while he went to have a shower and get ready for the day. By the time he got downstairs to the kitchen too, George, Percy, Bill, Fleur, and Hermione were there, and he was in time to catch the tail end of the welcoming hugs and kisses.

Everything was ready by then, so they all sat down to eat. Bill and Fleur had announced that they were going away for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary, so Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Hermione left the table long enough to get the gifts they'd expected to give to them sometime on Saturday, and the family breakfast turned into a mini birthday and anniversary party. It was nice being all together, since that didn't happen as much as they'd like, but it didn't seem nearly long enough before it was time for the working members of the group to start leaving for Diagon Alley, the Ministry, or in Harry and Ron's case, a continuation of Thursday's work, where they hoped to continue following the Witch who had caught their interest and suspicion.

Ginny's suggestion that doing a birthday dinner for Harry might not have worked proved out as he and Ron ended up following the Witch as she moved around the city from place to place until after ten o'clock. George had taken Ginny home after the store closed, and she was still waiting up for them, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had already gone up to bed. She sat next to Harry at the kitchen table while he and Ron had a quick dinner, and then Ron went up to bed, while Ginny led Harry into the sitting room, curled up in his arms, and shared some soft, tender kisses with him before laying her head against his chest and falling asleep.

The early morning wake-up that followed a few hours later wasn't the only one that weekend, and they both thought that those quiet hours together were the best part of their weekend. For Harry and Ron, the rest of their days and evenings were filled with tedium. By the end of the day on Saturday, they'd pretty much decided that the Witch they were following was more likely just a runner of some sort, and after filing a report documenting everything, and recommending that she might be someone the Hit Wizards would be interested in keeping an eye on, they moved on in search of other leads. When they wrapped things up on Sunday evening after following another dead end for a few hours, they were ready for their two days off, even though they would both be doing a fair bit of work getting Harry moved into his house.

On Monday, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had spent the day getting everything on the shopping list that Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had come up with, clearing out what little had been in the pantry and kitchen at his house, and then putting everything away. They hadn't gotten that all done until nearly dinnertime, so they decided to call it a day, and pack and move Harry's things from the Burrow on Tuesday instead of working for a few more hours in the evening. Instead, Hermione stayed overnight at the Burrow too, and they spent the evening visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

That had worked out great for them, when on Tuesday morning, while they were having breakfast; two Owl Posts arrived bearing Hogwarts letters for Hermione and Ginny. Ron and Harry had both laughed as their girls excitedly untied the envelopes from the two owls, and then tore into them as if they were presents at Christmas.

"You're to be Head Girl!" Ginny exclaimed as she looked over and saw the badge slide out of Hermione's envelope. She shouted with excitement when she saw the badge that slid out with her letters. "And I'm Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain!" She set her letter on the table and threw her arms around Harry, kissing him quite enthusiastically.

"Oi, Ginny," Ron protested, looking away. "Has everyone in this house gone mental?"

Hermione laughed, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. "If we have, then I'd say it's about time," she teased before kissing him again.

"Congratulations," Harry told Ginny. "How'd you do on your exams? You'll be in seventh year?"

Ginny picked up the letters she'd put down, and glanced at the top sheet of parchment. "Four O's and two E's," she announced, and laughed happily when her mother had a big hug for her.

"Way to go, honey," she said proudly. "I knew that all of the hard work you girls have put in would pay off."

"Would it be okay with everyone if I take you all out for dinner tonight to celebrate?" Harry asked. "I think we should definitely do something special for Hermione and Ginny. We'd want your parents to come too, if they can," he told Hermione.

"I think that's a wonderful suggestion, dear," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Why don't you check in with your mother and father and see if they'd like to join us at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, Hermione. Would six o'clock be a good time?"

"It would be for me," Mr. Weasley agreed. "Percy will likely be busy at the Ministry, and George will be tied up with his store, but I can see if Bill and Fleur can make it."

The only change in the moving plan was that Hermione and Ron popped over to her house so she could tell her parents that she'd been made Head Girl, and invite them to the celebration dinner. While they were gone, Harry and Ginny helped with the breakfast cleanup, and then they went up to his room to pack his things. That took a surprisingly short amount of time, and when they were finished, Harry waved his wand, and his trunk and the few boxes they'd filled vanished as he sent them on to the master bedroom of his house.

"Whatever should we do while we wait for Ron and Hermione to get back?" Ginny asked, stepping close to Harry and putting her arms around him.

"I'm sure we can think of something," he answered, putting his arms around her too. They'd only shared a couple of soft kisses before hearing footsteps on the stairs, and Ginny sighed.

"Sometimes Hermione is just a little too efficient," she complained, and Harry laughed, kissing her again before Ron led Hermione into the room.

"You're done already?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

"At this end. We just sent everything over to the other house," he confirmed. "Were your Mum and Dad able to come for dinner tonight?" he asked Hermione, and she bobbed her head, still looking as excited as she'd been when the Owl Posts had arrived.

"They can. If you're all set here, why don't we head over there, get you unpacked, and then maybe we'll have time to go play for the afternoon."

Getting unpacked didn't really take all that long either, and they spent the rest of the day in London, doing a little shopping, having lunch at one of the cafés in Diagon Alley, and spending a couple of hours at the beach before going to three different homes to get ready for dinner. That had seemed very strange to Harry, being alone in his house, spending an hour getting ready with no need to share bathrooms, and nobody to chat with while waiting for everyone to be ready to go. He went over to the Burrow at about a quarter to six, and even though it had been his home for the past three months, it felt different now too.

"How are you doing?" Ginny asked him quietly as she met him with a warm hug and kiss. She'd been alone in the kitchen when he came into the room.

"Okay, but the last hour or so has definitely felt a bit odd," he answered. "You look beautiful."

Ginny smiled happily and kissed him again. "Thank-you. Dad's just run upstairs to get changed, and Mum's almost ready to go too. Bill and Fleur will meet us there, and Ron and Hermione left about five minutes ago, and are coming with her parents, so it'll just be the four of us leaving from here."

They sat at the kitchen table, holding hands, and talking quietly while they waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. When they were all ready, Ginny side-along apparated with Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, her parents right behind them, and they went inside. Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, and her Mum and Dad were already there and seated, so they joined them, doing a round of hugs and kisses before sitting down.

"Percy asked me to tell you congratulations, and if you'd like any pointers, he'd be happy to answer any questions you have," Mr. Weasley told Hermione. He smiled at Ginny. "He also asked me to congratulate you, and if you have any Quidditch questions, you're to ask any of your other brothers."

Ginny laughed. "I'll do that," she answered, "and Hermione, you could always talk to Bill if you have any questions. He was Head Boy too, and wouldn't give you the hours-long lecture that Percy would have."

"I'll be happy to help if you need anything," Bill offered. "It's really not much different than being a prefect – just more work. Having the Head's office to work in is a pretty great perk, since you've got a place to go with some privacy that you can't get in the Common Rooms or Dorms. You'll definitely like that quite a lot." He grinned at Ron. "Good thing you're not going back too. You'd have probably spent all of your time figuring out new ways to get called into the Head's office to get Hermione alone instead of studying."

"Did you have any girls getting in trouble so they'd be sent to your office?" Fleur asked him. She laughed when Bill smiled, his eyes sparkling, but didn't answer. "I think that might be a yes," she suggested. "We'll talk about that later," she promised him.

As he often seemed to do, Harry mostly sat back and enjoyed watching his friends, and listening to the conversation and banter as they had their meal together. After dinner, he went back to the Burrow with Ginny and her parents, while Ron went home with Hermione and her Mum and Dad. He'd stayed at the Burrow until about an hour after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone to bed, and he and Ginny had spent that hour snuggled on the sofa, sharing a brilliant snogging session before they agreed that it was time for him to leave for home.

"I'll see you in the morning," Ginny told him as she held him close. He was still going to take her to work before going on to Auror Headquarters.

Harry nodded. "I love you, Ginny," he whispered. "Have a good sleep."

"I love you too," she answered, and then pulled him close for another soft, tender kiss. "You sleep well too."

There were a few more last goodnight kisses, and then Harry apparated home. It was just the start of August, and with only four weeks until Ginny and Hermione would be going back to school, it was likely to be a very busy month. Harry hadn't been sure how things would go for his first night alone in his very own house, but even though he felt too much alone, this place definitely felt like home to him right from the start. Once he'd climbed into the comfortable, king size four-poster bed, it hadn't been long before he fell asleep. This change in his life, in a way that was much different than going from Hogwarts student to Auror-trainee, seemed to mark one of those no turning back points where he was now leaving his childhood behind, and truly beginning the life of the man he hoped to become.


	5. Summer's End

Chapter Five – Summer's End

Both at the Burrow, and at Harry's house, his first morning out on his own made for changes, some good, and others not so great. Ginny loved that there was more bathroom time available to her – especially with both Ron and Harry gone, but she definitely missed seeing Harry around the house, sharing a hug and kiss or two with him, and not having him next to her as she had breakfast with her parents. Her mother had cooked a bit too much for just the three of them, and seemed a little sad. Ron might not be moving out, but Harry was like another son to them, and it felt almost the same to her as it had when Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the twins had each moved out as they'd grown up.

For Harry, the good was that feeling of independence that kept a young Wizard or Witch smiling for days after moving out on their own for the very first time. The not so great was wishing he could share it with Ginny, missing getting to spend the time before work with her, and missing Mrs. Weasley's breakfast, which would certainly have been better than what he'd made for himself. After eating and cleaning up, he still had twenty minutes before he was supposed to be over to the Burrow to pick Ginny up, so while he waited, he went outside and spent the time clipping the grass, and when he was finished, the lawns looked as perfect as they had the moment he'd released the freezing charm. When he got to the Burrow, still five minutes early, Ginny had thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him as if she hadn't seen him in a week instead of just a handful of hours.

"How was your first night?" she asked.

"Pretty good, though I missed you a lot this morning, and my new cook isn't nearly as good at making breakfast as your Mum," he answered. "After that hug and kiss, my day has pretty much gone from good to brilliant."

Mrs. Weasley had laughed at his comments and had hugged him too before Ginny grabbed her bag, hugged her mother goodbye, and left for work with Harry. She had another hug and a few kisses for him before she went into George's store, and then he moved on to Auror Headquarters to meet up with Ron and Neville for their usual Wednesday morning training session with Josh.

"We've got a new, temporary assignment," Josh told his trainees as they gathered around his desk. "After we do our morning session, we'll be working with some of the other Aurors, and probably on that case for the rest of the week."

"Have we got a lead on someone?" Ron asked, his face brightening at the prospect of getting away from the tedium of digging up leads on their own cases, even if it was just for a few days.

"Auror Dawlish does, and I'll let him go over the details when we have our first meeting," Josh answered. "He'll be lead on this one, so let's just give him whatever he needs of us, and he can worry about the rest." He smiled at them. "Do keep your eyes open, since this will be a good opportunity to see how we put large-scale operations into action." He stood up, and Harry, Ron, and Neville did too. "Let's go see how many of you actually got through this past week's reading and lesson assignments."

Harry and Neville both grinned at that, but Ron looked just a bit uncomfortable as they followed Josh to the room they usually used for their training sessions. They worked hard for a couple of hours, but ended early so they could get to the first meeting Dawlish was leading with a total of twenty-four Aurors, including their group of four.

"We've got a solid lead on Mulciber," Dawlish began. He looked around at his fellow Aurors, but pointedly looked past Harry, Ron, and Neville. The Minister of Magic and others might make a big deal over the new trainees, but he'd earned his Outstanding NEWTs and his position, and he did not approve of allowing unqualified Wizards into the training program.

Harry was already reading the file that had been handed to him by the Witch with the eye-patch – Auror Horton – while Dawlish continued to speak in that superior tone of voice that reminded him a bit too much of Percy's. "The top page of the file is a summary of what I've found out about our target location. It's a large, five-story building that is a combination of offices, warehouse, and possibly is being used for other purposes."

Those details seemed quite lacking to Harry, and it didn't even look like they'd actually been in the building. The determination of offices and warehouse were based on clothing observations of the Witches and Wizards who frequented the building, and the regimented times when many of those arrivals and departures occurred. The second sheet of parchment was a series of detailed drawings of the four sides of the building, with doors and windows clearly marked, but as Harry continued reading, there were no diagrams of the interior floor plans. If the estimated outside dimensions were close, the five floors would cover somewhere around one hundred thousand square feet of space, and for all they knew, it could be a rat's warren of rooms and corridors.

"Over the next two days, we are going to plan and prepare, and then, on Friday morning, we will raid the building, and capture Mulciber and any accomplices or other Death Eaters we find inside," Dawlish concluded. "Any questions so far?"

Harry had lots of questions, and from the looks Ron and Neville exchanged with him, they did too, but all three of them kept their mouths firmly closed. Josh had basically told them to shut up and do what they were told, let the Aurors in charge handle the operation, and watch and learn, so they'd need to keep open minds and reserve judgment.

That got harder to do as the day went on. When Harry went home to make dinner for himself on Wednesday night, he wasn't feeling any better about the upcoming raid than he had from the start. Dawlish had expanded on his plans for the raid, which he seemed to be certain were brilliant, but that Harry thought were made with too little information and zero contingency planning. He'd barely been able to keep from saying anything when the man wrapped up the meeting, and apparently the workday by three-thirty.

The only thing good about that was getting to use that time to go pick up one of Ginny's birthday presents while he had the chance, which was going to allow him to go right over to the Burrow after dinner to spend the evening with her, instead of having to do his shopping later and not getting to spend as much time with her.

"Ron said you were done work early today," Ginny said as she hugged him when he got to the Burrow. "How come you didn't come pick me up from work instead of him?"

Harry grinned at her. "I had to do some running around," he answered, sounding evasive enough to have her smiling back at him.

"Did you get all of that running around done?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"All wrapped up," he agreed, still grinning, his emerald eyes flashing. "What would you like to do tonight?"

Ginny hugged him again, and they shared a soft kiss before she answered. "Since I'm to be Quidditch Captain, I thought we could practice for a while, walk into town after that for ice creams, and then visit with Mum and Dad in the sitting room for the rest of the evening." Holding out his hand, his Firebolt appeared in it a moment later, and Ginny laughed. "That really is very handy," she said, hugging him again before going to get Ron's old Cleansweep and leading Harry outside.

They played for an hour and a half, Harry not even a little disappointed that his fiery girlfriend won three for three catches against him again, and then walked into town for the ice creams with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ron eventually joined them back at the Burrow in the sitting room after spending the evening with Hermione, though he only visited with them until his parents went up to bed, and then mumbled some reason to leave the room so he didn't have to watch his best mate and sister snuggling on the sofa.

Thursday's planning meetings for Dawlish's upcoming raid didn't go much better, in Harry's opinion, but the twenty-one Aurors all seemed quite happy with what they were going to be doing. Ron and Neville definitely shared his discomfort. When Dawlish wrapped up the afternoon session right at three-thirty, the three trainees went to Harry's place to sit down and talk about what they'd be doing in the morning.

"We're either clueless, or they are," Ron told his friends.

Neville nodded glumly. "I'm pretty sure it's them," he answered. "There's so much they're guessing at, and I really think it's a stupid idea to do this raid when they have the largest number of Witches and Wizards there. Even Dawlish thinks that most of them likely don't have a clue what's going on there. A lot of innocents could get hurt if things go sour."

"We don't have a clue what's going on in there either," Harry added. "The best case is actually that most of the workers there are all innocent bystanders. The worst case is that they're all criminals, and we'll find ourselves outnumbered four or five to one."

"With no plan B," Neville agreed. "At least we'll be together with Josh and can cover each other."

"If there's even one good thing about what Dawlish is having us do, that's it," Ron said. "The rest of it is lousy. He sure doesn't think much of us, for sure. Apparently fighting the Dark Lord and his gang for the most of seven years doesn't count compared to a handful of Outstandings on a NEWT report. Have you ever looked into his cubicle? He's got it framed on the wall next to his desk."

"He ought to be proud of that," Neville countered, "Anyone will tell you how hard those NEWTs are."

"I'm not saying they aren't," Ron told him. "Bill and Charlie had loads of them too, but they'd never Lord it over anyone like Dawlish does. He's smart enough too, but I doubt that a creative thought has ever crossed his mind."

"What do you think about Josh and the others just going with the flow on this?" Neville asked.

"None of them are acting like this is anything unusual," Harry answered thoughtfully. "Maybe what Dawlish has set up is as much as they normally do to get ready for a raid. When you think about it, we didn't even do this much for Borgin and Burke's."

"Yeah, and we had one suspect fatality and two Auror injuries out of eight involved in the actual raid if you include Harry and I doing backup on that roof. Twenty-five percent injury rate for the Aurors and fifty percent fatality for the suspects," Ron reminded them. "That's not such a great track record."

"That might be part of the problem," Neville suggested. "They do seem to at least act like they care about Auror casualties, but most of them don't seem to care at all if the people they're after are hurt or killed, and nobody said anything in those meetings yesterday or today about potential civilian casualties, or ways they might need to be protected."

"Let's try to stick together tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to handle whatever happens," Harry suggested. "That's really about all we can do, since the rest of it's out of our hands this time."

Ron and Neville both left for their homes shortly after that, and Harry made his second dinner for one, cleaned up, did a load of laundry and the little bit of housework that needed to get done, and then he went over to the Burrow, taking his broom along for the expected Quidditch practice he was sure Ginny would want to do. Ron joined them for that practice, and after that, they had drinks at the kitchen table with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, visiting with them for a while until Harry decided it was time for him to go home, and Ginny walked outside with him to say goodnight.

"Be careful tomorrow," she told him as they held each other close. "You and Ron both look worried."

"We are," he admitted, "but Ron, Neville, and I will take care of each other, and hopefully everyone else will be okay too."

Ginny nodded. "I'll keep my mirror with me all day. Let me know that you're all okay when you can."

"I will," Harry promised, and held on tightly as she pulled him closer for a fierce, possessive kiss.

"I love you, Harry," she breathed, and he brushed a hand through her hair, still thrilling at hearing her say those words to him.

"I love you too, Ginny," he assured her. "I don't know when we'll be done tomorrow, but if I can, I'll pick you up when you're done work, and I can definitely take you to work on Saturday morning."

"Okay," she agreed before kissing him again. "Get a good night's sleep so you're at your best."

They shared a few more soft kisses, and then Ginny went back inside while Harry returned home, got ready for bed, and went to sleep, sure that whatever happened in the morning, he was going to need to be well-rested and ready for anything that came his way.

He was up early, and at Auror Headquarters more than an hour before he needed to be there. Neville wasn't far behind him, and they both worked at their desks while waiting for Ron and Josh. Other Aurors who were part of the morning's operation were arriving too, and they all met with Dawlish right on time for what Harry, Ron, and Neville found out was essentially a pep talk. When Dawlish was done doing that, it was time for the Aurors to begin making their way out of the Ministry of Magic in small groups of two to four. Josh led his trainees out, and they were the first group to leave. Their instructions included forty-five minutes of hopping around the country to throw off any would-be pursuit, though it wasn't clear to Harry, Ron, or Neville exactly who would be pursuing them for that to be necessary – especially since they'd lose anyone the first time they apparated, unless they knew where they were going in advance.

They were covering, and would be entering in through the west side of the building. There were only two entrances along that wall, so they were to get in, seal the doors, and then join in with rounding up and holding everyone in the building until they found where Mulciber was hiding. The building was protected, and when those shields were broken, they were to go into action. Harry and Ron were paired, and they watched both the building and the spot where Josh and Neville were, the latter because their immediate boss would be giving them a hand signal to confirm when it was time to jump into action.

"Did you feel that?" Ron whispered, and Harry gritted his teeth.

"It's been botched!" he whispered back. He lashed out and blasted the rest of the shielding away, then threw up the anti-apparition spell that should have already been in place, but had failed when most of the shielding had remained intact after the initial attack.

"We're to go," Ron told him, knowing what Harry had just done, and that he hadn't seen Josh's signal.

Before they even reached the door they were to have covered and secured, it burst open, and two Wizards came rushing out, firing curses the moment they saw Ron and Harry. With Harry's shield up and blazing brilliantly even in the bright daylight, he and Ron both fired back, one Wizard being blasted back through the door, and the other stunned, and then bound before he even hit the ground. Ron levitated him back through the door too, and they jumped through one at a time. The levitated and bound Wizard was hit with a spell, while Harry's shield blocked three others as he and Ron dodged away from the door to the left and right.

"The door's sealed," Harry shouted loud enough so Ron would hear him over the sounds of the fighting that were erupting all through the ground level. They were standing in a large, open room, but there was a wall dividing them from Josh and Neville. They didn't have time to worry about the other half of their team at the moment, though, since there were five Wizards and two Witches arrayed against them, and looking a bit wild as they tried to find an escape route.

"Surrender your wands!" Ron ordered. "This is an Auror raid, and we are taking everyone in the building into temporary custody!"

His demand was answered by a series of attacks that Harry and Ron both had to work hard at to defend against before counter-attacking. They disarmed and bound five of their attackers before the remaining two threw down their wands, which Ron retrieved, and they too were bound until someone had time to sort everything out later.

"Let's get moving," Ron suggested, and after making sure that they were all securely bound, they left their first group of captives behind and moved deeper into the building.

Two more groups of combatants confronted them, and Harry and Ron subdued the first group of four, and after disarming three of the second group, the others fled. When they found a set of stairs, they went up to the first floor, where they fought another group of Witches and Wizards in a large workroom, needing to fight through all of them, and then found a group of more than a dozen non-combatants huddled in a room who all gladly surrendered their wands in exchange for Harry sealing them into the room to keep them safe. From there, they moved up to the second floor, and there was already fighting going on there when they came out of the stairway and right into the middle of a firefight.

"Down!" Harry shouted to Ron as one of the other Aurors fired a pair of curses at them without even looking to see if they were friend or foe. They both dove to the floor immediately even as Harry rolled and put up a shield to deflect the attacks while Ron yelled – "Aurors Weasley and Potter!"

As if making a blind attack hadn't been bad enough, the Wizard actually lowered his wand as comprehension of what Ron had shouted dawned on him, and he was hit with a curse that threw him back against the wall ten feet behind him, and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Harry and Ron were already on the offensive again, and Harry disarmed and bound the Witch who had just taken out the other Auror, while Ron was holding off two other Wizards.

They both completely lost track of time as they continued to fight, disarm, and bind their opponents, moving from helping to clear the second floor to the third floor, where they met up with Dawlish, Auror Marchbanks, Josh, and Neville. The four Aurors were up against at least ten opponents who were pressing them hard, and Harry and Ron jumped to the attack, wands flying as they disrupted what had been a fairly organized group, and forcing them to scatter – or at least the ones who were still standing. As some of them turned to face the new attack, Neville and Josh went on the attack too, and it wasn't long before the numbers were in the Auror's favor again.

"Another group headed for the top floor," Dawlish shouted out. "Marchbanks, with me! Williamson, finish up here with your trainees!"

With those orders, Dawlish and Marchbanks ran for the stairs, leaving Josh, Neville, Harry, and Ron still battling four opponents. Harry was beyond frustration by how things had gone so far, and when he heard a scream of pain, and shouts coming from the stairway, he let that frustration out, blasting two of the Wizards off of their feet, and slamming them into walls even as their wands flew to him. Spinning on his heel, he raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time, and diving out into the fourth floor, hitting the ground and rolling, his shield up and deflecting the curses that would have hit him full on if he'd been standing.

The attack had come from Dawlish, who was standing about twenty feet away from him, looking confused even as he fired another series of curses at Harry. Marchbanks was on the floor, unconscious, and bleeding from his nose and mouth. Having no other choice, Harry disarmed and bound Dawlish, but there wasn't any time to think about that, because they weren't alone, and he was again diving and dodging curses, and throwing up boxes and pieces of furniture to intercept killing curses that were being fired at him from two different directions.

"Throw down your wands and surrender!" he bellowed, and heard several laughs.

"Throw down yours, or watch your fellow Aurors die!" a Wizard with a deep, rumbling voice demanded.

Harry ignored him, spinning and firing in the other direction toward where he'd marked one of the attackers, and his attack blasted through an office wall, throwing the Wizard hiding behind it across the smaller room, where he hit the far wall and was pinned as his wand flew to Harry, who was already dodging away from the counter-attacks he felt coming at his back.

"Miles!" a Witch screamed, and Harry had to fight for all he was worth as she stepped away from where she'd been hidden, her wand flashing as she tried to kill Harry. "I'll kill all of you for hurting my boy!" she shrieked, and sent a series of killing curses flying toward Harry and the two downed Aurors. Her eyes were wild and a bit mad as she watched Harry meet her every attack with shields, or with obstacles that thwarted every killing curse.

"It's Potter!" the deep-voiced Wizard shouted, and the woman cackled insanely.

"Hurry up and say hello to him," she jeered, firing curse after curse as Harry continued to defend himself and Dawlish and Marchbanks, "because you'll be needing to say goodbye to him forever any second now!"

The Wizard laughed at her comments, and joined in, his wand a blur as he slashed and flicked out curses of all types, trying anything and everything to get past Harry's defenses. Harry met every attack, and his own wand moved faster than either of his opponents could even see. The pair had obviously worked together for a long time, and used to dueling as a pair. They weren't in a large room, but they moved apart, trying to catch Harry with one of their attacks from his back, but nothing they tried got through.

"Is that the best you can manage?" the Witch taunted. "Can't you even manage one little counter-attack?"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Harry didn't need to look, and continued to defend himself. He smiled at the Witch, who now didn't look nearly as confident as she had a moment ago.

"INCARCEROUS!"

The attacks at Harry's back ended abruptly, and the Witch shrieked in rage again, firing a spell at her partner, probably meant to unbind him, that Harry blocked with a shield even as Josh blasted her off of her feet and Neville disarmed and bound her.

"Good timing," Harry panted, lowering his wand and turning around to face the other three men. "I don't know what happened to Auror Marchbanks, but I had to disarm and bind Auror Dawlish, who attacked me, and if I had to guess, had been confunded, and believed that I was the enemy." He handed Dawlish's wand to Josh, who was looking around the room at the debris from all of the explosions.

"Sorry it took so long, Harry, but we had extra company, and had a little trouble of our own," Neville told him, and Harry nodded.

"Is there any fighting going on elsewhere?" he asked, and Josh nodded too.

"A bit. We're going room to room right now and cleaning up."

"You've got Miles Bletchley in here!" Ron called out, having gone over to take a closer look at the Wizard Harry had pinned against the wall. "I guess he's moved up in the world since the good old days at Hogwarts when he'd attack Witches from behind."

"This pair is Miles' parents," Josh told them. "Long suspected of being Death Eaters, but only recently exposed and added to the most wanted postings. We didn't have anything on their son, but we'll see about that now."

"What do you want us to do next?" Neville asked Josh.

"Let's make sure the rest of this floor is cleared, and then start moving all of the captives down to the ground floor. We've got other wounded, and medi-witches and wizards are probably already here. Once you've cleared the floor, one of you stay with Marchbanks and Dawlish until they've been helped, and I'm going to head down and make sure everyone else starts doing the same thing. We've ended up with a royal mess here. Keep alert for any other surprises."

"Yes sir," Ron answered for all of them, and Josh nodded, already heading for the stairs again.

With their three prisoners and one probably confunded Auror safely bound, Harry, Ron, and Neville cleared the top floor, finding one terrified-looking young Witch not much older than them hiding in a storage closet who immediately surrendered her wand and went with them meekly. She was the only other person up there, so when they were sure it was safe to begin moving their detainee and captives, Neville offered to stay with Dawlish and Marchbanks while Harry and Ron took the Bletchleys and young Witch downstairs, only proceeding to the next floor once they'd either confirmed, or been assured by other Aurors that each area they went through on their way down was secure first.

When they got down to the first floor, they found a group of four Aurors discussing what to do about the shielded room that they were sure was being held by a strong group of combatants, since they'd been completely unable to break through, and Ron had helpfully informed them that they had nothing to worry about while Harry released his protections and the cowering group of Witches and Wizards were gathered up and led downstairs with the young Witch who had been the only non-fighters that Harry, Ron, and Neville had crossed paths with during the raid.

"What's the damage?" Ron asked Josh when they met up with him on the ground floor again. Their trainer was actually looking a bit ragged as he answered.

"We've got an unknown number who got away when the shields weren't taken down properly and the anti-apparition spell didn't get up in time," he answered. "Six fatalities, none of them Aurors; thirty-five injuries of varying degrees, including eight Aurors. There are a total of ninety-one Witches and Wizards being detained or under arrest, including the twenty-seven injured. About half of those did not fight, though I suspect that at least some who did were just trying to defend themselves."

Harry was looking around at the groups of Witches and Wizards, expressions on their faces ranging from livid and hate-filled to terror. "Did we get him?"

Josh shook his head in disgust. "No. Auror Savage found some indications that he may have been, but if he was still here this morning, he was among the ones who got away." He saw the look on Harry's face and shook his head again. "This is not the place," he told his talented young trainee quietly. "We've got too much to do right now."

Harry took a deep, calming breath. "Yes sir," he agreed.

"Let's have the two of you start by helping the medi-Witches and Wizards with any help they need transferring the injured to St. Mungo's," Josh ordered. "Then we'll need to begin sorting out the bad guys from the civilians after that, and I expect we'll be at it for quite some time with so many to deal with."

Harry looked at his watch and was a bit shocked to see that it had been hours since the raid had begun, though it hadn't felt nearly so long. "We'll get started on that," he answered. "This took a lot longer than I realized, Josh. You might want to think about food and drinks for our detainees fairly soon." He wiped the sweat from his face with a sleeve. "It's hot in here too, so we'll need to be careful, or we'll have them dropping from the heat."

"I'll get someone else on that," Josh answered.

Ron went with Harry, and they spent the next hour or more helping to move the most serious of the thirty-five injured to St. Mungo's, and they each also had to transport two of the six bodies, which they'd both found particularly hard to do – especially since two of the fatalities were pretty, young Witches, and one of the Wizards looked like he was maybe fourteen or fifteen, and had probably been working there for a summer job, though neither of them recognized the teen from around Hogwarts.

Neville had joined them to help with that work once he'd finished helping to get Marchbanks and Dawlish to St. Mungo's for treatment, and when they were done moving the injured, they joined the other Aurors on the ground floor again, where Josh put them to work transferring the Witches and Wizards to the Ministry of Magic who were being arrested. Their first trip was with the three Bletchleys, with Miles' parents being the only two, at least so far, who were actually on the most-wanted list.

Word had already reached the Ministry, and the Atrium was packed with reporters and gawkers by the time Harry, Ron, and Neville arrived with their first three prisoners. That slowed them down even more as they had to wade through the crowd just to get to security. When they did finally reach Auror Headquarters, Gawain Robards had another group of Aurors ready to get the basic information from them, and then deal with the rest of the processing for the prisoners so that the three trainees could continue to go back and forth between the two places with groups of three prisoners.

They ended up making eight trips to the Ministry, bringing three Witches or Wizards each time during the afternoon and into the early evening, and then the last trip was with all of the remaining Aurors, and they brought the last three Witches and six Wizards who were being arrested with them. By then, they were all getting tired, but there was still a lot of work to do.

"Why don't you take a break, go pick Ginny up from work and get her home, and grab something to eat?" Ron suggested quietly to Harry when they had a moment to take a breather. "Neville and I can take a break after you get back."

Harry nodded gratefully. "Thanks, mate," he answered, looking at his watch, and seeing that if he hurried, he had enough time to get to George's store before it closed. He hurried out of the building, apparated to Diagon Alley, and went into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where he was nearly floored when Ginny saw him, rushed over, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for letting me know you were all okay," she whispered, since there were still a few customers nearby, and two of them were grinning at the young couple. He'd only taken a few moments to do that in between the first and second trips he'd made to St. Mungo's, so they hadn't been able to talk, but at least she'd known for sure that he, Ron, and Neville were okay. Thankfully, that call had come before the news hit the WWN, and customers began coming in with the latest gossip on the raid, including numbers of injured and killed.

"You're welcome," he had time to whisper back before she kissed him.

"Did we have another love potion get knocked off the shelf again?" George said loudly enough that most of the customers heard and laughed. "Last time that happened, I had three young Wizards declaring their undying devotion to a batch of Pygmy Puffs."

Harry and Ginny laughed, and Ginny hugged her brother when he joined them. "Thanks, George," Harry said quietly. "I really needed a laugh after today."

George shook his hand. "You're welcome, mate. Ginny told me that you and Ron were both okay. Bad scene?"

"Bad enough," Harry agreed. He smiled at Ginny. "I'm only off long enough to take you home and grab a bite, but then I have to get back."

Ginny nodded, and while George had told her she could leave, she stayed and helped out until he was down to his last two customers of the night, hugged him goodbye, and left the store with Harry, who side-along apparated them to the Burrow.

"Thank goodness you're all right, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, crushing Harry with a hug and wiping tears from her eyes. Mr. Weasley was sitting at the kitchen table, and they had the WWN on so they could listen to the still-continuing news reports on the raid. "Arthur checked with Auror Robards, so we knew you and Ron were okay, but…" she trailed off and turned, wiping at more tears.

"Can we put together a sandwich or something for Harry?" Ginny asked, going over and putting an arm around her mother. She looked over her shoulder at Harry. "Have you even eaten at all since breakfast?"

"Just some field rations," he admitted. "Ron, Neville, and I have been running pretty much non-stop. When I get back, they're going to take a break to eat too."

Mrs. Weasley was glad for the diversion, and she made a large sandwich for Harry, then before he left, ordered him to send Ron and Neville straight home, and she'd have something ready for them too. He'd eaten quickly, and after hugging Mrs. Weasley again, went outside with Ginny to say goodbye. She had another long hug and kiss for him.

"I love you Harry," she said, as he got ready to go. "Will I see you in the morning?"

"Definitely," he promised. "I love you too. Have a good night." With that, he apparated back to the Ministry, while Ginny went back inside to help her mother get food ready for Neville and Ron.

Ron rolled his eyes when Harry told him that his mother expected them at the Burrow shortly. "We were just going to grab a bite at the Leaky," he groused, and Harry shook his head.

"She needs to see you, mate," he said in a low enough voice that the other Aurors wouldn't overhear. "Make sure you've got an extra hug or two for her. We all know why days like this are hardest for her."

"The food will be better than at the Leaky Cauldron this time of night too," Neville pointed out, "and a lot quieter too, since it's Friday night."

"Alright," Ron conceded. "Better food, and I won't forget the hugs. We'll see you in a bit. Check in with Josh for what he wants done next. Last I saw, he was with Robards."

While Ron and Neville headed for the lifts, Harry went to join Josh and Gawain. The two Wizards were sitting at Gawain's desk, and the Head of the Aurors waved him to one of the other chairs. Both men nodded to him as he sat down.

"What do you need help with next?" he asked Josh.

"We're just deciding that now," Josh answered. "We've got more prisoners than room in the holding cells, and about half of the injured being treated at St. Mungo's will be brought over as soon as they're fit enough to be released from the hospital." He turned back to face Gawain. "I don't see anything for it but to move the extras to Azkaban, and then bring them back and forth as they're brought before the Wizengamot. With so many, that's going to take a while."

"I agree," Gawain answered. "We've ended up with quite the unexpected haul out of this," he added, looking and sounding quite pleased about it. He'd been looking from Josh to Harry, and his smile faltered when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"With all due respect, sir," Harry said gravely, "six people were killed today, including a teenage Wizard, and most or all of them were probably innocents. A third of your Aurors were injured, and twenty-seven others, of which about half were also innocents, were injured too." Harry took a moment to let a breath of frustration out. "We botched the start of the raid, not breaking through their shields and getting our own anti-apparition shield up in time, and an unknown number of Witches and Wizards in all likelihood escaped. There was significant damage to the property, and through all of that, we didn't achieve the objective of the operation – to capture Mulciber. I don't see much of any good in this."

"Feel better?" Josh asked, and Harry smiled ruefully.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted.

"Don't you feel that getting so many Dark Wizards and their minions off the street was a worthy enough result?" Gawain asked Harry. He was looking at Harry as if he didn't understand that capturing dozens of prisoners was a great achievement, and that the costs were incidental.

"I think we could have done things differently, and avoided so many casualties," Harry answered. "When I fill out my reports, I'll included suggestions on what we could have done instead, but the bottom line is that we didn't know enough about what we were getting into, and the result was about as close to worst case as you can have short of a complete defeat and loss of the raid team. It wasn't just Dark Wizards killing civilians today – it was us, and we should all have a problem with that, sir."

Gawain nodded, his face now a mask of civility. Josh shook his head imperceptibly toward Harry, suggesting that now would be a good time for Harry to shut up, though his expression was suggesting that it was long past time. Harry shifted in his chair, and getting poked in the side, he suddenly remembered the wands he'd collected during the raid. Standing up, he began pulling them out and putting them on Gawain's desk.

"Sorry, sir," he said as the pile grew. "I forgot to hand these in to you earlier."

"You took all of these wands during the raid?" Gawain asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yes, though about a third of them were surrendered by non-combatants," he explained. "The Witches and Wizards who were released after being cleared have probably already been to the Ministry looking to have their wands returned to them."

"Harry, why don't you go down to the holding cells, and you can help out with the prisoner transfers to Azkaban," Josh suggested, and Harry had no problem getting the hint that his trainer was trying to get him moving on. "We'll need to move a bit more than half of them, so it's going to be a long night." Harry nodded, and after putting the last wand on Gawain's desk, he left them to do as ordered, though he was still pretty much ticked off about everything that had happened, and Auror Robards' reaction to his analysis of the raid.

"About a third of them were surrendered," Gawain mimicked after Harry had left, and he was frowning as he looked at the pile on his desk.

"He doesn't think that's a big deal," Josh pointed out, and Gawain looked up at him from the wands.

"I know Shacklebolt's behind the kid, Auror Williamson," he said, and Josh knew when Gawain was using titles and last names, he wasn't happy, "but I'm not nearly as impressed with Auror-trainee Potter, or Weasley and Longbottom for that matter. Until I get all of the information here, for all I know, your trainees are responsible for most of the damage, fatalities, and injuries today, and I'm not the only one who's getting sick and tired of that superior, high and mighty attitude of his, and I'm definitely not interested in a trainee telling me that we're doing everything wrong, and wasting my time with ill-formed suggestions on how to do our jobs." He fixed Josh with a glare now. "I'd strongly suggest that you have a talk with him before I do. Minister's favorite flavor of the month or not, if you can't control him, and keep him away from me, I'll deal with him myself."

"Yes sir," Josh told him. He'd been around a while, and Harry might not be willing to play the game, but he was a veteran now, and knew when to go with the flow.

There didn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done, and in fact, there wasn't, as Harry, Ron, Neville, and quite a few others were kept busy well into the early hours of Saturday morning. They took groups of prisoners up to Azkaban, had to make runs to St. Mungo's to move other prisoners as they were patched up and ready to be released from the hospital, and dealt with a dozen other issues, like irate or distraught family members. It was nearly four in the morning by the time the three friends were done with all of that, and they gathered in Ron's cubicle.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Neville asked them tiredly.

"I'm going home to crash and sleep for a day," Ron answered. "Right after I get something to eat. I'm starving."

Harry smiled. He doubted there would ever be an occasion where Ron wasn't starving, but then again, he was fairly hungry too. "I'm going to stay and do my reports," he told Neville. "I promised Ginny I'd take her to work this morning, and if I go home to bed now, I'll never wake up in time." He shrugged. "They've got to be done this weekend anyway. Gawain wants them on his desk by Monday morning latest."

"I'd like to stay and do that too," Neville said, "but I'm so tired right now, that anything I write down wouldn't likely be very coherent anyway." He nodded to himself and stood up. "If I don't see you later today, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good morning."

Harry and Ron got up too. "Have fun with those reports," Ron told him. "I'm with Neville on this. My reports would be lousy if I try to do them now."

"Go get some sleep, and I'll see you later today," Harry told him. "If Ginny wakes up when you get home, let her know I'll be there in time to take her to work."

Ron left, and Harry went to his cubicle and got started on the reports, which required detailed accounting of everything he'd done and observed during the raid, and a listing of his activities during the rest of the day. He'd been working on that for maybe fifteen minutes when Josh stopped by, sitting down, and putting up a shield around them for privacy. Harry smiled at him.

"Is this where you're to tell me that I've gone too far tonight, and should start acting like a good little trainee?" he asked, and Josh returned his smile.

"Pretty much," he agreed. "Not one for politics, are you?"

Harry laughed. "I'm fairly sure that my record on that is well documented over the years. You know I'm right about what happened during the raid, though."

"Of course, but you're not making any friends doing things this way, Harry. Robards is pretty upset."

"He's mad for the wrong reasons, and wants to shoot the messenger. I didn't join up to make friends and go with the status quo." He looked steadily at Josh to make sure there was no misunderstanding. "We – the Aurors – are going to have to change if we're going to do our job the way it should be done. Auror Robards, and probably a lot of other Aurors are going to need to figure that out soon, 'cause I'm not going to stand around and let things like yesterday's raid keep happening."

"There are more Aurors here who agree with you than you might think," Josh suggested, "but I'm not sure the way you're going about this is the best way to do things."

Harry shrugged. "There's a good chance that you're right about that," he conceded, "but taking years or decades to make those changes more palatable to people isn't an option for me, and I'm not going to be backing down from what I know is right."

"Which means that you'll fill out that report for Auror Robards exactly as promised," Josh surmised, pointing to the parchment on Harry's desk.

"Definitely," he answered. "I'm sure he'll just be one of many who won't be happy about that, but I'm not going to be pulling any punches about what I thought of the raid."

Josh shook his head. "I'm afraid that you're going to start having problems from here on out," he predicted.

Harry laughed again. "Compared to years of mortal danger, having a few problems is remarkably easy for me to live with."

"It's a good thing that you've got at least three friends to watch your back for you," Josh told him meaningfully, and Harry smiled.

"I appreciate that a lot, Josh, but I should give you fair warning that watching my back can be a full-time job, and sometimes it really sucks."

"Funny, Neville and Ron have both basically told me the same thing once or twice," Josh answered.

"They'd know first-hand," Harry agreed.

Josh stood up, and stretched. "I'm going to get out of here. Leave me a copy of your report for Auror Robards so I can be ready when and if he actually decides to blow a gasket over it."

"I will," Harry promised. "Thanks, Josh. Have a good day."

Harry got back to work after Josh left, and by the time he was ready to go home and grab a quick shower and something to eat before going to get Ginny at the Burrow, he'd finished a thirty-two page report and dropped copies of it on Josh's and Gawain's desks.

"You look pretty great for having been awake for more than a day," Ginny told him when he came into the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were at the kitchen table, and she'd gotten up to welcome him with a warm hug and kiss that he'd been very grateful to share with her.

"I'm in disguise," he joked tiredly. "You look beautiful this morning."

"Thank-you," she answered, kissing him again. "Come on and sit down while I finish breakfast, and you can tell us what you've been doing all night."

He did that, and then took Ginny to work, where she had another hug and several kisses goodbye for him. From there, he went straight home, got changed, climbed into bed, and was out cold until he came back to the land of the living late in the afternoon. There was enough time for him to have another shower and get cleaned up and dressed before he needed to hurry back to Diagon Alley to meet Ginny when her shift was over. They went back to the Burrow together, and he stayed for dinner and a quiet evening with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before he went home again, already tired out after only being awake for a handful of hours.

On Sunday, he and Ron spent a couple of hours at Auror Headquarters, mostly so that Ron could finish his reports, and then they were back out in the field for the rest of the day, working until dinnertime, when they both went back to the Burrow, Harry to stay for dinner, and Ron to get a bag ready and leave for Hermione's house, where he'd be spending the next couple of nights. Harry and Ginny had another Seeker practice after dinner, and he stayed fairly late as they caught up on a bit of overdue snogging after her Mum and Dad went up to bed, so it was nearing one o'clock when Harry finally climbed into his own bed for the last few hours of the night.

"Ready to go?" he asked Ginny when he walked into the kitchen of the Burrow on Monday morning. He was only a few minutes early, and Ginny had nodded even as she hurried over to hug and kiss him.

"I'm all set," she agreed. "Ron and Hermione are meeting us at the Leaky, though knowing him, they'll be running a bit behind."

"Probably," Harry agreed. "Do you need us to pick up anything for you while we're in London?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Ginny has a list of what I need, dear," she answered, smiling at Harry. "You kids have fun today."

"Thanks, Mum," Ginny answered, going over to hug her goodbye before grabbing her bag, taking Harry's hand, and leading him outside. He stopped her when they were away from the house, and put his arms around her.

"Before we go," he said quietly as he smiled at her, "we're not going to have any problems between us about getting your school supplies, are we?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, and Harry laughed.

"This year, Ginny Weasley, you are going back to school in style," he advised her. "No second-hand anything, and whatever you want, we're going to get it for you."

"Harry," she began, but he pulled her close and kissed her.

"I love you, Ginny," he said, locking eyes with her as he spoke. "Let me do this for you." Grinning, he added – "Consider it an day-early birthday present."

"I love you too," she answered, hugging him tightly. "Thank-you."

With that decided, they apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, and went inside, ordering drinks from Hannah, and sitting at a table while they waited for Ron and Hermione. They were only ten minutes late, which was pretty good for Ron, and they joined them for drinks before heading out into Diagon Alley and their great back-to-school shopping adventure.

"Are you having fun?" Hermione whispered to Ginny as they were being fitted for a number of gorgeous new school and dress robes. Ginny ran a hand along the soft, rich material, and smiled at Hermione.

"One of those best days ever kind of fun," she agreed. "I'm still feeling a bit odd about it all, but I don't seem to be able to look in those eyes of his and not melt when he asks me to let him do things like this – especially when what he wants to do is so brilliant."

"You shouldn't feel odd about this," Hermione told her. "He loves you, and there's nothing odd about him wanting both of you to be happy, especially after everything we've all been through."

"Mum's going to be cross with me about it," Ginny pointed out, and Hermione shrugged and laughed.

"Then just tell her to face him and tell him he shouldn't do things like this for the Witch he loves," she answered. "I doubt she'll have any more power to resist those eyes than you do, and I really doubt that she isn't just protesting out of habit, since she ought to be thrilled to see you so happy."

Ginny was a lot more than happy, and as the day went on, it just kept getting better. Harry took her in to not only get new textbooks, but a new cauldron, scales, quills, inks, parchment, and what seemed like more Potions supplies than she'd likely need all year. He even bought a beautiful, snowy owl that she named Snowflake, along with the treats and everything else she'd need to care for her.

When they were finished in Diagon Alley, though, the shopping wasn't over. Harry helped Ginny take her purchases back to the Burrow while Ron went with Hermione to do the same at her house, and then they met up at Hermione's favorite Mall again to spend another few hours shopping for clothes for both girls. Ginny was a bit overwhelmed as Hermione and Harry helped her pick out and get an entire new wardrobe that included silk blouses, cashmere sweaters, a couple of really gorgeous dresses, and the latest in jeans, pants, shoes, and everything else she needed.

The funniest moment of the afternoon came when Hermione politely told their boyfriends that they absolutely did not need to go with them while they were making a stop for undergarments, which had both Harry and Ron blushing furiously and quickly finding anything else to do while Hermione and Ginny took care of that part of their shopping trip alone. Ginny was fairly sure that Harry would have been blushing even more if he'd seen what Hermione had helped her pick out, since she'd been doing a little blushing too, though she had loved everything they'd bought.

By the time Harry and Ginny returned to the Burrow for dinner, they were both pretty much worn out from what felt like miles of walking, so other than helping out with the work around the kitchen before and after dinner, they just spent the evening relaxing in the sitting room with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They had a busy day planned for Ginny's birthday, so Harry went home just before ten o'clock, and Ginny went upstairs to bed after seeing him out, so excited about her seventeenth birthday that she could barely sleep despite being so tired out from their shopping trip.

Harry was back at the Burrow in time for breakfast with Ginny and her parents, and she had two gifts to open. The first was a beautiful, delicate gold watch from her Mum and Dad, and she'd jumped up and hugged both of them even before she put it on her wrist. The gift Harry had brought for her was in a smallish box, and she excitedly tore the wrapping paper off, opened the box, and pulled out the small handbag.

"This looks just like Hermione's," she said, then gasped when she opened it up, dropping it on the table, and throwing her arms around Harry's neck. Her parents were both laughing as she kissed him rather exuberantly. "Thank-you!" she told Harry, kissing him again before turning back to the table, opening the bag again, and reaching in to pull out her shiny new Firebolt.

"The bag is Hermione's," Harry told her, smiling happily, and thrilled that she'd both been surprised and loved her present. "She just let me borrow it for the surprise."

"It's brilliant," Ginny said, setting the broom aside so she could hug and kiss him again.

"What are you all going to do today until the dinner party?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I've got my apparition test this morning at the Ministry," Ginny answered, and then smiled as she ran a hand along her new broom. "I'll definitely need to make some time to try this out this morning too. Anything else planned?" she asked Harry.

"Lunch with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna at the Leaky Cauldron, and after that we'll probably just wander around Diagon Alley or in London somewhere for a few hours. If Bill, Charlie, and George will all be here for dinner, maybe we can talk them into playing a little Quidditch after dinner."

"That sounds great," Ginny told him. "I should definitely go try it out this morning then, so I'll be ready to play later."

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Have your breakfast, and then go out to play," she told Ginny. "You'll have nearly an hour until you need to be at the Ministry for your test."

Ginny ate in what might have been record time for her, and then took Harry by the arm and hurried out of the kitchen while her parents both laughed happily. Harry was laughing quite a lot too as he watched Ginny, eyes flashing with fire, as she blasted around the orchard, and out-raced him to the snitch twice before they had to leave for London. Her apparition test was quickly done, and she came back out of the testing room with her shiny new apparition license in hand. Harry was happy to share the hug and kiss she gave him to celebrate her little triumph, and then they went on to Diagon Alley, where they met up with Ron and Hermione and wandered around until it was time to meet Neville and Luna for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Happy birthday, Ginny," Luna told her as she joined them at their table. Neville was already there too, and after hugging Ginny, she hugged the rest of her friends too. Hannah came over to take their orders, and while she was smiling as she always did, the look she gave Neville after watching him hug Luna left him looking slightly bewildered.

"She thinks we're a couple too," Luna told Neville, and his eyes widened and face started turning red. She laughed and patted his hand affectionately, which, unfortunately, Hannah saw, if the loud clatter of glass against tray as she filled their drink orders was any indication. "Oh dear," Luna said softly. "That probably didn't help at all."

"Probably not," Ginny agreed, trying to keep from laughing. When Hannah started delivering their drinks, she squeezed Harry's hand and smiled at Luna. "So how's Rolf?" she asked, and Luna's face lit up with that ethereal smile of hers.

"Oh, he's quite well," she answered. "He took me out hiking on the weekend, and we spotted all sorts of amazing creatures. You know his grandfather wrote 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. We've grown quite fond of each other – Rolf and I, not his grandfather, though he's very nice too. Anyway, when I'm done school next year, he – Rolf - wants me to go exploring with him. We're thinking about spending next summer hiking through Eastern Europe."

Harry could practically hear Hannah's thoughts as she listened intently to Luna all but say that she fancied someone other than Neville, and Neville looked like he could kiss Ginny he was so grateful. When Hannah put Neville's drink down last, which was the only time he'd been served last any time Harry had been there with him, she flashed her best smile at him, and Neville smiled back happily.

"Thanks, Hannah," he said quietly.

"You're welcome, Neville. The rest of your orders will be ready shortly."

"Nice save," Harry whispered into Ginny's ear, and she smiled.

"Have you done all of your back-to-school shopping?" Hermione asked Luna. "Ginny and I got ours done yesterday."

"I'm doing mine with Dad this weekend," she answered. "I thought it was nice of Headmistress McGonagall not to give us any assignments to do before we start this year after we all worked so hard getting ready for the exams."

"Hermione's already read the first five chapters of her Potions textbook," Ron told them.

"I'd have gotten farther if you hadn't kept distracting me," Hermione teased, and Ron grinned.

"And I might have gotten farther if you'd put the bloody book down. Oops, did I say that out loud?"

Hermione blushed and laughed, then leaned close and kissed him. "I love you, Ron," she told him.

"You haven't said what you've gotten for your birthday so far," Luna told Ginny. "Have you been having a happy day so far?"

Ginny nodded, her eyes lighting up. "It's been brilliant. Mum and Dad got me this watch – they've gotten one for each of their kids on our seventeenth birthdays, and Harry gave me a Firebolt!"

"Your watch is beautiful," Luna complimented her. "A Firebolt's a kind of broom, isn't it?"

Ginny laughed. "Yes it is," she confirmed. "A really great one. After breakfast, Harry and I played Quidditch for a while, and then he brought me to the Ministry of Magic so I could get my apparition license."

"You got yours on the first try?" Luna asked, looking impressed. "I had to take mine twice. The first time, I was thinking about one of the places Rolf had taken me hiking, and ended up there instead of where I was supposed to go. I didn't see what the big deal was – it's not like I splinched myself or anything, and I came right back, or I did right after I finished taking a few pictures and wandering around for a while. I wasn't gone more than a few hours."

"That doesn't seem fair," Ginny agreed, again needing to fight not to laugh.

They had fun chatting while they had lunch, and Ginny had two more presents from Neville and Luna to open. When they were finished eating, they went back into Diagon Alley, spending a pleasant couple of hours wandering through the shops, mostly just looking, though Hermione did pick up the current copy of some Charms journal, Ginny bought a copy of the new Witch's Weekly, and Luna picked up some animal snacks at Magical Menagerie for her next hiking trip with Rolf. When it was time to take Ginny back to the Burrow, there was a lengthy round of goodbye hugs and kisses, and then Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all apparated back to the Burrow.

Ginny was off the hook for any work, but Ron, Hermione, and Harry were all put to work setting up tables and chairs in the yard so they could have the party outdoors, and help out with making dinner. While they worked, Ginny went upstairs to freshen up, then sat at the kitchen table and talked with everyone while they worked. Charlie got home first, thanks to the two-hour time difference, though it would mean that when he went back to Romania that it would be quite late there. Bill and Fleur were next, followed by Mr. Weasley, George, and finally Percy, who arrived just as they were ready to sit down to eat.

There was a lot great about having everyone together for a meal, and it was a fun and entertaining time, but at least for Harry, there were also reminders of what they'd all gone through to get to this point. The deep scars on Bill's dashingly handsome face, George's missing ear, and the least visible but most notable absence of Fred from their group. All of those things had the effect of strengthening the deep resolve Harry felt to help make changes so that these sorts of things didn't happen any more, and to put an end to the Death Eaters and other Dark Wizards. Ginny squeezed his hand, and he gave himself a mental shake as he returned her smile. This was a day to enjoy and celebrate, not for wallowing in deep thoughts.

Mrs. Weasley had made a cake shaped like a Witch on a broomstick, with fiery red hair flying around her face, and wearing the scarlet Gryffindor Quidditch robes. Ginny had laughed when she found out that George had put ever-flame candles on her cake that refused to be blown out, giving up after her third attempt, and having George show her the trick of them. They had ice cream with the cake, and then Ginny had more presents to open up from her brothers, Fleur, and Hermione.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up a thick envelope that only said 'Happy Birthday, Ginny' on it, and nothing else. She tore it open, and slid out a batch of smaller envelopes. "Bill and Fleur," she read, handing it across the table to Bill. "Ron and Hermione, Mum and Dad, Charlie, Percy, George," she continued, passing them out as she said the names, "and one for me." She tore that envelope open, and then shouted excitedly as she pulled out two tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, which was being held in Transylvania, Romania this year - on this coming Monday.

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed. They'd all waited for Ginny, and he tore into his envelope now too. "This is brilliant!" He read one of the tickets and laughed happily, hugging Hermione. "These are some of the best seats there are!"

Ginny had turned to face Harry, and his smile was all she needed to see before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. "Thank-you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered back.

"We'll have to see about borrowing a tent," Mr. Weasley said, "Though I suppose Charlie might have room at his place for a few of us, since he's not that far away from Transylvania."

"There's a tent in one of the storage rooms at my house," Harry told him. "I have no idea what kind of shape it's in, but it looked fairly new, though it must be at least twenty years old."

"That wouldn't matter under a freezing charm," Mrs. Weasley reminded him. "Nothing at your house aged during those years."

"I can drop it off tomorrow morning if you'd like to take a look at it and see if it'll do," Harry offered.

The conversation moved to Quidditch, and talk of the World Cup for a while, and then Ginny got her brothers and Harry to go out to the orchard to play Quidditch for an hour and a half or so before it was time for all of them, except Ron, to leave for their homes. She had hugs and kisses for all of them, and when it was just her Mum, Dad, Ron, Hermione, and Harry left, they went into the kitchen to have a snack of leftover birthday cake and drinks before Harry and Ginny were left on their own, while everyone else went upstairs to bed. They went into the sitting room and snuggled close on the sofa. Ginny sighed happily as Harry held her in his arms.

"This is definitely my best birthday ever so far," she told him. "Thanks for helping to make it so wonderful."

"You're welcome, Ginny," he answered, leaning over to kiss her tenderly. "This has been a really brilliant day for me too." He smiled ruefully. "Well, except maybe for getting beat out to the snitch a total of five times today. At least Charlie didn't have any more luck against you tonight."

"I think you'd win more if you'd spend more time looking for the snitch, and less time watching me," she suggested.

"Maybe," Harry agreed, "but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun. I love watching you when you're flying and playing Quidditch."

"I love watching you play too," Ginny told him, "but I also really, really like to win. See what you can do about trying your very best, though, 'cause I want to be playing my best at school this year."

"I'll try to do that," he promised. "You are planning on being Gryffindor's Seeker this year, aren't you?"

It wasn't really a question, but Ginny smiled and nodded. "I'm going to open up the tryouts, and if there is somebody better, then I'll play Chaser, but I want to be the Seeker."

Harry grinned at her. "I thought you told me you like scoring goals better," he reminded her.

"I lied," she confessed with a soft laugh. "You're the only reason I didn't try out for Seeker."

"Maybe you should have," he suggested. "My record was a bit spotty at best."

"We both know your record had nothing to do with your Quidditch skills," she said, and then smiled at him. "I'm not really interested in talking sports anymore tonight."

Pulling him closer, she kissed him rather seriously, and they both seemed to lose track of a couple of hours, since it was nearing midnight before either of them realized how late it had gotten.

"I guess you don't need someone to side-along apparate with you anymore," Harry said as Ginny walked him to the door and outside.

"That's true," she agreed, "but you're always welcome to stop over for good morning hugs and kisses, though I'm pretty much open to sharing hugs and kisses with you for just about any reason."

"I love you, Ginny," Harry told her before sharing one last hug and kiss goodnight. "Have a good night, and day at work tomorrow."

"I love you too," she assured him, and then decided that she needed just one more goodnight kiss – or two.

When Harry, Ron, and Neville got back to work on Wednesday, they had their usual training session with Josh, and then Neville went back out into the field with him as they tracked Macnair, and Ron and Harry got back to work trying to chase down any leads they could find on Rookwood. By then, things had pretty much settled down at Headquarters, though the Wizengamot was still working through dealing with all of the prisoners. Most of the injured Aurors were back to work, though a few would be on light duty until fully recovered. Harry had seen Dawlish twice in the morning, but the other Wizard had quite overtly and obviously ignored him.

Harry and Ron continued to work long, mostly tedious days through the rest of the week, and while they both preferred a little more action, after the previous Friday's events, they weren't terribly disappointed to have what ended up being an entire week of nothing exciting happening in the field. When they weren't working, life was a little more interesting. Harry had remembered on Wednesday morning to drop the tent off at the Burrow for Mr. Weasley to check out, which had also given him a convenient reason to have a good morning hug and kiss with Ginny before they both went to work.

On Wednesday evening, when Harry got to the Burrow after dinner, he was the happy recipient of more hugs and kisses from Ginny, who'd then showed him around the incredible little eight bedroom tent that was complete with a large sitting room and sparkling kitchen. Mr. Weasley had gone out to set it up right after getting home from work, and they'd all thought it would be brilliant for their overnight stay in Transylvania.

"Have you been holding back?" Ginny asked Harry as they sat at the kitchen table with drinks after chasing snitches until it had gotten nearly too dark to see it anymore. Harry had made five out of seven catches.

"You asked me to try my hardest," he reminded her. "I'll be more than happy to go back to ogling you while we play instead if this isn't working out for you."

Ginny laughed and hugged him. "I'm glad you're trying your best," she assured him. "That's exactly what I need to keep getting better, and it makes the game a lot more fun."

"If you say so, but I'm going to miss all of those mid-air kisses. They were quite a lot of fun too."

"Maybe we'll make some time for those after we practice," Ginny suggested. "I think they're brilliant too."

Thursday and Saturday were repeats of Wednesday's after dinner activities for Harry and Ginny, with Quidditch practice followed by drinks and an hour or two of cuddle time in the sitting room. They didn't get together on Friday night, and on Sunday, after he and Ron were done work for the day, Harry went home, packed a bag, and headed for the Burrow. He and Hermione were both staying overnight, and they would all be leaving for Transylvania together, taking an International Portkey along with Bill and Fleur, George and Lee Jordan, who George had invited to go along, and Percy and his as-yet unidentified guest. With the time change, they would be leaving near dawn, so they all went to bed not long after dinner so they'd be ready for a long, exciting couple of days.

It was a bit of a mad rush in the morning, but one advantage over their one and only previous trip to a World Cup was that they could all apparate to the portkey location instead of walking. They were still the last of their group to get there, and only had a few minutes before they'd be leaving. That did give them time to do introductions, which for all but one of them was easy. For Percy's date for the event, Audrey Penrose, it was a bit daunting to meet all of Percy's family and their friends. She was pretty, with collar-length blonde hair and light brown eyes, and they learned that she was a year older than Percy, and worked in Wizengamot Administration, which was about all they'd had time to learn before needing to leave for Transylvania.

When they got to the campground in Transylvania, they set up the tent, put their bags away, and then went exploring. They were able to take their time as they went around the campgrounds, enjoying the festive nature of the place, and checking out the food and souvenir booths until it was time to head over to the stadium. Everyone met up at the tent first, including Charlie and his guest - a girl he'd met in Romania who he'd invited to come with him to the game. Julianne Lynch was quite attractive too, with long, curly black hair, and gentle blue eyes. She'd laughingly told the other Witches that so far, she was quite impressed with her first date with Charlie.

"These seats are incredible!" Ginny whispered to Harry, hugging him after they'd sat down. "How did you manage to do this?"

Harry grinned at her. "It seems that, on rare occasions, it actually doesn't totally suck to be famous," he whispered back, and Ginny laughed and kissed him happily.

They weren't in one of the VIP boxes, but they were in a section that was goal-high and near mid-field that gave them a brilliant view of the entire pitch. This was an old stadium, but had been given a facelift and expansion so that it could seat ninety thousand. Every Wizard and Witch in the world knew that the tickets had been sold out for weeks. Harry smiled as he watched Ginny leaf through her official Quidditch World Cup '98 program, checking out the players' profiles for the Bulgarian and Peruvian teams.

"Viktor probably gives Bulgaria the edge at Seeker," she said, pointing to his picture when she reached his page, "though we don't get to see the players from the Americas over here that often, so you never know for sure."

"He thought you were very nice-looking when he and I were talking at Bill and Fleur's wedding," Harry told her. "I think he was going to ask you to dance."

Ginny turned to look at him, hearing something in his voice that caught her attention. "He did? I wonder why he never asked me?"

Harry's eyes sparkled, and he grinned at her. "Because I told him that you were dating some big, jealous bloke that he really wouldn't want to mess with. He left the table we were sitting at shortly after that, grumbling something about what was the use of being a famous Quidditch player if all the best girls were taken. I thought that said a lot for you and Hermione – especially since there were quite a number of Fleur and Gabrielle's Veela cousins there too."

"I love you, Harry," she told him, leaning over to kiss him. "Thanks for telling me about that."

They were sitting next to Ron and Hermione, with the two girls next to each other, and Harry had George and Lee on his other side. They'd been among the first into the stadium, and it was filling up fast, but that did give them lots of time to talk. They'd been there about fifteen minutes when Ginny was tapped lightly on the shoulder, and she and Harry both turned around to look up and back, finding themselves looking into the smiling face of Gwenog Jones.

"Ginny Weasley, isn't it?" she asked. "We met at a party that Horace Slughorn was having at Hogwarts the school year before last." Her smile brightened. "Best bat-bogey hex he'd ever seen, if I remember correctly."

"Yes," Ginny agreed. "I'm surprised you remember me." She motioned toward Harry. "Have you met my boyfriend, Harry Potter before? Harry, I'm sure you've heard of and recognize Gwenog Jones, Captain of the Holyhead Harpies."

Harry held out his hand, returning the Witch's smile. "I've seen her picture here and there – I think there were one or three in every dorm room in Gryffindor Tower," he answered, winking at Ginny, but not adding that one of those pictures he'd seen was still on the wall in her bedroom. "Pleased to meet you."

Gwenog shook hands with him and nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you too," she assured him. "I heard somewhere that you're a fair Seeker – for a Wizard."

Harry laughed, knowing that Gwenog Jones was famous for her belief that Witches were much better at Quidditch than any Wizard could hope to be. "I used to think so, but Ginny's Gryffindor's new Captain this year, and she's been beating me two and three out of three catches pretty much all summer when I've practiced with her."

"Good for you," Gwenog said approvingly. "A Witch can go far with Quidditch skills and a good bat-bogey hex." She turned her attention to Hermione, who'd looked back when she'd overheard Ginny mention Gwenog's name. "It's nice to see you again as well, Ms. Granger," Gwenog told her. "I remember you from the party too. Horace called you the brightest Witch of your time." She was still smiling as her gaze moved on to look at Ron. "Which must make you Ronald Weasley," she continued. "You, Harry, and your other friend are making quite a name for yourselves as Auror-trainees." Ron looked very pleased at her comments. Gwenog sat back in her seat, and looked back at Harry and Ginny. "Thanks for the introduction, Ginny. Enjoy the game. It should be a good one."

"You're welcome, and thank-you, I think so too," Ginny answered before turning back around. She hugged Harry tightly. "Was that brilliant or what?" she whispered, and Harry laughed.

"It definitely was," he whispered back.

By the time that the opening ceremonies began, the stadium was full and the roars of the crowd were deafening whenever they were cajoled into action by different announcements. The Bulgarian team seemed to have a bit of an edge with fan support, judging by the cheers when they were called out into the stadium, but the Peruvian team had their own share of fans too.

When the game started, all of the players roared into action, and it was a wild, fast-paced battle as both teams had their opportunities to score, with the Chasers fighting hard, and the Keepers putting on quite a show. Harry and Ginny probably paid closer attention to the Seeker battle between Krum and his Peruvian counterpart than other spectators might, and while they did catch most of the action around the quaffle too, they could both appreciate what was a really good Seeker contest.

"The Peruvian Seeker really is better than his stats look on paper," Ginny told Harry as they watched the two Wizards alternately chase after the snitch, or block their opponent from getting to it.

"He is," Harry agreed, "but his smaller size might become an issue in a really long game when he's being pushed around so much by Viktor."

The two teams were very closely matched, even though they played quite differently. Viktor's team was about as rough and tough as they'd been four years ago against the Irish, while the Peru team was all about precision flying and play-making rather than brute force. During the first hour, there were only six goals scored, and Peru had the forty to twenty point lead. For most of that first hour, the crowd would roar with every goal, shot, save, or pretty much any action from one or more of the players that seemed to deserve a cheer or boo. Once the game started into the second hour, that noise level settled down a bit as the spectators started to pace themselves; expecting this to be a lengthy match.

Ginny had been at the World Cup last time, but Harry was loving this match a lot more, having her next to him, holding hands with her, and sharing frequent hugs and kisses. They were able to keep supplied with drinks and food, and as the day and game wore on, Ginny eventually snuggled next to Harry and laid her head against his shoulder while they both watched the action out above the pitch.

The game was going into the sixth hour, and Harry had been watching a particularly nice scoring play by the Peru Chasers. When he turned his attention back to the Seeker battle, he saw that Viktor and the other Seeker had drifted to a position that was only about thirty feet away from where they were sitting, both Wizards looking around in search of the snitch.

Harry didn't know whom Viktor had spotted first. It might have been Fleur, since she was waving wildly at him, her smile flashing brilliantly, and as stunningly beautiful as always. Since he'd been watching the two Seekers, Harry had seen Viktor smile and lift one hand off of his broom as he looked their way, but then his smile had frozen and turned into a scowl as something else grabbed his attention. Harry turned his head, following the line of Viktor's stare, and saw Ron and Hermione sharing a long, soft kiss, oblivious to his proximity to them, or seemingly even to the game at all just then. He whipped his head back around when he heard a loud CRACK, and saw Viktor nearly fall off of his broom, fighting to stay in the air and upright. He hadn't seen the impact, but the bludger spinning wildly away at an angle told him all he needed to know.

"That hurt just to watch and hear," Ginny whispered, her eyes wide as she watched Viktor struggle to get back in the match. "It wasn't full on or he'd be out cold by now, but he got it right along the side of the head." She looked at Harry for a moment. "What on earth was he doing to miss that?"

Harry leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Staring daggers at your brother, who was busy snogging Hermione," he answered, and she looked at him incredulously. He nodded once, and she could see that he really wasn't joking.

"Oh my," she breathed. "That's – unexpected."

That was an under-statement. Viktor stayed on his broom, but he seemed to be having difficulty focusing on anything, and his opponent was able to shake him several times as they raced around the stadium. By then, the score was two hundred and forty for Peru, and two hundred and twenty for Bulgaria. Suddenly, everyone in the stadium seemed to hold their collective breath as they all watched the two Seekers race off toward the far side of the pitch from where they'd started.

"Viktor hasn't actually seen it," Ginny whispered, and Harry nodded.

He and Ginny had both seen the snitch, and it was speeding along about twenty feet above the crowd at the end of the stadium to their left. Peru's Seeker made a fake that Viktor bought because he still didn't have any idea where the snitch was, and that gave his opponent the opening he'd needed. Making no mistake, he caught the snitch, holding it up triumphantly as he circled the pitch to the roar and cheers of the spectators.

Ginny put her arms around Harry's neck as they stood with everyone else, and kissed him. "And the biggest untold Quidditch World Cup story in history is that Bulgaria lost the ninety-eight match because their Seeker got distracted when he saw a young Witch he still fancied snogging another Wizard," she breathed into his ear, and Harry laughed and hugged her more tightly.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, and Harry smiled at her.

"That's just a happy laugh," he lied, and Ginny laughed too. "This has been a brilliant day."

"Yes it has," Ginny agreed.

Pretty much the entire campground was one big party, and while Harry, Ginny, and the rest of their family and friends spent some time at their tent, they also joined in for the celebrations. Charlie and Julianne, and Percy and Audrey weren't staying overnight, since they were all working in the morning, but they did stay until after the fireworks display that was done at midnight before apparating home to Romania, and taking a Ministry International Portkey back to London respectively once they'd gotten through the rounds of goodbye hugs and kisses.

With Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill and Fleur in just two of the rooms in their tent, George, Lee, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were all able to have their own rooms without needing to bunk up for the night, though they'd been ready to do that if Charlie, Percy, and their dates had chosen to stay. That was probably just as well, since Mrs. Weasley had not been amused by the suggestion that the couples bunk together, though Harry had thought the idea quite brilliant, even if he wouldn't have admitted that to anyone except Ginny.

While many of the tents were being packed up on Tuesday morning, there were a surprising number of campers staying. They'd talked with several nearby families who were spending the whole week in Transylvania on vacation. They'd all slept in a bit, but with the time change, even after spending most of the morning at the campground, it was just mid-morning at home when they got back.

Harry went home from the Burrow to do a little day off work around his own house and yard, while Ginny, Ron, and Hermione stayed to help Mrs. Weasley out. Ron went home with Hermione later in the afternoon, and he was staying there overnight, while Harry went back to the Burrow in time to have dinner with Ginny and her parents, and have another evening Quidditch practice that Ginny won with two out of three catches.

Their Tuesday night had ended with another long snuggle session in the sitting room, and then it was back to work again on Wednesday, the usual training session, and then out into the field for Harry, and to George's store for Ginny. With less than two weeks now until Ginny and Hermione would be going back to Hogwarts, Harry and Ron were both juggling work with wanting to spend as much time with their girls as they could, which was pretty much whenever they weren't working.

Hermione and Ginny were both getting a head start on their reading, and working on some of the lessons, which Ginny had loved being able to do at home whenever she wanted to now that she was seventeen. Except for her late work night on Friday, Harry did Quidditch practices with her every night. For the five practice sessions they had from Tuesday to Sunday, Ginny was just barely ahead of Harry on catches, eight to seven. They ended each evening, including Friday, with a little snogging time in the sitting room before he'd go home for the night.

Harry and Ginny took Teddy for the whole day on Monday. He hadn't been able to fit in more than a few short drop in visits around work and everything else that had been going on, and they had fun, taking the now four-month old around Diagon Alley in the morning, and spending the afternoon at the Burrow with him until dropping him off again with Andromeda just before dinnertime. Monday evening was again spent playing Quidditch and then snuggling in the sitting room.

Tuesday morning started out with an unexpected and unwanted surprise. A copy of the Daily Prophet was delivered to the Burrow by Owl Post, and by the time that Harry got there to spend the day with Ginny, he walked in to hear loud, angry voices, which was something he hadn't heard around the Burrow in a long, long time.

"Have you seen this?" Ginny demanded, holding up the paper, and Harry stared at the headline that was easily visible from the doorway.

"HARRY POTTER'S LOVE CHILD REVEALED!"

"Do I even need to guess?" he asked, hurrying over to the table to get a closer look at the picture under the headline, which he could tell had been taken while he, Ginny, and Teddy had been in Diagon Alley on Monday morning.

"Rita Skeeter," Ginny confirmed. "I especially love the quote from an un-named fellow Hogwarts student who stated that I was a – let me make sure that I get it right – 'Ginny Weasley was a right fat, ugly 'ole cow before she disappeared over the Easter holiday'. You'll be happy to know that you weren't on a quest, or running and hiding from the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters – you were hiding from my father and brothers, who were hunting you down for getting their darling baby girl and sister in the family way. That quote is straight from a reliable source in the Ministry of Magic who was in the know of the real reason you were being sought out by the Ministry – for your immoral involvement with an under-age Witch. How dare you take advantage of me right here while my parents were busy with Bill and Fleur's wedding, yet still took you in and offered you shelter and care after getting kicked out of your Muggle Aunt and Uncle's home."

"I can't believe that the Prophet is still going ahead and printing stories like that rubbish," Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "And to top it off, that insufferable woman is using that article to promote her new book."

Now I really don't want o ask," Harry joked, and Ginny laughed bitterly.

"Harry Potter – Chosen One or Chump?" she told him anyway. "Conveniently on sale today, just in time for the back-to-school rush. Better get your copy at Flourish and Blotts now while supplies last. It's going to be a top seller for sure."

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said, sitting down next to her, putting his arms around her waist, and holding her close. "I should have known that it was only a matter of time before these types of stories popped back up again."

"Well, at least you get to have the day off before the feeding frenzy tomorrow at work," she told him. "Hopefully the reporters won't invade George's store while I'm at work there tomorrow too."

"I'm not sure any reporter is brave enough to risk making George mad when he's in a store full of wheezes," Harry suggested. "That could end very badly for them."

Harry sat with his arm around Ginny, letting her and Mrs. Weasley vent for a while. Hermione and Ron joined them, and since Hermione had a copy of the Prophet in hand, they'd obviously seen the story, if the looks on their faces hadn't been a giveaway already. Their arrival led to another half-hour or so of discussions about the story, the new book, and possible just fates for Ms. Skeeter.

Their original plan for the day was to spend the morning hanging out in Diagon Alley, doing lunch at the Leaky, and then to spend the afternoon at the beach before going back to the Burrow for dinner. That plan was switched up to a full day at the beach, with lunch at a Muggle café before returning to the Burrow in time to help Mrs. Weasley with making dinner. Ginny and Harry played a two Chaser on one Keeper Quidditch match with Ron instead of their usual Seeker duel in the evening, and they all called it an early night after that, with Harry heading back to his place shortly after Ron and Hermione went back home to hers.

He was having breakfast in the kitchen on Wednesday morning when he felt his two-way mirror vibrate in his pocket, and pulled it out to see Ginny's smiling face. "This is a nice surprise. What's up?"

"Can you pop over here?" she asked. "I've got something you're going to love to see."

Harry grinned at her. "Really?" he asked suggestively, and Ginny laughed.

"Absolutely," she assured him. "Hurry over. You'll want to see this before going to work." He hurriedly finished breakfast, cleaned up, and apparated to the Burrow, hurrying inside, and laughing when Ginny threw herself into his arms and kissed him happily before taking his hand and leading him over to the kitchen table.

"Mum and Andromeda are brilliant," she said, handing the Daily Prophet that today had the headline – "HARRY POTTER'S LOVE CHILD STORY PROVEN FALSE!"

"They included a full apology and retracted the story, except for a line that Rita Skeeter stands by her story," Ginny told him as he started reading the article. "Mum and Andromeda went to the Daily Prophet while we were at the beach yesterday and threatened to sue them for every knut and sickle they have if they didn't print a retraction by this morning, and acknowledge Teddy for the son of the war heroes he is, as well as being your Godson."

"I'm surprised they backed down," Harry said and Ginny hugged him again.

"It seems that money talks, and not just the threat of a lawsuit – advertisers, like Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, for instance, started pulling their adverts in droves yesterday morning too. That's why today's paper is so thin – they lost more than half of them in just one day. It will probably take a while to get them back, though I'm sure this story will help them to restore a little journalistic credibility."

"Why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Harry asked Mrs. Weasley, who smiled at him happily.

"Because we wanted to wait and make sure they did exactly as promised this morning before getting your hopes up," she answered. "Andromeda and I are going ahead with our claims against Rita and her book publisher, since apparently at least parts of that story are included in the book too. Anything we get will go in trust for Teddy, and I have a feeling that Rita is not going to be happy with the results, even if she does get herself another trashy best seller."

"This is brilliant," he told them. "Thank-you!"

"You're welcome dear," Mrs. Weasley assured him, while Ginny hugged and kissed him.

Harry and Ginny both had to get to work, so after they took turns hugging her mother, they apparated to Diagon Alley and the Ministry respectively, and both had reporters waiting to question them. Harry's only answer was that he'd seen the retraction in the morning's Prophet, and that as far as he was concerned the matter was closed. The buzz of conversation around Auror Headquarters seemed to get louder when he arrived for the morning training session with Josh. The lack of any new leads in Ron and Harry's search for Rookwood over the past week had made spending a little extra time with Hermione and Ginny possible, but when they met up with Josh and Neville, they found out that there was now a solid lead on Macnair, and that all four of them were going to chase that lead together. Josh skipped their morning training session, and they headed for the Cotswolds.

Josh and Neville had learned that Macnair was camping somewhere in the Cotswolds, in the company of three trolls that he was using both for protection, and to get whatever he needed or wanted from unsuspecting and unwary Muggles or Witches and Wizards. There were often troll attacks reported in the area, so none of the recent activity had raised any flags among the Aurors, or in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Finding where Macnair and his trolls were hiding took two long days of extremely cautious hiking, but on Thursday evening, they finally found the campsite that included one probably magical tent, a fairly large fire pit, and three trolls. They moved back quite a distance from the camp to consider their options.

"Maybe if we each pick a troll and stick our wand up its nose to distract them, Josh can take care of catching Macnair," Ron joked.

"Any particular reason why you're suggesting that unorthodox strategy?" Josh asked, not getting the joke.

Ron laughed quietly. "Sorry, Josh. Old joke. Harry got troll bogeys on his wand when he and I fought a troll in first year at Hogwarts. I don't exactly remember how his wand got stuck in the troll's nose, but I knocked him out with his own club while Harry distracted him."

"That's a nice way of putting it," Harry complimented him. "I was trying not to get my head bashed in by that club, and we were both trying to keep the troll from doing the same to your future girlfriend."

Josh smiled at them. "While I'm sure your suggestion would be entertaining to watch, I think we should put something together that doesn't include close and personal contact with those trolls, especially if we'd be doing that while Macnair has the leisure to sit back and fire curses at us while we're fighting them."

They spent nearly an hour talking out what they were each going to be doing, and then split up, and started making their way back to Macnair's camp. Harry was in charge of getting the anti-apparition shield up, so when they were all in position, Josh gave him the hand signal to go ahead. Harry did that, and they all stepped into the clearing, even as they heard Macnair bellow a warning from within the tent. The three trolls were on their feet more quickly than Harry would have expected, and stepped past their campfire to face the two pairs of Wizards.

"Walden Macnair!" Josh shouted. "I am Auror Williamson, and you are under arrest! Come out, and surrender your wand!"

"Kill them!" Macnair shouted at the trolls, stepping out of the tent and firing curses at the four Wizards who faced him. He was carrying a broom too, but Harry made a slashing motion with his wand, and Macnair gaped when his broom was neatly cut in two, and he was left holding about two feet of handle. Macnair reacted quickly, firing more curses, but that was obviously just a diversionary tactic. With his broom now useless, he rounded the tent and jumped into a run, leaving the Aurors to battle his trolls.

"Plan B," Josh said, just loudly enough for his trainees to hear.

Neville immediately responded, sweeping his wand in a wide circle. A large ring of fire surrounded the trolls, and they roared in mixed rage and fear. While Neville was doing that, Harry expanded his anti-apparition shield to a distance of ten miles in every direction, and the four Aurors skirted around the fire that was keeping the trolls contained, and hurried after Macnair. That hadn't taken long, but the Wizard had still gotten a decent lead on them, and it took quite a while to get close enough to him that he finally stopped running, and turned to face them.

"Why don't you just surrender now, and stop wasting our time?" Josh called to him. "The broom escape idea was pretty good, but you don't have a chance of outrunning Auror-trainee Potter's anti-apparition shield."

Macnair stiffened at hearing Harry's last name. He obviously hadn't taken a close look at them when he'd first come out of the tent. His eyes looking nearly mad with hate and rage, he pointed his wand at Harry, and with an incoherent bellow, fired off a rapid series of killing curses and other curses and hexes, his wand flicking quickly as he not only attacked Harry, but all four of the Aurors. For a minute, it was all they could do to defend themselves from the brutal attack. Fortunately, there was an ample supply of rocks and deadwood that they could use to intercept the killing curses with, while shielding or countering the other attacks. One rock hit Macnair solidly in the side of the head, and he crumpled to the ground, barely conscious, having never even seen the blow coming.

"I'll have to work on that killing curse defense," Josh said conversationally as they approached Macnair. Neville had the Wizard's wand in hand, and Ron had put him in a body bind.

"Why?" Neville asked. "Your technique might be different than what we've been doing, but it seemed very effective." They all heard the sounds of crashing in the distance behind them.

"Time to drop the shield so we can get out of here," Josh told Harry. "They'll be here faster than you think, and I'd rather that we didn't hurt any of them if we can help it, and I'd prefer to let the Ministry experts take care of the problem, since they're better equipped to do so."

Harry dropped the shield immediately, and they grabbed Macnair and apparated to the Ministry of Magic. There wasn't much traffic in the Atrium, so they were able to get through security without any delays, and then they spent several more hours processing Macnair and filling out and filing their reports before going home for the night.

It was back out on the trail of Rookwood for Harry and Ron on Friday, while Josh and Neville spent the day dealing with going back to Macnair's camp and making sure that there was nothing there that could be dangerous to either Wizards or Muggles, and to check for any new leads for any of the other Death Eaters. They went with a group of Witches and Wizards from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but the three trolls had abandoned the campsite, and after checking the area, weren't anywhere nearby, so they'd gone back to the Ministry, leaving Josh and Neville to do their work.

Harry hadn't seen Ginny since Tuesday night, and Ron had only seen Hermione for a few minutes on Thursday morning when she'd come over to spend the day studying with Ginny and Luna, getting there just before he had needed to leave for work. Since Ginny was working until close on Friday night at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Harry worked until just before then, while sending Ron off by late afternoon so he could spend the entire evening with Hermione.

"Hey, stranger," Ginny said when she came over to greet him after he walked into the store. "I've really missed you these last few days." She hugged him tightly, and then kissed him.

"The last time you were in here doing that, I had seven people ask me where I kept the lip-lock lipstick," George said, and as usual, it was loudly enough so that his customers and staff could hear him. Ginny and Harry both laughed as they stepped apart.

"And you've sold hundreds of them since," Ginny countered, waving a hand toward the new display they'd added to the WonderWitch line.

"Well, it did sound like a great idea," he conceded. "We'd have sold more if you'd been willing to do demonstrations." He laughed at the looks he got from both Ginny and Harry. "I'm joking," he assured them. "Do you have any idea what Mum would do to me if I'd had her baby doing something like that all day? No Wizard with any sense at all messes with a Mom who's a dueling master."

Ginny and Harry both laughed. "I think it's funny that you're more worried about what Mum would do to you than what my Auror-trainee boyfriend would do," she told George.

"I'd say he's got it right," Harry suggested. "You're Mum's amazing, and I'm with George on this one. We've seen what she can do when she's protecting you."

Ginny beamed at him. "She is pretty great, isn't she?"

Harry wandered around the store while Ginny continued to work. When she and George were done closing the store and ready to go, she took Harry's hand, and they apparated to the Burrow, where they talked with her parents until they went up to bed, and then snuggled close, content and happy to just hold each other, talk quietly, and share a few soft, tender kisses until it was time for Harry to go home.

The last weekend before September first, and in fact, the last three days of August, including the Monday, were three of the busiest ever for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Ginny helped George out by working open to close on both Saturday and Sunday, since Harry was working anyway. While she was doing that, he and Ron spent their weekend following a Wizard around who they'd seen start popping up at one of the places they'd been interested in. When they began following him, they'd found out that he visited several other places that were on their current watch list, and a few others that weren't. Doing that made for long, difficult days with a lot of waiting and watching mixed in with occasional bursts of activity as they needed to hurry and follow the man whenever he moved on from one place to the next. They didn't get any new leads over the weekend, but they were learning to be patient, knowing that eventually someone would make a mistake, and they'd get a break in their case.

The only time Harry had spent with Ginny all weekend had been an hour on Saturday night after they'd both finished work, and two hours on Sunday night. They'd both skirted around the whole back-to-school and being apart for months for weeks now, but finally, it was Monday, they were down to hours left, and there was no way to avoid the emotions that were right at the surface for both of them. Harry had come over after breakfast, and he and Ginny had met Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley to pick up the few things the girls had wanted to pick up right before going back, like sweets and chocolates, and topping up the Potions supplies they'd used over the past couple of weeks while studying ahead.

They had lunch together at the Leaky Cauldron, and then Ron went home with Hermione for the afternoon, while Harry went with Ginny back to the Burrow, where he mostly spent the next several hours making her job of packing to go in the morning more difficult as he'd interrupt her regularly with deep, lingering kisses, and long, warm hugs. When they still had time left until dinner after she was done packing everything except what she'd need for the rest of the night and to get ready in the morning, they went out to the orchard for one last Quidditch practice. Ginny won two of three catches, and then they went back inside to help Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

Bill and Fleur came for dinner, wanting the chance to spend a little time with Ginny and Hermione before they left for school in the morning. They kept the mood light through their meal, and after cleaning up, it was time for some goodbye hugs and kisses as first Ron and Hermione left to spend the night with her parents, and then Bill and Fleur went home to Shell Cottage.

Harry, Ginny, and her parents moved into the sitting room after that, and they stayed up talking until after eleven, when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed, since they were going to all need to be up early in the morning for the trip to King's Cross Station. While Harry had brought a bag with him, and was staying overnight, neither he nor Ginny were interested in going upstairs to bed. They both stretched out on the sofa, and just held on to each other.

"It's finally here," Ginny whispered. "I don't like this part of going back to Hogwarts at all."

"Neither do I," Harry agreed. "Right now, I'm trying to remember why on earth I decided to join the Aurors instead of going back to school with you and Hermione. You're going to have a brilliant year there." He smiled at her. "I'd have missed playing Quidditch on the team with you, since you're obviously the better Seeker, but at least we'd have been able to hang out in the Head's office, and I'd have still been the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain's boyfriend."

"You're still the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain's boyfriend," she pointed out, and Harry nodded.

"True," he agreed. "Which reminds me," he added, pulling a small gift out of his pocket and handing it to her. "This isn't as obvious as that 'My Sweetheart' necklace Lavender gave Ron the Christmas before last, but I did want to get you something that will hopefully let all of those guys at school know that you've got someone waiting for you when you're done school."

Ginny's eyes lit up, and she tore the gift-wrap off, and then opened the small velvet box, finding a beautiful gold ring inside with a row of sparkling emeralds winking at her in the dim candlelight. She looked from it into the now slightly misty eyes that were a nearly perfect match to the stones on the ring, and then she leaned in and kissed him – a long, velvety-soft thank-you.

"I love you, Harry," she finally breathed, then smiled. "You're not actually worried about the other Wizards who'll be going back with us, are you?"

Harry smiled too. "I love you too, and I trust you with all of my heart," he assured her, and then laughed softly. "Do I trust those guys to not at least try to chase after the most beautiful girl at school? Not a chance."

Ginny laughed too, and then kissed him again before taking the ring out of the box and sliding it onto her finger. "It's beautiful. Thank-you."

"You're welcome, Ginny," he had time to answer before they were sharing another long, achingly beautiful kiss.

They stayed there on the sofa, holding each other, sharing soft, lingering kisses, and when they did talk, it was mostly to murmur words of comfort to each other. There were a few tears, and eventually, they both fell asleep, not waking until Mrs. Weasley woke them with a gentle hand, and understanding voice.

"Time to get up," she told them, smiling as she watched them both wake. "I'm just getting ready to start making breakfast, so you have time to go upstairs and get ready."

Ginny sat up first, and stood up to hug her mother. "Thank-you," she said, then stepped back and showed her mother the new ring on her finger. "Harry said he gave me this so the other guys know I've got someone waiting for me back home, but I think it's got some magical properties, since I've been all warm and fuzzy inside since I put it on."

Mrs. Weasley laughed and hugged her. "I'm sure it does," she agreed. "Now go upstairs and get ready or we'll end up being late getting to the station."

Harry was already standing by then, so she hugged him too, and then he and Ginny went upstairs to their rooms, going on to get cleaned up and dressed. They met back up in the kitchen, and Mr. Weasley was already there, sitting at the table and reading the Daily Prophet. They both joined him at the table, and he smiled at Ginny, looking over the top of the paper at her.

"All set to go?" he asked, and Ginny nodded.

"Everything's packed, and Snowflake and Arnold are ready too," she answered. "We just have to get everything from my room when it's time to pack the car."

"Good," Mr. Weasley answered with a nod. "We'll get everything out there just before the Ministry car is due to arrive. I thought it might be easier this trip without having any boys getting ready for school." He laughed and winked at Ginny. "I wonder if your brother will be the one at King's Cross Station today telling your mother that he wants to go _this_ year?"

"He wouldn't be the only one wishing that," Harry told them.

They were able to take their time eating, and then Harry went upstairs to help Ginny get her trunk, owl, and pygmy puff downstairs and outside. The Ministry car arrived ten minutes later, and they loaded Ginny's things, got into the back, and were off and on the way to London. They sat back into the comfortable seats, and Harry and Ginny tried to relax as they chatted with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. As far as they were concerned, just like everything else the last few days, the trip to King's Cross Station was far too short, and they were there too soon.

Harry went for a trolley, while Ginny and her parents unloaded the car, and in short order, the Ministry car was on it's way, and they were making their way to platform nine and three-quarters. Once they passed through the wall, and were on the platform next to the Hogwarts Express, they moved along in search of Ron, Hermione, and the Grangers. It seemed more crowded today than ever before, and it was probably a combination of more parents now willing, or able, to send their kids, and the fact that they had a large group of seventh year students returning for another year.

"They must not be here yet," Ginny decided. "Hermione would be right here by the prefect car if she was, since the Head Girl and Head Boy will be in there for most, if not all, of the trip."

"Maybe they'll be late, and hold the train up for a month or two," Harry suggested hopefully. Ginny laughed and hugged him. Ron, Hermione, and her parents appeared out of the clouds of steam, and they were busy with a round of hugs and kisses for a few minutes.

"Things seem a bit dodgy around here," Ron told them. "I'm thinking that just to be on the safe side, you understand, that we should send a couple of Auror-trainees along for security."

"That's really sweet," Hermione told him fondly. "Too bad we couldn't really do that." She hugged him, and then kissed him for a long minute. "I've got to get boarded and start setting up for the Prefects meeting," she said before hugging him again. "Don't look like that," she admonished him. "You'll have me in tears again, and I know how much you hate that."

"Maybe," Ron agreed, "but I've become rather fond of the hugging and kissing that go along with helping you feel better."

While Hermione was hugging her parents goodbye, and then hugging and kissing Ron again too, Harry and Ginny were having their own quiet goodbye too. "I'll talk to you using the two-way mirrors tonight," Ginny promised as they held each other, "and I'll send Snowflake with lots of posts for you. It's not all that long until the Christmas holidays."

Harry smiled, and Ginny put a hand to his cheek and wiped away the tears that had gotten away from him. "I love you, Ginny," he whispered a bit hoarsely. "I'll keep telling myself that it's not that far away until then, but I sort of doubt I'll believe it until about a day before you'll be coming home."

"I love you too," she assured him. There were tears on her cheeks too, but she ignored them as she hugged him one more time, pulling him into one last, brilliant kiss that was going to have to do them until Christmas.

She hugged and kissed her Mum, Dad, and brother, and then she and Harry pushed her trolley farther along the platform to a car that wasn't quite as packed with students, loaded her things, and with time running out, she hugged and kissed him one last, last time, and boarded the train. Harry stepped back over to where the Weasleys and Grangers were standing, and Mrs. Weasley put an arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder while they watched the last few students climb aboard, and the doors all close as they readied to leave. Finally, precisely at eleven o'clock, the train began moving, and they watched it slowly and gracefully begin to roll, the engine pumping out massive clouds of steam. When the last car rolled out of sight around the first bend in the tracks, Harry turned to smile at the others.

"I'm buying at the Leaky, if you've got time to have lunch with Ron and I," he offered.

They all accepted his offer, and leaving the platform together, they took a Muggle taxi to the Leaky Cauldron. While the four parents in the group had years of experience being on this side of the back-to-school scene, for Ron and Harry, it was all new, and at least for today, not any fun at all. It wasn't that they expected to be miserable for the next nearly four months. They would have their work, Harry would spend time with Teddy, and now that they were out of school, maybe they'd even catch a few professional Quidditch matches. While the girls were certainly missing them too right now, they were both also excited about what should be a brilliant school year for them.

Harry smiled as he looked out of the window of their taxi and thought about that. With Hermione as Head Girl, and Ginny being Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain, he couldn't help but wonder if Hogwarts was ready to be ruled by two of his favorite Witches. When his thoughts turned from there to work, he decided that with all of the extra time he'd have on his hands while Ginny was gone, that every fugitive still on the Auror's most wanted list ought to watch out, because right now, he didn't have anything better to do than hunt them down and bring them to justice.


	6. Home and Hogwarts

Chapter Six – Home and Hogwarts

Ginny made her way along the corridor of the train until she met up with Luna, and they found an empty compartment together. They'd just put their things away when Padma and Parvati Patil joined them, though Padma was only staying long enough to store her luggage before leaving for the Prefect car. The three Witches were starting to get settled when Lavender Brown and Susan Bones came by, and Parvati invited them to share the compartment with them.

"Is this the Witches of the DA compartment?" Susan asked as she and Lavender sat down. "Hermione and Padma will be at the meeting in the Prefect car, but isn't this all of us – or at least we're the only ones back this year."

"As far as we know," Ginny agreed. She didn't feel much like talking right now, but supposed it was better than curling up in the corner and having a good cry. "What have you all been up to over the holidays?"

That started a lengthy conversation that kept them all entertained for a while, as Susan, Lavender, and Parvati told Ginny and Luna what they'd been doing for the last four months, mixed in with getting Ginny and Luna talking about their holidays too. The one thing Ginny didn't talk much about was anything to do with just how brilliantly Harry had been quietly changing her life for the better. The other girls did notice some of those changes, like the gorgeous blouse, stylish jeans, and top of the line trainers she was wearing, all of which made her look fantastic, but were a huge difference from what she'd worn in past years. The glittering emerald ring was noticed fairly early on too, and Ginny was quite happy, and sure, that by the end of the night, every Witch in the school would know that Harry Potter was _her _boyfriend.

"All of that work to write your exams couldn't have been much fun," Parvati told Ginny and Luna, "but at least you won't lose a whole year like we did – or not even get to take our NEWTs like so many others won't be. It sounds like the rest of your summer was really great. Has anyone heard any news about Hogwarts? I wonder how many new Professors we'll have this year?"

"You mean the Carrows won't be back?" Lavender joked. "What a shame."

"If everyone else stays, they'll only need three," Luna told them. "Defense against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Muggle Studies."

"That's two out of five for me," Susan said. "I hope there aren't any more staff changes. It's going to be hard enough handling our NEWT classes without any more pressure."

Lavender laughed. "Compared to last year, I'd say that NEWTs should be a breeze."

"How'd the school look when you were there writing your exams?" Parvati asked Ginny.

"They were still working on some sections, but the entrance hall, Great Hall, and the classrooms we wrote our exams in were all completely back to normal," she answered, and Luna nodded.

"Professor Flitwick told us that all of the repairs would be done on time, and he'll be back for sure," she added.

"Were there a lot of students writing the make up exams?" Lavender asked. "I didn't even think about trying mine, though I wasn't feeling quite right until early in July anyway."

"I'm not sure there were any OWL or NEWT students trying their exams," Ginny told her. "There were maybe a quarter of the students in our year, and I'd guess maybe half of the first to fourth years. It's going to be interesting to see how it all works out, but Luna and I are really glad that we won't have two more years to go."

Their conversation moved along, and the trip actually went by fairly quickly. They had other friends drop by, and when Padma was finished her Prefect duties, she re-joined them. They all ordered drinks and treats when the food trolley came through, and later on, Ginny and Luna went for a walk, meeting up with a few other friends in their compartments, and doing a little catching up on what had been going on with them all summer. When the train began slowing as it approached Hogsmeade Station, all of the students were excited about finally either being back to the school, or because they were getting to see the place for the first time.

Ginny and the other girls got into their robes, and once the train stopped, gathered their assorted luggage, cases, and cages, made their way off of the train, and toward where they'd be loading into the carriages for the ride up to the school. She wasn't the only one who came up short and stared at the Thestrals.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Luna asked her quietly. She looked around, and shook her head sadly. "It's a bit sad that so many of us can see them now, though."

Stepping forward, Ginny held out her hand to the one closest to her, and it nuzzled her gently. "You're magnificent," she told it softly. She turned her head and smiled at Luna. "I'm still not in any hurry to ride one again."

They got into that carriage, and were on their way up to the school in short order – the first advantage of being the senior students this year. When they were dropped off outside of the entrance hall, Ginny and Luna both spent a moment with the Thestrals before following the other students into the Great Hall, where they split up to go sit at their respective House tables. The hall looked exactly like it had before the battle, and the ceiling matched the night sky outside, with candles floating high above the rows of tables.

It looked like most of the Professors and staff were already sitting at their table, and Ginny left Parvati, Lavender, and the other Gryffindors they'd been walking in with so that she could go up to the front to talk with Madam Hooch. She was pleased to find out that she was the first Captain to speak with the Quidditch coach and flying teacher, and was even happier to get the first slot of the day on Saturday for her Quidditch tryouts, and then to also get some of the best practice times for the year.

The tables were filling up quite quickly, and Ginny went back to sit down with Parvati, Lavender, and other sixth and seventh year Gryffindors who were sitting down around them. Seamus and Dean were across the table from her, and they both nodded and smiled as she sat down.

"Already working on Quidditch, Captain?" Seamus asked, waving toward Madam Hooch.

"Absolutely," she confirmed. "You don't have to call me Captain, though. We won't know until Saturday whether I'm your Captain or not. You do have to make the team first."

Seamus laughed along with Dean and the girls. "That's true enough," he agreed, "though Dean and I have been practicing this summer, so we're pretty confident about our chances. We were actually wondering if you'll be able to keep up with us this year."

"We'll see," Ginny answered, her eyes flashing at the implied challenge. "I've been doing a fair bit of practicing this summer too."

While they waited for all of the students, except the firsties, to arrive, most of the teens in the Great Hall were talking to their friends and Housemates. The noise was quite loud. Ginny mostly listened to the chatter of those closest to her as she looked around the hall. She'd been in here during her exams in July, and had felt the same emotions she was having now. There were tables and benches in the way now, but she knew exactly where her mother had fought and killed Bellatrix Lestrange to save her life. There were other scenes that seemed to super-impose themselves over the current happy scene of students awaiting the start of school feast. The most vivid was of the spot where Harry had revealed to everyone that he was still alive, and where he confronted and defeated Lord Voldemort.

"Deep thoughts?"

Ginny looked up and smiled at Hermione, moving her bag, which she'd put on the bench to save a spot for her friend. "It's hard not to have them."

"I know," Hermione agreed. "They should start the sorting soon. I came in with the very last group of second years. How was the ride here for you?"

"Okay I guess," Ginny answered with a shrug. "How 'bout you?"

"Same here. Ernie and I kept busy most of the trip working on schedules and everything else we needed to get done. I'm still really missing Ron, though."

"Been there, doing that, except with my Wizard," Ginny told her. "How did Ron like his present last night?"

Hermione smiled happily. "He loved it. I'm really glad we decided to make up two sets of those two-way mirrors. They're going to be brilliant to have this year." Looking at Ginny's hands she smiled again. "Now why don't you tell me about the jewelry addition that I've heard you're sporting today." Showing Hermione the ring, she just had time to tell her about the little scene in the sitting room before Professor McGonagall stood up, the noise in the Great Hall dropping to near silence almost immediately. Nodding once, she then sat down again as the first year students were led into the Great Hall by Professor Flitwick.

This was a much larger group of first years than normal, probably half again or more. Professor Flitwick had the young, nervous, and excited kids line up across the front of the Hall, and then put the stool he was carrying down, placing the sorting hat reverently on top of it. When he stepped back, the hat began the annual welcoming song. When that was done, Professor Flitwick began calling the students up to be sorted. With so many, that was going to take a while, so as that continued, a quiet murmur rose around the hall, the older students resumed conversations, though they did talk with each other in more hushed voices. There were cheers as each of the four Houses in turn welcomed new students to their family. Hermione had moved up to the front of the Gryffindor table so she could welcome every new member of their House personally.

While she was doing that, Ginny continued to check out what was going on around the hall. One thing that was glaringly obvious was that, while there were definitely more students this year, there were very few senior Slytherin students returning. Of the few students who had returned, she was surprised to see Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott there. Theodore's father was a fugitive Death Eater, and Ginny knew that Millicent's parents were under investigation, and suspected of being Death Eaters too. On top of that, there was also the possibility that they were Death Eaters or accomplices themselves. Not even Hermione and Ron wanted to believe Harry about Draco, but he'd been proven right without a doubt about that, and there was no reason to believe he'd been the only one.

That didn't mean the Slytherin table was empty – it looked like most of the first to fourth or fifth year students had returned. After what happened the night of the Battle of Hogwarts, Ginny wondered how things would work out between those students and their classmates in the other three Houses, and also had to admit that she had her own fair share of hard feelings about not just the Slytherin student's actions that night, but how they'd acted during the entire previous school year. Hermione returned to sit next to Ginny again, and Professor McGonagall stood up to address her students.

"Good evening," she began. "For those of you who do not yet know me, I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Welcome to all of our newest students, and for those of you returning, welcome back." Looking around the cavernous room, her face just held the barest hint of a smile. "This year, we have several new additions to our staff, and I'd like to begin by introducing you all to –" she turned and waved a hand – "Professor Belinda Stalk, who will be teaching Muggle Studies." A kind-looking woman who seemed to be around Ginny's Mum's age stood for a moment, smiling at the students, who applauded politely in welcome.

"For those of you who might not know, Professor Stalk and her father are world-renowned experts in their field," McGonagall added as the new Professor sat down again. "Professor Mary MacDonald will be taking my former post, teaching Transfiguration and as Head of Gryffindor," she continued, and another Witch, this one somewhere in her late thirties, and quite pretty, stood and waved before quickly sitting down again, as the students again clapped.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Lastly, for Defense Against the Dark Arts, please welcome Professor Hestia Jones." Ginny and Hermione both knew Hestia from the Order, and they clapped loudly, along with the other students. She was definitely the youngest member of the staff, and she was quite obviously thrilled to be at Hogwarts.

"I also have a few announcements," McGonagall told her students after Hestia had taken her seat again. "The Forbidden Forest, as always, is off limits to all students, unless they are under the care of Professor Hagrid. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that all Weasley's Wizard Wheezes joke products are banned at Hogwarts." Ginny grinned at that announcement, knowing that George was way ahead of Filch on that one, and had all manner of packaging that could be used to disguise everything from the portable swamps to puking pastilles. She even had a number of them in her trunk, and a couple of emergency pranks hidden in her shoulder bag.

"This is certain to be an exceptional year," McGonagall said in conclusion, "so let us start our year off in style. Let the feast begin!"

With that, she sat down, and the tables practically groaned under the sudden weight of the platters, bowls and jugs filled nearly to overflowing with food and drink. The noise level in the hall grew much louder again as excited conversations were picked up in earnest again, and the clatter of dishes and utensils echoed as students filled their plates and goblets, then began eating.

Back in London, after having lunch with Ron, his parents, and the Grangers, Harry had gone into Diagon Alley on his own, neither he or Ron really feeling much like being sociable at the moment. His excursion hadn't been to just pointlessly fill up a couple of hours, though. He'd thought about things he could do for Ginny even while they couldn't be together, and to manage some of those, he was going to need to get another owl. After losing Hedwig, he hadn't been sure if he'd ever want to get another, but having seen Ginny with her new owl for the past few weeks, he had started to change his mind about that. Before stopping in to see about that at Eeylops Owl Emporium, he had a few other stops to make first, picking out what he hoped would be little gifts that Ginny would appreciate getting delivered to her in the Owl Post.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter," the Witch at the counter of the Owl Emporium said in greeting. "No problem with that snowy you bought for Ms. Weasley, I trust?"

Harry smiled. "She's wonderful," he answered, "and Ginny is quite happy with her." He looked around. "Actually, that's why I'm here," he continued. "I've decided to get one for myself."

She nodded knowingly. "We've got a young, strong snowy male who'd do well managing long trips, like to Hogwarts," she suggested, moving away from the counter and leading him over to the section where they had the snowy owls. "The males are a tad smaller than the females," the Witch explained, stopping in front of one of the cages. "I think this one is one of the very best out of all of the males we've had of the snowy owls in years."

The owl looked at Harry, and he knew immediately that this was the one for him. As she'd just said, he was a bit smaller than Ginny's, or Hedwig had been, but he was magnificent. "I'll take him," Harry informed the Witch even as he put his finger through the cage, and laughed when he was lightly nipped. "He's exactly what I'm looking for."

"Very good," she answered, looking very pleased as she lifted the cage down and took it back to the counter.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was out on the street again, cage in hand, and a bag filled with food and owl nuts for his new owl. "Let's go home, Snowstorm. I'll show you around the place, and you can go out for a fly. Later, I'll have a post ready for you to take to Ginny at Hogwarts. We definitely want her first day of classes tomorrow to start out special."

When they got back to Harry's house, Snowstorm seemed to find his new home acceptable, though after being given the quick tour, what he'd really wanted to do was go outside and fly around the property.

"Can't say that I blame you for wanting to get out after being cooped up in the Emporium," Harry told him as he carried the bird outside and watched him launch into the air with a fierce cry of joy. He watched the owl soar and swoop for a while, and then went inside to make himself busy with laundry and cleaning for the rest of the afternoon before making dinner for himself, eating, and cleaning up from that. When he was finished in the kitchen, he went into the library, where he sat at the desk and wrote his first letter to Ginny. Putting the two sheets of parchment he'd ended up with by the time he'd finished writing into an envelope, he wrote her name on the front, attached it to the package with her first gift, and went back to the kitchen again.

"Ready to go?" he asked Snowstorm. The owl seemed to be giving him an 'it's about time' look. Harry smiled. "I've included an introduction for you in her letter, and she'll let you know if she wants you to bring anything back for your return trip tomorrow night." He looked at the kitchen window, smiled to himself, and pulled out his wand.

"I work a lot of odd hours, so why don't we set you up to be able to get in and out of here by yourself?" he suggested. He waved his wand, and while he could only see the inconspicuous button now inset in the window frame on this side of the window, he knew there was a matching one on the outside. Moving Snowstorm over to the counter, he pointed it out to the owl. "Tap that with your beak twice, and the window will open for you," he explained. Snowstorm looked at him for a moment, and then did that, and they both watched the window open smoothly.

"Nicely done," Harry complimented him. "If you meet Ginny's Owl, Snowflake, while you're at Hogwarts, let her know about this, or I'll show it to her on her first trip. There's no point in either of you getting wet or cold outside just because I'm stuck on some stakeout somewhere and can't get home to let you in or out." Snowstorm nipped his hand and hopped up onto the windowsill.

"Have fun tonight, and I'll see you when you get back," Harry told the bird, and Snowstorm gave him one last meaningful look before taking off, the window closing smoothly a moment later. Once the owl was on his way, Harry still had time to kill before he and Ginny were going to have their first Hogwarts to home two-way mirror chat, so he grabbed the Auror training book he was working through, went into the sitting room, and sat down to read and work through a few lessons.

When the feast wrapped up at Hogwarts, Hermione needed to help out with the first years, so Ginny went to the Gryffindor Common room with Parvati, Lavender, and some of the other girls from sixth and seventh year. She had a little work to do of her own, so after talking with a few of her friends, she went into the seventh year girls dorms. First up was a letter to Harry, which she then took over to the Owlery, and sent off with Snowflake, who'd greeted her happily, and flown out of the West Tower and soared high into the air as she headed off toward Harry's home.

Her next job was to insert the tryouts time into the postings she'd made up ahead of time, and then putting them up on the walls of the Common room, next to the boys and girls dorms, and the portrait hole. Those notices had quickly earned a lot of attention from her fellow Gryffindors, and she fielded dozens of questions before being able to go back to her dorm, get ready for bed, and climb in, ready for her chat with Harry.

"Imperturbatus," she thought, waving her wand, and putting up a barrier around her bed so that she and Harry would have some privacy for the chat. "Harry," she said, holding the mirror, and smiling when his face appeared in it.

"One day down," he joked, smiling too. "I've missed you a lot. How was your trip and everything else?"

"I've missed you too," she answered. "The train ride was okay, and the feast was as great as always. We've got three new Professors – all of them Witches – and I got the best tryout time for this weekend, and some great practice times for the year from Madam Hooch. How was your day?"

"I did lunch with Ron, your parents, and the Grangers, then did a little running around, some work around the house, and a little light Auror training reading and lesson practice. Did anything exciting happen?" he asked. "You know, like flying cars in whomping willows, escaped prisoners, dementors, and the like."

Ginny laughed. "Sorry, none of that to report. I guess you were right about how much safer everyone would be now that you've left school."

"Hopefully there won't be any more trouble there again," Harry said fervently.

They talked for nearly an hour, and when Ginny was getting tired, she rolled over on her side. Her mirror got jostled around a little as she got comfortable and cuddled with Arnold. When she looked back at the mirror, Harry's eyes were closed and it looked like he was blushing furiously.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and watched Harry open one eye just a fraction, then sigh, and open them both to look at her.

"Um, Ginny, in the future, you might want to make sure that I can't see what's going on in the rest of the dorm room unless you're quite certain that it's, um, safe for me to do that." Ginny laughed, looking over her shoulder to see what he'd been talking about. Hermione hadn't come up to their room yet, and most of the other girls were in bed, but a couple of them were getting changed into nightgowns.

"Did you see anything interesting?" she asked archly, and watched him shake his head emphatically, his face turning even redder.

"Just a few too many buttons being undone before I closed my eyes," he answered. "I don't know about you and Hermione, but I can't say that particular problem with these mirrors occurred to me before now."

Ginny laughed again. "I love you, Harry. You do realize that it's quite possible that you're the only Wizard in the entire world who would consider that a problem, right?"

"I love you too," he answered. "I'm really sorry that I can't be more like the other guys. It's probably a character flaw or something. You might want to consider mentioning it to Hermione. I'd really hate to see Ron getting a Howler in the middle of one of our stakeouts if she caught him looking at anything there that he shouldn't be seeing."

"Good idea," Ginny agreed, "and don't be sorry – I'm quite happy with you just the way you are." She yawned and smiled at him. "I'm going to have a busy day, and you'll be back out in the field in the morning, so let's call it a night, and I'll talk to you tomorrow night," she suggested.

"Okay," he agreed. "Have a good night, Ginny. I love you."

"I love you too," Ginny answered. "Sleep well, and be careful out there."

"I will be," Harry promised. They ended the call, and Ginny ended her privacy charm. She was already dozing off when Hermione came into their room, coming over and sitting on Ginny's bed.

"You've finished your chat with Harry?" she asked quietly, since some of their roommates looked to be asleep already.

"Just a few minutes ago," Ginny agreed, then smiled at Hermione. "I'm supposed to let you know that if we're not careful with our two-way mirrors, that the boys can see what else is going on in the room." She laughed softly. "You should have seen Harry's face. I'd rolled over on my side so I could lie down, and as I was getting comfortable, it seems that he caught a glimpse of one of the girls starting to get changed. When I looked back at the mirror, he had his eyes glued shut and was blushing nearly as red as my hair."

Hermione's eyes got really wide and she seemed torn between laughing and consternation. "That's um, unexpected," she finally whispered, and Ginny nodded, still grinning.

"He thought you should know because he didn't want to be on a stakeout and have Ron get a Howler for getting caught seeing anything he shouldn't."

This time, Hermione did laugh. "I guess that would be inconvenient," she agreed. "I'll have to remember that if I get mad at your brother to only send those Howlers on his days off. How are you both doing?"

"Probably about the same as you and Ron, but getting to talk to him tonight like this was brilliant, and helped a little."

Hermione hugged her, and then stood up again. "Good. I'll let you get to sleep, and I've got to get ready for bed and my chat with Ron, if he hasn't fallen asleep already."

"He won't have," Ginny assured her. "Ron might be pacing the floor by now, but he'll be awake and waiting for you."

Ginny had dropped off to sleep by the time Hermione had snuggled in bed with Crookshanks, and started her mirror chat with Ron, which was much shorter than the one Ginny and Harry had enjoyed. In the morning, all of the girls in their dorm were up early, and talking excitedly about the start of the first day of classes as they got cleaned up and ready to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They each thought that having a Witch for DADA was going to be brilliant, and they were reserving judgment on their new Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration Professor.

Hermione and Ginny were in the first group to leave their dorm room, and everyone was well into having breakfast when the Owl Post arrived. Ginny was a bit surprised when the handsome snowy owl settled on the table in front of her with a little package and envelope, but she took it from him, and when he didn't leave, she took the envelope off of the package and pulled out the two pages of parchment.

Good morning, Ginny.

I'd like you to meet my new owl, Snowstorm. He'll be coming to visit you from time to time while you're at school, and if you've any posts to send back this way, just let him know, and he can carry them for you next night when he flies back. The package is just a little something that I hope will get your first day of classes off to a happy start.

Ginny stopped reading there, smiled at the owl, and reached out to gently stroke his head. "Good morning, Snowstorm. It's nice to meet you. If you'd like to go get some rest in the owlery, I'll stop by later this afternoon with some treats and a letter to take back with you tonight, if that's all right." He nipped her affectionately, and then launched himself into the air and flew off toward the west tower.

"If you're sending a post back with him, I'd like to send one along for Ron that Harry can pass on to him," Hermione said quietly. "Go on, and let's see what Harry sent for you."

Ginny nodded, and opened the small package. There was a pair of earrings inside, and she smiled as she lifted them out, and tapped one of the intricately detailed little golden snitches that dangled from short gold chains. Each earring had a small diamond in the center of the snitch that winked at her in the morning light.

"They're adorable," Hermione told her. "He seems to be developing quite a talent for picking out some very nice gifts for you."

"Yes he is," Ginny agreed happily, and she was already taking out the earrings she was wearing so she could wear the new ones for the day.

While she ate breakfast, Ginny read the rest of Harry's letter. Some of what he'd written was a repeat of things they'd talked about the night before, though he'd added telling her about going shopping and getting Snowstorm. The last section was the part she'd loved most, where he confided how he was feeling, and told her how much he loved her. She'd read that part twice, and after tucking the letter away, she talked with Hermoine and the other girls as they finished eating and then waited while the first through sixth year students got their schedules.

There was the obvious big increase in new first year students, and apparently quite a few repeating the year who didn't write the summer exams. Another addition to the student population was the addition of other students who were in higher years but were either returning after being away for one or more years, or were coming to Hogwarts for the first time after being home-schooled.

The smallest class was the sixth years, and while Ginny and Hermione may have missed a few, it didn't look like any of last year's OWL students had attempted their exams in July, so the only sixth year students were Ginny and Luna's former classmates who didn't write their exams either and had decided to come back. There were others still who hadn't taken the exams or returned to school. That made the OWL year class the next biggest to the first years, with all of last year's OWL students, and what appeared to be just over half of last year's fourth year students. The seventh year class was only a little smaller than normal, with the returning group from Hermione's year, and the promoted group from Ginny's almost making for a full group.

Professor MacDonald had been handing out the schedules, and when she finally got to the seventh years, she started out with Hermione and worked her way down the table. Hermione and Ginny were both soon on their way back to Gryffindor tower to get the books they needed for their first classes, and then went on to their first Wednesday class, which was Arithmancy.

By the time their girls were doing that, Harry and Ron were already working with Josh and Neville on their Wednesday morning training session. Harry had thought his day was off to a pretty great start too when Snowflake arrived with the letter Ginny had sent him. The Owl was resting now, but he planned on sending her back with another little package and letter for Ginny when she left for the trip back to Hogwarts tonight.

When they were finished training, Josh sat down with his three trainees to discuss the Rookwood case, deciding that Ron and Harry should continue following the Wizard they'd been tracking, while he and Neville were going to move on, and start hunting down Nott. Before heading back out into the field, they all spent the rest of the morning working at Headquarters, since there wasn't much time left until lunch anyway, and then Neville, Ron, and Harry went to lunch together at the Leaky Cauldron.

"You just gave Ginny a ring the night before they left, and now you're telling us you sent a love note and a present so she'd get it this morning?" Ron asked. "Stop doing things like that. You're making me, and every other boyfriend, look bad."

"Was there something stopping you from doing something like that?" Neville asked him. "I think it's brilliant."

Ron laughed. "If the peanut gallery ever gets around to asking the girl he likes out in the next century or so, then I'll concede his right to comment on matters such as this." Neville turned red, but it wasn't until Ron realized that Hannah had stepped up behind him with their orders that he knew why, and he grinned up at her.

"Hi Hannah," he said conversationally, though by the look on her face, she'd both heard him, and understood why Neville was blushing. "Good timing," Ron continued. "That food smells great, and I'm starving."

Hannah laughed as she began delivering their plates, with Neville's first as usual. "I was actually thinking about that when you all came in today."

"Why were you thinking about me starving?" Ron asked, and Hannah smiled at him.

"I was thinking that with you done school, that Hogwarts is likely saving a bundle on food, and that you're also pretty good for business here." Harry and Neville both laughed, and Ron looked startled for a minute to hear that from Hannah, but then he laughed too.

"I'd argue, but Mum said something last night about how she didn't expect the grocery bill to go down much this school year too."

Hannah had put Harry's plate down last, and before moving on, she leaned close to Neville. "If the peanut gallery would like to have the right to comment, the answer would be 'yes'," she told him, smiling brightly, and then moving on to her next table without waiting for an answer.

Ron laughed again, and Neville looked a bit dazed, though he was smiling too. "You should definitely ask her out sooner than later," Harry suggested. "Don't you think that four months is enough time between deciding you like her to asking her out?"

"Easy for you to say," Neville told him, and it was Harry's turn to laugh.

"Right," he snorted. "Like my dating history is so stellar before Ginny. My Yule Ball date was a disaster, while yours, if I remember correctly, was one of those 'I could have danced all night' experiences." He thought about that for a moment, and then laughed again. "Hey! Your dance all night experience was with Ginny!"

Neville and Ron both laughed too. "I was really hoping that you'd never remember that," Neville told him. "We had fun, but you know there was nothing more there. She told me that kissing me goodnight was like kissing one of her brothers."

"Say what?" Harry exclaimed, all amusement gone.

Neville grinned at him. "Okay, so I made that last part up," he conceded. "The look on your face just now was priceless."

Ron roared with laughter, and Harry returned Neville's grin. "You've obviously been hanging out with the wrong sort to be sporting with one of your best mates like that," he suggested.

Neville laughed again. "Since I mostly hang out with the two of you, aren't you saying that it's your own fault?"

"He's obviously learned a thing or two from Hermione too," Ron told Harry.

"Then at least he was able to get something useful out of hanging around with us," Harry answered. "From now on, he gets anything we come across to do with both Herbology and debating."

While they were finishing lunch and having fun, Ginny and Hermione were having lunch in the Great Hall and talking about their morning. The Arithmancy class had been quite small, and most of the seventh year students had a first period spare. Everyone in their year was taking DADA, and most of the girls had especially loved Professor Jones, who they all thought was, with the possible exception of Professor Lupin, the best DADA teacher they'd had in their seven years. Since that had included three Death Eaters, a fraudster, Umbridge, and Snape, that wasn't saying all that much, but it did at least look good for this year. They'd had a free period after that, during which they'd gone to the Head's office to first take a look around, and then to sit down and get started on their Arithmancy homework.

"We've got double Herbology next, and another free period after that," Hermione said. "I've got some work to do with Ernie that we're going to do then."

"Luna and I will probably go study in the library if you want to meet up there after you're done," Ginny told her. "If our first two classes were any indication, Professor Sprout will have a load of assignments for us too. They're definitely not easing us into our studies this year."

"Do they ever?" Hermione asked.

The Hogwarts students might all be getting loaded down with assignments already, but they were also mostly having fun too as they worked. Harry and Ron weren't having quite so much fun spending the afternoon working on their case. Catching up with the Wizard they were following took a while, since there had been multiple places he could have been by then, but eventually they were both trailing him, and the surveillance tedium continued.

"We know this guy is up to something," Ron groused as he and Harry sat watching yet another house early that evening. "You've gotta hand it to him that he's careful. Not a single slip up so far, and whatever he's doing, it's always behind closed doors."

"I'm thinking about digging into that a bit more," Harry told him. "We've got our list of places to watch, and he's been to some of them, but there are all of the other places that we pretty much know nothing about beyond their locations."

Ron nodded. "It might at least give us some names of other Wizards and Witches to keep an eye on. Do you want to do that tomorrow?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I'll put in a little extra time on that after we're done for the day, or earlier in the mornings before we start so we can keep watching this guy." He shrugged when Ron rolled his eyes. "It's not like I've got much else to do, mate. The busier I can keep myself, the less time I'll have to spend moping around." He looked down at his battered gold watch, smiling when he looked back up at Ron.

"He's probably about done after this stop. Why don't you let me follow him just in case he doesn't go straight home from here, and you could pop over to Diagon Alley, pick up something to send Hermione, and get Pig on his way to Hogwarts."

"What am I supposed to do? Get her a pair of earrings with books hanging from gold chains?" he asked, and Harry laughed. "What's so funny about that?"

"Nothing really, except my first mental picture of that was of Hermione fighting off a pair of Monster Book of Monster earrings as they tried to chomp on her."

Ron laughed too. "I'll have to tell George that one. That'd make for a great new wheeze. Seriously, though, any suggestions?"

Harry shrugged. "Sweets, flowers, any sort of jewelry – except for large, gaudy 'My Sweetheart' necklaces, perfume, treats for Crookshanks, or probably just about anything else. I'd stay away from books, at least for a first gift."

"She loves books," Ron protested.

"True," Harry agreed, "but if you're shooting for sweet or romantic, then don't buy her a book."

"Got it," Ron answered. "No books. I'll go do that, but be careful, and don't go off doing anything stupid while you're on your own."

Harry grinned at him. "Come on, mate. We're always together when we do the really stupid things. Go on, and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

After Ron left, Harry continued watching their target, and he did go home after he'd finished up with whatever he was doing in that house. Once he was sure that his surveillance was done for the day, Harry went home, grabbed a bite to eat, wrote Ginny another letter, put it together with the package he had ready, and sent Snowflake off for her return trip to Hogwarts after showing her how to let herself in and out of the window, which had earned him an affectionate little nip. From there, he went on to the Ministry of Magic, where he got to work on the research he'd decided to do on all of the new locations they'd been visiting recently. He was still at Auror Headquarters when Ginny called his name and activated his mirror.

"You're at work?" she asked when she saw where he was, and Harry nodded.

"Working late is part of my anti-missing-you plan," he answered, and Ginny laughed. "How was your first day of classes?"

"It started out brilliantly. Thanks for the earrings. I love them. Our classes went pretty well, though we've already been given loads of assignments. We just got finished working for the night, though Hermione is still out dealing with some problems. "If it's like last night, she's helping with some firsties who are homesick." She smiled. "For some reason, the kids seem to prefer her hugs and bits of chocolate to Ernie's 'buck up, you're alright' and thump on the back."

"You're welcome, and thanks back for your post. Snowflake's on her way back tonight. Who wouldn't prefer chocolates and hugs?" Harry joked.

Ginny nodded. "What have you been doing all day? Just working?"

"Pretty much," he agreed. "We had our usual Wednesday morning training and meeting, then Ron, Neville, and I did lunch at the Leaky." He grinned at her. "Speaking of Neville, dating came up during our lunch chat, and he told Ron and I that the only reason you and he only went on the one date for the Yule Ball was because you told him that he kissed like one of your brothers."

Ginny laughed. "That must have been a gotcha moment," she guessed, and laughed again when Harry nodded. "I saw you watching me that night, so I'm sure that you know exactly why I never went out with Neville again."

"You reached your lifetime quota of getting your feet stepped on by your dance partner," Harry answered. "I have no idea how you managed to get through the night without needing to limp off to the hospital ward for treatment."

"Finely honed acting skills," Ginny explained. "Anything else happen today around there?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. Ron and I were in the field all afternoon and part of the evening. I went home for dinner and so I could show Snowflake how to let herself in and out of the house so she could fly back up to you, and then I came back into Headquarters to spend a few hours doing some record searches."

"Are you going to stay and work much longer? I don't want you burning yourself out working day and night while I'm here, whether that's part of your plan or not."

"I'll be going home soon," he assured her. They chatted for another fifteen minutes or so, and then, while Ginny went off to sleep, Harry spent another hour working until he felt tired enough to go home and do the same.

With few changes, that was Harry's routine for the rest of the week. On Thursday, his day had started off with the Owl Post from Ginny and Hermione that Snowstorm brought back for him and Ron, but after that, it was a day spent in the field tracking their target Wizard, followed by dinner at home, work back at the Ministry of Magic, a nightly chat with Ginny, and going home to bed once he'd gotten tired enough to actually sleep.

For Ginny, each morning started with an Owl Post from Harry at breakfast. On Thursday, it had been Snowflake bringing another package and letter, with the gift being a box of her favorite sweets, and on Friday and Saturday, it was Owl Post owls delivering flowers one day, and a delicate gold bracelet the next. Other than that, and her nightly chats with Harry, there were only two things she was concentrating on – her classes, and the Quidditch tryouts on Saturday morning.

"Let's get started!" she shouted, getting everyone's attention. There was a good turnout, along with quite a few spectators who'd come to watch the tryouts.

"We're going to start with a flying test," she announced, "and then we'll have the tryouts for Seeker, then Beaters, and wrap up with doing the Keeper and Chaser tryouts together. I'll be trying out for Seeker, but if one of you are better, then I'll be playing Chaser this year. Any questions?"

When there weren't any, she sent everyone up into the air with instructions to fly laps around the pitch. She shouted out orders, mostly telling some of the younger kids to return to the ground, obviously not nearly good enough to think about playing Quidditch yet. By the time she called everyone who was left back to the pitch, she'd weeded out more than a third of the candidates.

"Alright, who've we got trying out for Seeker?" she asked, and smiled as four boys stepped forward, the youngest being a firstie, and the oldest in OWL year. She handed the snitch to Seamus, and managed not to laugh when she heard the gasps as she pulled her Firebolt out of her equipment bag. "When we're all ready Seamus, could you please release the snitch for us?" she asked, and he grinned at her. "First one to catch it will be our Seeker, and then the others will have another go 'round after to get the reserve Seeker spot."

The four boys didn't look nearly as excited to be competing against her after seeing Ginny's broom, but they all got ready, and took off after Seamus had released the snitch. Nobody was surprised, and everyone was impressed when Ginny caught the snitch in less than five minutes, quite literally flying circles around her competition. It took another twenty minutes for a fourth year boy to claim the reserve team spot, and then Ginny got the things moving faster again with the Beater tryouts.

That hadn't turned out as well as she'd hoped, but since she measured Beaters against her talented twin brothers, there likely wouldn't have been many good enough to measure up. Ritchie Cootes and Jimmy Peakes were still the best Gryffindor had, and she hoped that she'd never need her reserve Beaters, since Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper were the best of the rest, and that wasn't very good at all, though she was happy to see that Andrew didn't fall off his broom, and Jack didn't miss any bludgers and hit other players with his bat instead like they had the year Angelina was Captain.

"How many Chasers and Keepers do we have?" Ginny asked when they were ready to start with that. She had four prospective Keepers, and ten Chaser candidates. "Okay, you and you," she said, pointing out two of the Keepers, "take up positions at each set of goals. Chasers will take one shot each against each of you, and then we'll repeat with the other two Keepers. We'll keep going until we have the two best Keepers and six best Chasers. Ritchie, Jimmy, go up and test them with the bludgers while they're doing that."

With just four shots for each Chaser, Ginny had seven players in the running for spots on the team, including Seamus and Dean. Demelza Robins had been the only one to score on all four attempts, earning the first Chaser position. She did get her team and reserve Keeper in that round, with Vicky Frobisher winning the team spot with seven saves, and Geoffrey Hooper taking the reserve spot with five saves. Ginny put the seven remaining Chaser candidates up against Vicky, with five shots each, and when that was done, Seamus and Dean had earned their spots on the team with three goals each, while the reserve Chasers included two boys, one third year, and the other fifth, and a second year Witch each had two goals against Vicky. The other two candidates did not score a single goal.

"Thank-you to everyone for coming out!" Ginny shouted, though her voice was starting to wear a bit thin. "Both for everyone who tried out, and everyone who came to support your team."

All of the students, except for her new team, left the stadium, and as the last of them left, Ginny was about to start her first meeting when she noticed Hermione coming over to join them. She hadn't even noticed that she'd come to watch the tryouts. She smiled when Hermione hugged and congratulated her, and then congratulated the others.

"We're just going to have a quick meeting, and then I'll meet up with you in the Common room," Ginny told her, and Hermione nodded.

"Sounds good," she agreed, "but before I go, there's something I have for you first." Smiling at Ginny, she opened her little handbag. "You all know that brooms and Quidditch are not my thing," she continued, reaching into her bag much farther than should have been possible, "but I was sent a package anonymously with a note attached to give these to whoever made the Gryffindor team." With that, she pulled out a shiny new Nimbus 2500, the just-released model that replaced the Nimbus 2001 this summer. She handed it to Demelza, since she was closest, and all six of her friends and classmates stared at her in amazement.

"Do those looks mean these are good brooms?" she asked as she reached in and pulled out the second one, handing it to Jimmy.

Everyone, including Ginny, laughed. "Except for the Firebolt, they're the best there is right now," Seamus advised her. Hermione had already pulled out the next one and handed it to him. "This is brilliant," he added, looking like a little kid at Christmas. Hermione handed out the last three brooms, and then after getting hugged by Ginny, she left the pitch so the team could get on with their meeting.

"I'm feeling pretty good about our chances this year," Ginny told her team, and they were all grinning at her as they held their new brooms, looking like the shock of getting them hadn't worn off yet. Reaching into her equipment bag, she pulled out the training schedules she'd made up, and handed them out. "We'll start practices next week, so be ready to put in some work this year. I really liked winning the Quidditch Cup the two years that Angelina and Harry were Captain, and would really like to win it again – especially for those of us who are in our last year."

They spent another fifteen minutes going over a few details, and then she dismissed her team, packed her broom back in the bag, and left the stadium to go find Hermione, who was waiting for her in the Common room. They went in to their dorm room, and since they were alone, Ginny hugged her again, both girls laughing.

"Why didn't you tell me before today?" Ginny asked, then laughed again. "Never mind. It was supposed to be a surprise."

Hermione nodded. "Harry said to tell you that he really loves you, but he doesn't love our fellow Gryffindors enough to buy six Firebolts."

"I'd say this is quite incredible enough," Ginny said happily. "Did you have fun playing out there?"

"That was pretty great," Hermione admitted. "Hopefully they'll help your team this year."

Ginny hugged her again. "You know they will. I enjoyed your act, but you know a lot more about brooms and Quidditch than you admit, even if you really aren't a fan of either."

"Like I had a choice, hanging around you, your brothers, and Harry," Hermione answered. "Let's grab our books and get a little work in before we go for lunch. We've a lot to get done by Monday."

Out in the real world, after a long day following their suspected Death Eater accomplice, Harry had done the dinner and an Owl Post thing, this time, sending Snowstorm with another letter and package for Ginny. He wasn't planning on sending one every day all year, but he hadn't thought that it was too much to do daily posts for the first week. After that, he stopped in to visit Teddy and Andromeda for a little under an hour, and then moved on to the Ministry again and working until about an hour after his nightly chat with Ginny.

On Sunday, after he and Ron had spent another long, boring day in the field, Harry went back to the Burrow with him to have dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before going back to the Ministry, where after hours more of searching, he finally got a lead that looked like it could be useful. That break had come before his chat with Ginny, though he'd stayed at work until nearly midnight, and following that lead as far as he could along the paper trail.

"Ready to play?" Harry asked Ron when he walked into the kitchen at the Burrow.

"We were supposed to have the day off," Ron grumbled. "I think that making your best mate work too is taking this work 'til you drop so you don't miss Ginny thing too far."

"I'd have no problem with taking our days off," Harry told him, "except I've got a lead that's really worth going after."

Ron perked up at that. "What'd you find?"

"Out of all of the houses and businesses we've been led to, just one of them doesn't have any Witch or Wizard registered as living there. It's a Muggle home, and a fairly well off one too, by the looks of the place."

"So?" Ron asked, looking decidedly unimpressed.

Harry grinned at him. "You must be tired," he joked. "How many Death Eaters and their pals have you seen having tea with Muggles, mate? I thought we'd go spend some time watching the place, and see what we can find out."

"You've got a point there," Ron conceded. "Alright, let's get to it. Maybe it'll even lead somewhere other than finding out that our suspect has a sweet little old Muggle Granny he's been keeping secret from his bigoted old buddies. He wouldn't be the first pureblood wannabe with a Muggle in the closet."

Harry had gone to the Burrow early, and they were already watching the house when a middle age couple came out of the front door and started walking down the street. "I'll take these two," Harry offered, and Ron nodded.

They were both in disguise, so Harry only needed to use his cloak until he could find a place to take it off without anyone noticing, and then follow the couple through the crowd. He followed them into the underground, and eventually to an office building, where Harry had needed to use his cloak again as they split up, going to different floors. He stayed with the man, who had his own private office, the door of which identified him as a Senior Accounts Manager, and Harry had followed him into that office, carefully settling in to one corner, watching and listening to everything going on around him.

It hadn't taken long to determine for sure that the man was a Muggle, and not a Wizard or Squib. His clothing and the things around the office confirmed Harry's early conclusion that the owners of the house were fairly well off. It was after observing the man for a couple of hours that he finally decided to take a very cautious look into his mind, and then immediately pulled back when he found that the man was under an imperius curse. With that information, Harry left the office as soon as he could, located the man's wife on the floor she worked on as a consultant of some sort, and after confirming that she too was imperiused, left the office building, now in a hurry to get back to where Ron was watching the house.

"Find out anything?" Ron asked when Harry joined him again.

"They're Muggles," Harry answered, "and are both under imperius curses. Anything happen here?"

Ron nodded. "Our friend stopped in while you were gone. Stayed about an hour, as usual, and then moved on."

"Which tells us that there's someone else staying here," Harry guessed. "Possibly the same person who imperiused those Muggles."

"Maybe," Ron agreed. "What next?"

"Let's just keep watching, and see if anything else happens," Harry suggested. "I'll dig for some more information tonight if nothing happens today, and then we'll see how it goes from there."

They watched the house for the rest of the day, but nobody else visited, and nobody came outside. The two Muggles returned, and Harry had presumed they were the owners, though he did want to confirm that later. When still nothing had happened by early evening, Ron headed back to the Burrow, while Harry went home to eat, and then went back to the Ministry to work for another few hours, mostly getting everything he could on the two Muggles, and on what did prove out to be their home.

Harry sat down with Ron in the morning at the Burrow and went over everything he'd learned from his research. While they still didn't know anything about who had imperiused the Muggle couple, and a suspicion that the Witch or Wizard who'd done it was living in the house, Harry had decided that he wanted to get inside the house using his cloak to hide, and get those answers. That's why he was outside the front door to that house in time to slip inside when the two Muggles opened the door.

When the door closed behind him, Harry looked around, not attempting to move as he took in every detail of the large hallway and listened carefully for even the slightest sound. The entrance was somewhat larger than the one in his house, and had some very fine looking furnishings and decorations. There was a wide set of stairs leading to the upper levels, and the doors leading into the rooms on each side of the hall were open. He didn't attempt going up the stairs, but when he started moving around, he was able to check and see that all of the rooms with open doors were empty. There was also a door at the end, however, that was closed, and as he got close to it, he could hear the faint sound of cutlery scraping on dishes, alerting him that there was indeed someone else in the house with him.

Harry moved back toward the front door, choosing a spot to one side of the door, relaxing, and settling in to wait until the other person made an appearance, or the opportunity to get through the door opened up to him. There was other movement he could hear as he waited. Whoever it was in the house with him eventually went upstairs using another staircase, but that ascent had been quite noisy, and he didn't dare attempt doing that unaided, and using magic would alert any Wizard or Witch that he was there.

It was over an hour and a half from the time he'd entered the house before the unseen occupant returned to the ground floor, again using the other staircase. More noises from beyond the door told Harry he or she was doing something back there, and then, suddenly, that door opened, and Harry watched a pockmarked, stooped Wizard step through the door and walk toward him. When his anti-apparition spell slammed into place, the other Wizard, who Harry now knew was Augustus Rookwood himself, whipped out his wand, and moved quickly toward the door. Before he could even go a few steps, the front door flew open, and Rookwood had his wand up and ready to attack.

"It's me!" a frightened-sounding voice declared hastily. "What's going on? I was just coming up to the door when the spell was cast."

"You led someone here!" Rookwood accused, and Harry saw the other man shake his head vigorously.

"I have not!" he retorted.

"He's right about that," Ron said, and the man whirled in shock. "Auror-trainee Weasley," he announced, "and you're under arrest."

Harry was sure that Ron couldn't see Rookwood looking in the doorway from outside, which meant he couldn't see the attack that was coming as the man raised his wand, a dark, twisted smile on his face. That expression turned to shock as Harry, still under cover of his cloak, met his attacks with his shield, a vase of flowers for the killing curse to destroy, and finally, he disarmed and bound the man even as he was slammed into the wall by Harry's silent counter-attack. Ron might not have seen the attack coming, but he jumped into action when the spells started flashing through the air. The Wizard in the doorway had jumped back outside, expecting Rookwood's attack, and he fired a pair of quite pathetically weak curses at Ron, who easily shielded against them. He counter-attacked, and taking a page from Josh, hit the Wizard in the side of the head with a window box that the man didn't see coming.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, and watched as the wand flew toward him, and the Wizard slammed back into the wall next to the door, where he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"What is the meaning of this?" Rookwood demanded as Ron stepped into the hallway. "If you're here to arrest that man, it has nothing to do with me – I don't even know him. Why have you attacked an innocent bystander? I demand that you release me at once!"

"I didn't attack you," Ron told him, and Rookwood glared at him with hate-filled eyes.

"Of course you did," he spat, "though I would've never expected to meet a Weasley who had it in them."

"Then you've obviously never met Ron's mother," Harry told him, smiling at Ron as he took his cloak off and put it away. "In this case, though, I was happy to give my fellow Auror-trainee a hand. Ron, I'm sure by now you've recognized Augustus Rookwood."

"Potter!" Rookwood gasped, his eyes going wide.

"That'd be Auror-trainee Potter to you," Ron told him. "Augustus Rookwood, you're under arrest too, for so many crimes, we'll just wait until we get back to Auror Headquarters to read them all off to you."

"Good job," Harry complimented him. "Let's get them to Headquarters. We've still got a fair bit to do today."

Since Rookwood had worked for the Ministry, his entrance through the Atrium was of particular note to many Witches and Wizards, and more than a few applauded as Harry and Ron took their prisoners through security. They processed the two Wizards, and then went for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron with Neville after dropping them off in the dungeon holding cells. After that, it was back to headquarters to fill out their reports, and then they went back to the house with Josh, Neville, and a pair of Obliviators, the latter brought along to help deal with the Imperiused Muggle couple, while Josh and his trainees went through the house to make sure that nothing of Rookwood's was left behind – particularly since several of his possessions could have been quite dangerous for any Muggle to handle.

There were more reports to fill out after that, and then Harry went home, had dinner, and then spent his evening working around the house until his chat with Ginny and an early bedtime. It had only been hours over a week since he'd kissed her goodbye at King's Cross Station. Even though he'd been working hard, and despite the nightly mirror chats and Owl Posts, Harry missed her more than he wanted to think about.

Ginny was feeling exactly the same way as she was curled up in her bed, Arnold snuggling with her, though he was already asleep. There were some really great things happening at school, but not having Harry there with her was a big missing piece in what would have otherwise been an absolutely brilliant week. She, Hermione, Luna, and the rest of the Hogwarts students were just getting settled into the routines that went along with having a regimented schedule after an extended summer off.

It wasn't going to be all work, and the third year and older students were already talking about the first Hogsmeade weekend that was less than two weeks away. The first Quidditch match of the year was still two months away, but avid Quidditch fans kept up with their favorite professional Quidditch teams, mostly through the Daily Prophet, WWN, or Posts from home. Ginny and Hermione had been invited to join the Slug club again, which Professor Slughorn had revived after skipping it the previous year, and there were other clubs and activities available, so there was something fun and interesting for nearly every student.

Not being together was still looming large for Harry and Ginny, and for Ron and Hermione, but for them, and for most Witches and Wizards in the Wizarding World, there continued to be an air of excitement and hope for the future. Going in to the first fall season after the war, even more frequent gloomy weather days couldn't dampen that enthusiasm. Nearly everyone, except maybe the remaining Death Eaters and their minions, were sure that life was going to just keep getting better and better.


	7. Fall Fun and Adventure

Chapter Seven – Fall Fun and Adventure

"You want to actually take the rest of the day off?" Ron asked incredulously. "Seriously, or are you just having a little sport with me?"

"Seriously," Harry answered, smiling at his friend. "We've got nothing with our case right now, and we haven't taken a break since our last day off a week ago Tuesday."

"Because you made us work through our days off this week," Ron reminded him, and Harry nodded.

"True," he agreed. "Thought I'd make that up to you today." He pulled two tickets out of his pocket, and handed one to Ron. "We've got time for lunch, and then we'll want to get to Exmoor in time for the game."

"You've gotten us tickets to the Cannons' game today?" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "Harry, this is brilliant!"

Harry laughed. "We'll see about that, depending on how your team does against the Tornados. They're near the top of the standings, though it's still early in the season. It should be fun, and it'll be my first time seeing a professional league game."

Since they'd captured Rookwood, the rest of the week had been busy, though Harry and Ron had spent a bit more time at Headquarters as they did their training with Josh and Neville on Wednesday morning, and then did a little ground work on their new assignment, which was to hunt down Travers. Outside of work, Harry had gone for two short visits with Teddy, and he, Ron, and Neville had done dinner at the Leaky together after work on Friday.

His nightly chats with Ginny were the highlight of each day, and her recaps of the day at Hogwarts was always a lot of fun – especially since she had such a talent for mimicking others as she told him about the good, bad, and most amusing parts of her day. Their other line of communication, Snowflake and Snowstorm had each made one trip, carrying messages each way, though Snowstorm was currently at Hogwarts, and wouldn't be back until Sunday morning.

After having lunch at the Leaky, Ron and Harry apparated to the Exmoor stadium, and even though they'd just eaten, Ron picked up some snacks to start out with when they'd gotten drinks before going to find their seats. He'd also picked up a couple of souvenirs, and was wearing the bright orange Cannons hat with the large, bold, black 'CC' and speeding cannonball team logo on the front.

"This is one of the newest stadiums," he told Harry as they waited for the game to start. "At first, they'd put an invisibility charm on it so Muggles wouldn't see it, but hardly anybody could find the place, and the ones who could, weren't able to find their proper seats, so they got rid of that." He looked around excitedly. "These are among the best seats in the place," he added.

"I only picked them up a couple of days ago at Quality Quidditch," Harry explained. "The Wizard there told me they still had lots of seats available, and even had a discount for this game."

Ron nodded absently as he looked around. It was only about ten minutes to game time, and the stadium was only about half full.

"The Cannons are twenty-one time league champions, but just because they've been on a bit of a run of bad luck, the fair-weather fans don't come out to support them," he told Harry, who had to fight not to laugh at the comment. Ron's bit of a run of bad luck had been plaguing the team for one hundred and seven years. Since he'd listened to Ron talk about his favorite team regularly since they'd met, he knew that the Cannons didn't need luck – they needed some players who didn't suck so badly.

When the Cannons were announced, and flew out into the stadium, Ron was on his feet, cheering them on, oblivious to the fact that you could quite easily count the number of Witches and Wizards in the entire stadium doing the same. One of the Cannons players even smiled and waved at Ron as they flew past, apparently happy to see a new, loudly supportive fan watching the game. That had been like a whisper compared to the roar that went up when the Tornados were introduced. They didn't have all of the pre-game festivities for this match like there was for a Quidditch World Cup match, so after the coaches and captains shook hands, the referee soon had the game underway.

"I coulda saved that one," Ron said in aggravation as he watched the Tornados' first goal sail past the outstretched hands of the Cannons' Keeper.

"Probably," Harry agreed, though he'd thought it had also been a pretty great play set-up too. "You're team is going to be in for a long day if they don't pick up their game, though. The Tornados look a lot faster right now."

"That's because they are faster," Ron admitted. "I'm really just hoping that our Seeker can actually get the job done today, though Gudgeon's record against the Tornados isn't good at all. I'm sure he'll win a game against them eventually. With as many losses as he's had, the odds should be in his favor."

While that might technically be true and theoretically possible, eventually wasn't going to happen today. The Tornados kept the pressure on the Cannons all afternoon, and when their Seeker finally caught the snitch, they'd earned a decisive victory with a score of three hundred and ninety to thirty. After the game, Harry went back to the Burrow with Ron and had dinner there, enjoying what ended up being a dinner conversation where Ron gave his parents the play-by-play of pretty much the entire Cannons' game.

"So, are you boys going to start taking Saturdays off now?" Mrs. Weasley asked after Ron had finished up with his replay of the Seeker's winning catch, which had made Gudgeon sound like he'd played a lot better than he actually had.

"We hadn't planned on it," Ron answered, and she smiled at him.

She nodded. "That's too bad. I'd have thought with Hogsmeade weekends starting Saturday next, that you'd both be going up there for the day. Especially since that's Hermione's birthday too."

"Huh?" Ron said, looking confused.

Mr. Weasley laughed, and Mrs. Weasley smiled at her confused-looking son. "It's not like the town closes down just for the Hogwarts students," he reminded the boys. "The only reason your Mum and I didn't come up to visit you and your sister those days is because your older brothers had already made it perfectly clear that parents did not do things like that to mess up a kid's reputation." He laughed again. "I'm fairly certain that rule doesn't apply to boyfriends."

Harry got up from the table and hugged both of Ron's parents, and he'd been smiling brightly once he'd caught on to what they were talking about. "Thank-you," he said happily. "Let's not say anything to Ginny or Hermione, Ron. We can surprise them next weekend – or we can as long as we don't have anything come up at work that we have to do instead."

"I'll make sure we catch every fugitive out there this week if it means getting to see Hermione next weekend," Ron declared. He smiled at his mother. "Thanks for reminding me about her birthday too."

"Write that date down somewhere," Mrs. Weasley suggested. "Witches do not like it when their boyfriends – or husbands – forget their birthday."

"I only forgot once," Mr. Weasley protested, and she smiled at him fondly.

"And I still haven't forgotten that," she reminded him. "Get my point?" she asked Ron.

"Definitely," Ron assured her.

They didn't catch all of the fugitives over the next week, but they did work every day, and Josh didn't have a problem letting them change up their schedules to just take time off here and there when they could fit it in, as long as they kept up with their reading, had their Wednesday training sessions, and knew they'd still have to cancel their plans if needed at work. Except for that training, Ron and Harry were out in the field every day, starting out on Sunday with another tour of all of the places listed in Traver's file as known haunts, and the locations of associates, family, and friends. By the end of the week, they hadn't come up with any solid leads, but when Harry went to bed Friday night, Travers' location was about the very last thing on his mind.

Like all of the other third year and above students, Ginny and Hermione were excited to be going into Hogsmeade as they sat at the Gryffindor table at breakfast on Saturday morning. The school and grounds might be large, but after a summer of freedom to go wherever they wanted, three weeks of confinement had them ready to get out and go anywhere, even if it was only for a handful of hours, and only to Hogsmeade. Hermione had the added excitement of it being her birthday.

"Happy Birthday," Ginny told her after they'd sat down to eat. She pulled a present and card out of her bag, and handed it to Hermione, who smiled happily and hugged her before opening the gift.

"It's beautiful," she said, holding up the soft, pastel-colored silk blouse. "Thank-you!"

"You're welcome," Ginny said as Hermione hugged her again. "Fleur helped me out with picking it out for you." She laughed as she remembered that lunchtime shopping trip. "Of course, that color would never work with your hair," she added, perfectly mimicking Fleur's accent. "Maybe some day I'll just change it to blonde or brunette just so I don't have to hear comments like that for a while."

"Don't you dare," Hermione told her. "Your hair is gorgeous."

She was in a great mood until the Owl Post arrived, and not even a single Post came for her. By the time they were nearly done breakfast, she wasn't really very happy at all. While her Mum and Dad always did something for her birthday before she left for school, she had expected that Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and especially Ron would have sent _something_ for her.

"Do you have a lot to get in town?" Hermione asked, trying to hide the disappointment she was feeling, and Ginny shook her head.

"I need a few potion supplies topped up, some parchment and ink, and I'll pick up a few things at Honeydukes, but that's about it. You?"

"Same here," she answered. "That'll take a half hour. What should we do with the rest of the time?" She sighed, then caught herself, not wanting to spoil the day out for Ginny or any of her other friends. "We've got loads of assignments to do this weekend, so we could always just come back early," she suggested.

"Or not," Ginny said with a laugh. "We've been working really hard, and I don't mind just taking all of the time we're allowed to get away from here and forget about everything here for a while. We can do a birthday lunch for you at the Three Broomsticks – I'll buy and everything."

Hermione smiled. "Okay, you've convinced me," she conceded, though she was already musing about sending Howlers to both Ron and Harry in time for their next day off so she didn't mess up one of their stakeouts.

Luna and Susan Bones met up with them in the entrance hall after breakfast, and they walked to town together. Ginny was the first one to notice the two boys standing on the street outside of the Three Broomsticks, and she jumped into a run, shouting happily and launching herself into Harry's waiting arms. A number of students around them laughed, and two Witches whistled their encouragement as she kissed him for a long minute. Hermione hadn't run too, but she did have a fairly serious kiss and hug for her boyfriend too.

"Hi Harry, Ron," Luna said, smiling radiantly at them. "This is a nice surprise. We thought you'd be working all weekend."

"Hi Luna. Hi Susan," Harry answered, smiling and happier than he'd been in weeks as he still had an arm wrapped around Ginny. "We might have been, if Ron and Ginny's Mum and Dad hadn't pointed out to us that we actually could come here on Hogsmeade weekends, and Auror Williamson was nice enough to let us change our schedules around." He handed Hermione the gift he'd brought with him. "Happy Birthday."

"I think it's a brilliant surprise," Ginny told him. "It's a good thing too, since you two were likely well on your way to being in the doghouse when no Owl Posts arrived this morning for Hermione, or at least about to be the recipients of a Howler or two."

"They were," Hermione agreed with a laugh as she blushed a bit, "but they've way more than made up for that now."

Luna smiled happily at her best friends. "I think it's just you and me, Susan," she said, and Susan laughed.

"I'd say so," she agreed. "It's nice to see you, Harry, Ron, but in this case, six is definitely a crowd. Happy Birthday, Hermione. I'm sure it's going to be a great one for you now."

Luna did hug both boys first, but then she and Susan went on down the street, while Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione decided to go into the Three Broomsticks, get drinks, and have Hermione open her presents before they went out to get their shopping done. Harry had gotten her a small, gold-trimmed hourglass that she'd thought was brilliant when she found out that it could count down time to whatever date or event she wanted. She promptly set it to countdown until she and Ginny would be home for Christmas.

Ron had brought a gift for her from his parents, and they'd sent a large box of Hermione's favorite chocolates. She'd hugged and kissed him happily when she saw the diamond necklace he'd gotten her. With the gifts opened, they sat and talked while they finished their drinks.

"I still can hardly believe that you were able to come instead of having to work all day," Hermione told Ron and Harry.

"Let's see," Ron answered. "Spend a few hours with our girlfriends when we have a chance to do that – especially when it's your birthday - or work a mostly boring stakeout all day instead. That's not really all that tough a choice. I just don't know why it didn't occur to us before Mum and Dad mentioned it last weekend."

"We've always been on the student side of these weekends," Ginny pointed out, "and Mum and Dad never brought you or I up here to see any of our brothers before we started here." She squeezed Harry's hand and smiled at him. "Besides, I'm not going to get my hopes up for you being able to do this every time, or I'll hate it any time you can't come because you are stuck working."

"You've had a couple weeks with them now - how's your team looking?" Ron asked Ginny.

"They're doing great," she told him enthusiastically. "It's still early, but I think we'll be having a great season." She smiled happily at Harry again. "Which reminds me," she added, before leaning close and pulling him into another kiss. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome," Harry assured her.

After leaving the Three Broomsticks, they wandered through the shops, picking up sweets for Ginny, and the other supplies that both girls needed to get. Harry didn't have to work too hard to talk Ginny into letting him get her a new pair of pants and a gorgeously soft sweater at Gladrags, while Hermione couldn't resist getting one of the same sweaters in a different color.

"Too bad Crookshanks and Arnold will be the only ones getting to cuddle with you when you're wearing those this fall," Ron told the girls."

Hermione hugged him. "I'll make sure to pack it when we come home for the holidays," she promised.

They went back to the Three Broomsticks for lunch, and then wandered around town for a while longer until it was time for Hermione and Ginny to go back to the school. Harry and Ron walked them back to the gates, where each couple made their own space to have a few minutes for sharing a goodbye hug and kiss.

"Thanks for coming today," Ginny breathed as she held Harry tightly, neither of them wanting the moment to end.

"I'm just glad we could," he answered just as softly. "Take care of yourself, and try not to work all of the time."

"I'd suggest the same to you, but we'll both end up working most of the time anyway," she told him with a wry smile. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you too," Harry said in a choked voice. Their time was up, and the girls were going to need to hurry. With one more soft, lingering kiss, Ginny stepped back, and turned to where Hermione and Ron were still locked in an embrace.

Using her best imitation of her brother, she called out – "Oi, Ron! Not right here in front of your sister!" They all laughed, and Hermione kissed Ron again before joining Ginny, giving Harry a quick hug, and then heading through the gates and back up to the school. Ron and Harry watched them until they were out of sight, and then they apparated to the Burrow.

Harry spent what was left of the afternoon there, visiting with Mrs. Weasley, and helping her with making dinner, and then with Mr. Weasley, who'd been at the Ministry dealing with some problems that had come up in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. After dinner, he went home, did some cleaning and laundry, and then went to bed early, reading a lesson from the third Auror training manual he was now working on – Introduction to Stealth Techniques - before ending the day with his nightly chat with Ginny.

For most of the next three days, he and Ron split up, with Ron following a new target Wizard they thought was of interest, named Gordon McLeod, while Harry started a stakeout of a tavern that the man had been visiting each day, sometimes more than once. Using his cloak again, Harry was able to get fairly close, and listen in on different conversations going on at the different tables. Some of those conversations included information that the Hit Squad would find interesting, and he passed those nuggets on to Josh and Gawain in the nightly reports he filed with them before going home.

There were no new leads on finding Travers, but on Tuesday night, McLeod stopped in at the Tavern, sitting at a table with another Wizard Harry hadn't seen in there before he'd arrived an hour or so earlier. Since the man had just been sitting alone, and ordering drinks for himself, Harry hadn't bothered to approach that table. Now, he moved silently in that direction, and though it took a few minutes to navigate his way clear without disturbing anyone else, he was able to stand against a nearby wall and listen in on the conversation between the two Wizards.

At first, they seemed to be discussing, of all things, Wizard's Chess. Now, maybe in other places, that wouldn't have seemed to be a strange thing for two Wizards to be discussing, but then this wasn't exactly the venue for highbrow chats about exotic chess strategies, and was as out of place as a troll in a tearoom. Gordon McLeod was doing most of the talking, discussing chess pieces and moves as if he were giving one of Ron's play-by-plays of a pretty good Quidditch game, though in something of a monotone, and without any enthusiasm. He'd been leaning over the table, talking quietly, but then he sat back and smiled.

"With that, we have checkmate," he concluded.

"And the King falls," the other man agreed, smiling too.

While Harry had frankly understood nothing of the conversation, other than recognizing the names of the playing pieces, and that the man had been describing board movements, those last two sentences sent a chill of precognition through him, and he began to make his way out of the tavern. When he was outside, he worked his way around to where he knew that Ron would be watching the place – the same place they'd chosen the first time they'd checked the place out.

"Ron," he whispered, far enough away from his friend not to have him jumping out of his skin at the sound. When Ron turned his head toward the sound, he added – "We need to get to Headquarters. I'll meet you there."

After seeing the faintest of nods in the darkness, Harry left, walking nearly a mile away from the tavern before apparating to the Ministry, and hurrying up to Auror Headquarters. He'd already grabbed the Auror's pensieve and gone to his cubicle by the time Ron joined him. Harry put up an imperturbable barrier around his cubicle and they both sat down.

"What's up?" Ron asked, seeing the serious look on Harry's face.

"I want you to look at the memory of what I just witnessed," Harry answered. "It's a conversation that sounds like a recap of a Wizards Chess match. You'll know what they're talking about, and I need to know anything worthwhile that you can get out of what they were saying."

"Okay," Ron agreed immediately.

Harry pulled out his wand, retrieved the memory, and released it into the pensieve, where it swirled, silvery and cloud-like. Ron stood up, and a moment later, entered the pensieve. Harry sat back and waited while Ron was doing that, and looked at his friend expectantly when he straightened up and sat down again.

"They were all real chess moves," Ron reported, "but it was also nonsense. The combinations that McLeod was relaying couldn't happen as he described them, and certainly wouldn't have ended in checkmate."

"Would you have a guess if you thought it was a code?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head.

"Sorry, mate. That'd be my guess for what they were doing, but without the key, any code like that would be virtually unbreakable," Ron answered.

"I think they're planning something against Shacklebolt," Harry finally told him, and Ron whistled.

"You think that because of the 'king falls' comment?"

Harry nodded. "When I heard that, it was like I knew exactly what the man had meant by it, even if I've got nothing more than that to go on, I'm sure it's exactly right."

Ron looked at his watch. "It's late, and whatever they have planned likely isn't tonight. Let's sit down with Josh and Neville tomorrow and see what they think."

"Sounds good," he agreed. "You go ahead, and I'll put the pensieve away, and write up a report before getting out of here too."

"Just don't forget your chat with Ginny," Ron reminded him, and Harry laughed.

"That will never happen," he assured his friend. "Have a good night, and I'll see you in the morning."

Harry had ended up staying until after midnight, but he was up early, and back in the office ahead of nearly all of the Aurors. When Josh, Neville, and Ron were all there, he shielded Josh's cubicle, and then gave him and Neville the rundown on the previous evening's events, and his strong suspicions. Considering his track record with getting people to believe him about anything when he made these jumps beyond proof or logic, he was glad to at least see that Josh and Neville didn't give him 'the look' that he was used to seeing at times like this.

"Let me get Auror Robards, and we'll go over this again," Josh told him. "This isn't something I can make a call on anyway, since if what you suspect is really coming, then we'll need to put round the clock coverage on the Minister."

Gawain was tied up elsewhere, so while they waited for him, Josh led his trainees through the session he'd planned for this morning, and then they sat down with the Head of the Aurors, and Harry again went over everything. Gawain did give him the look, and Harry sighed inwardly, wondering if there would ever be a time in his life when that wouldn't happen anymore.

"Harry," Gawain began, "you've got no proof, no time frame, and no suspects. Without any of that, I've no reason to be putting the Minister under full Auror protection. I'm sorry, but Auror Headquarters is not run on hunches and feelings, so unless and until you bring me something more than this, your recommendation is denied." He gave Josh a hard look. "I'm very busy, Auror Williamson, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't waste my time with such frivolities." With that, Gawain left them, and Harry took a moment to take a deep breath as Josh watched him closely, waiting until they were alone again.

"Before you lose it, you can't honestly tell me that you didn't expect that," he told Harry. "There's a bit of the trouble we discussed after the raid. Of course, while you're not getting approval to put Auror protection on the Minister, that doesn't mean that we should stop following the best leads we have in our cases. Since Neville and I don't have anything solid on Nott right now, and you and Ron seem to have a very good lead, the four of us should work together on your case for a while." He smiled at his three trainees.

"Since I've got the seniority, Neville and I will take the dayshift stakeout, while the two of you will again get the night shift." He looked at his watch. "Go get some sleep this afternoon, and one of us will meet you here at eight o'clock to let you know where you'll need to be to take over from us. One of you will do the same for us at eight in the morning tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Harry answered, smiling now, his eyes flashing with enthusiasm.

"Keep this quiet," Josh warned them. "We're all now, at the very least, bordering on disobeying an order after being denied your request for surveillance, Harry, and Auror Robards will not be happy about this when he finds out."

"Right now, let's worry about the Minister, and watch each other's backs," Neville suggested. "We can deal with the rest when the time comes."

He and Ron had a few more things to do before leaving, but then they left, heading for their respective homes to get some food and sleep. The only problem Harry had with the quick change in schedule was letting Ginny know that he wouldn't be able to do their nightly calls unless they did them earlier, or started doing them in the morning. He got about four hours of sleep, and while he cooked and ate dinner, he tried reaching Ginny through her mirror, finally getting a response at a little after seven.

She'd looked worried at first, but once she knew he was okay, he'd explained about the change in his work hours, and she chose to have their little calls at seven in the evenings. When Ginny had suggested that morning chats in the girls dorm rooms might be a little too interesting for Harry, he'd laughed, and thanked her for picking the evening chat instead, and saving him from any potential embarrassment.

By a quarter to eight, he was at Headquarters again, and Ron was there already, so when Neville joined them a few minutes later, they were ready to go. Minister Shacklebolt, they found out, was now at home, though he did have company, including Percy, the small group having a late, working dinner. Neville took them to where Josh was still watching the place, and after passing on what they'd been doing all afternoon and evening, Josh and Neville both left.

The Minister's home was quite large, similar in size to Grimmauld Place, though much nicer looking – at least from the outside. The spot that Josh and Neville had chosen was across the street and down two houses – a currently empty house that was up for sale. They had a clear view of Shacklebolt's place from front windows on three floors, including the attic, and the spot allowed them to stay out of sight, and the only thing Harry would have liked better was to be a little closer.

"He's got pretty good defenses here," Ron said conversationally as they settled in for what would likely be a long, boring night, "and he's a really strong Wizard and former Auror too. Do you think they'd try to pull off whatever they're planning here?"

"I don't know," Harry answered. "Mad Eye and Tonks were Aurors. So was Scrimgeour for that matter, and he had the full defenses of the Ministry of Magic around him. They'd need enough of them to do it, but yeah, they could get to him here."

Ron laughed, but there wasn't any humor in it. "That's a cheery thought. I can see it now – two Auror-trainees and Minister Shacklebolt up against a gang of Death Eaters. Remind me again why we took this job instead of going back to school with the girls?"

"For the money and dedicated bed at St. Mungo's?" Harry suggested. "Then there's all of this fun and non-stop excitement, and the fame and glory."

"More like we were still in shock after the battle, and Kingsley caught us before we came to our senses," Ron answered, and then grinned. "That just proves again that Hermione's the brightest Witch of our time, since she was the only one of us with enough sense to turn Shacklebolt down."

"Most Witches and Wizards would likely agree with you on that one," Harry told him. "Then again, if I had to pick three Wizards to face a gang of Death Eaters, I doubt we could do much better."

Harry really hadn't expected anything to happen that first day, or even in the next few days. The foreboding he felt wasn't a sense of imminent danger, but whatever was going to happen, it wasn't far away either. Their stakeout, and the switch to working nights again made for a tough few days as they got used to the new routine. Without any help, it was also a seven-day a week job. For the next two and a half weeks, Harry and Ron followed the Minister of Magic wherever he went in the evenings, watched while he slept overnight, and then usually stayed with him until he reached the Ministry of Magic in the mornings, or on the weekends, when he didn't usually go in to work until later, they'd hand things off to Josh and Neville.

While working as unofficial security at night, Harry did manage to do a bit more than just sleep during the day. He spent two mornings with Teddy, and then dropped him off at the Burrow with Mrs. Weasley, who watched him in the afternoons on those days, and a whole day one other time each week, which covered most of the extra help Andromeda needed to take care of her grandson. Harry and Ginny had also gotten into the routine of sending two Owl Posts each week, with Snowflake and Snowstorm each making one round-trip. Harry would also send letters from Ginny's parents, and at least one small gift a week. The letters he received from her were as special to him as the daily mirror chats, and he kept every one of those Posts.

Harry and Ron had both pretty much settled into the same routine, and as September rolled into October, other than both of them being awake at midnight to welcome the new month, everything else was pretty much the same. The one really great thing about working nights was that when they got off duty on the Saturday morning of the second Hogsmeade weekend of the school year, they were able to go to their respective homes, get cleaned up and changed, meet at the Three Broomsticks for breakfast, and be in Hogsmeade when Hermione and Ginny got to town. They were near the front of the pack of students that were stretched out quite a distance along the road as they made their way into town.

It was a cool, blustery, and damp day, so after a quick round of hugs, the two couples started right in on the shopping the girls needed to get done. Taking their time, they went from store to store, enjoying just getting to be together, even if they weren't able to have any couples only time. Since Ron and Harry had to work again that evening, the girls agreed to have lunch with them at the Three Broomsticks, but then they advised their boyfriends that they were going back to school right after that, giving them no choice but to go home and get the rest they'd need.

"I'd have rather stayed up all day and night to get the extra time with you," Harry told Ginny quietly as they hugged each other tightly just outside of the gates of the school.

"We did get to spend the morning together, and you need to be at your best for what you're doing," she answered. "Maybe we'll get to spend the whole time together on the next one."

"I hope so too," he agreed. He hugged her more tightly, and they shared one last, sweet kiss, and then Ginny pushed him firmly away.

"Come on, Hermione," she said, her throat tight as she looked longingly at Harry. "If we don't get going now, I'll just want to stay here and snog Harry until we have to go back."

Harry smiled. "I really like the sounds of that idea."

Ginny smiled back, her eyes misty, but she held firm, and kept it together. "So do I, but it's not happening," she told him. "Move it, Granger!" Hermione was already moving, and she put an arm around Ginny as they started the walk up to the school. They didn't look back, but the two young Wizards watched them until they were out of sight.

"This part of these visits seriously sucks," Ron stated.

"Yes it does," Harry agreed. "Let's get out of here. I'll buy you a drink at my place if you'd like before you go home to get some sleep."

When they took up their watch over Shacklebolt that evening, he was at a political party being held in the home of Wizengamot Elder Anthony Timms. This was one of the functions that the Minister attended fairly regularly that made Harry very nervous, since keeping a watch on everyone around Kingsley was virtually impossible. The one thing that it did allow him was the ability to use his cloak and go into the house so he could at least be closer to the Minister if there was trouble. Ron kept watch outside, and if needed, could be inside in moments.

This was a fairly crowded party, so Harry had needed to be careful to avoid being found, but he did manage, and watched what was going on around the room. Minister Shacklebolt definitely had a talent for politics that Harry could never hope to develop, mostly because he would have a problem either keeping his mouth shut, or choking out the platitudes and pleasantries that seemed to be required in this convoluted game, while trying to avoid the daggers pointed at your back.

Percy was at the party, and close to Kingsley, as he usually was pretty much from the time the Minister started his workday until the last meeting or function was over, and the Minister was at home for the night. Harry might not understand Ginny's most studious and, well, pompous brother at all, but he couldn't fault his dedication, and Kingsley genuinely seemed to appreciate Percy's abilities.

The party had started to wind down after midnight, but it was after one o'clock before Minister Shacklebolt and Percy were finally bidding their host a good night, and preparing to leave. Nothing had happened all night, but as Harry stepped outside behind the last group leaving before the Minister, he got that feeling again, sharp and strong, and he _knew_ that whatever the plan had been against Shacklebolt, it was now imminent. He moved quickly out of the way of the doors, and stepped off of the sidewalk so that he wouldn't get in the way of the Minister and Percy when they came out. He'd expected them to be right behind him, but nearly fifteen minutes passed before the last two guests came out of the house. By then there wasn't another Wizard in sight, and the feeling Harry had intensified even more.

Suddenly, there were the sounds of multiple _CRACKS_ out on the street to their left and right as Wizards and Witches apparated in two groups of five, blocking Kingsley and Percy between them. Even as they materialized, an anti-apparition shield was raised, closing off that route of escape for the Minister. Shacklebolt and Percy both had their wands drawn, and were moving to watch each other's backs, but the looks on their faces were grim as they realized the odds.

Their ambushers didn't speak at all, and went immediately on the attack, certain that their plan had worked, and that victory was at hand. Curses were fired, shields blazed, and objects, unseen coming out of the darkness into the lighted street flew around in a mad display of the physical and magical. Explosions rocked the street as killing curses were intercepted by decorative stones, or pots, or anything else that wasn't firmly attached to the ground or surrounding buildings. One of those bricks hit Harry solidly on the arm, and he ground his teeth silently as he heard the crack of a bone, and then quickly moved to the side in case any of the attackers had noticed the brick collide into nothing amid the raging storm of attack and counter-attack.

Kingsley and Percy didn't have time to consider all that was happening, since they were being pressed hard, but slowly, one at a time, their attackers were falling. It took those Witches and Wizards precious moments before any of them realized that they were fighting more than two Wizards, and the group on the right were down to three before they'd understood that one of the fighters they were dealing with was behind them somewhere.

Two of those remaining three made the mistake of turning around to face Ron, and Percy and Harry each blasted one of them, leaving Percy and Ron with just one attacker on their flank. Before he'd done that, Harry had already disarmed and bound one of the left-side attackers, and he had kept up his defense of the Minister even as he'd flicked the attack toward the right. Kingsley blasted one of the remaining four off of his feet and backward at least fifteen feet, where he crashed head first into a parked car, and crumpled to the ground.

The three remaining attackers redoubled their efforts, and Harry and Kingsley both had their wands twirling and slashing through the air as they met each attack with shields, counters, and particularly helpful from Harry, the continuing flying objects that intercepted the killing curses. Harry didn't have time to look, but he heard a cry of pain from behind him, and then watched as the smallest of the three attackers was blasted, bound, and disarmed.

Either seven or eight of the attackers were down now, but the two still standing were formidable, and they battled on, but then Percy and a disguised Ron stepped up next to Shacklebolt, Harry got another of those insights where he knew what was about to happen. He slammed his own anti-apparition shield into place, blasting the other one out of the way even as one of their attackers had tried to release it. That unexpected counter-offensive must have distracted both remaining Wizards, because a double attack from Percy and Ron knocked the bigger man to his knees, and the other one was simultaneously hit by a blast from the Minister even as Harry was relieving him of his wand. Both Wizards watched incredulously as a hand reached out of nowhere to catch the wand, which was the last mistake either would make, as the big man was bound and disarmed, and the other man knocked out by a final, anger-fueled blow from Shacklebolt.

"That was fun," Ron said lightly, though he was breathing hard.

"Who are you?" Shacklebolt asked at the same time that Percy said – "Ron?"

"Auror-trainee Ronald Weasley, sir," he answered, waving his wand and returning himself to normal. Kingsley lowered his wand, but didn't put it away, and watched as Harry swung his cloak off, using his uninjured wand arm, and turned to face him.

"And Auror-trainee Potter, sir," he said, smiling too. "My partner seems to have a somewhat warped sense of what fun is. Are any of you injured?"

"I'll have some bruises by morning," Kingsley told him. "How about you, Percy? Ron?"

"Just bruises and some cuts for me, Minister," Percy answered immediately.

"I'm fine," Ron told him. "Our guys were mostly down before they knew I was back there." He looked at Harry, and finally noticed he was holding his arm cradled to his body. "You're hurt, mate?" he asked worriedly.

"Broken arm," Harry answered with a rueful smile. "Remind me to work out a plan with you sometime so you'll know where not to throw bricks." He laughed. "Don't look at me like that – there was no way for you to know I was there. I'm just glad we both had that particular killing curse covered, or one might've gotten past. They'll be able to fix me up at St. Mungo's in a few minutes, I'm sure." He looked around at the mess, and the ten bound or unconscious attackers.

"Let's get them rounded up closer to me so I can keep an eye on all of them, and then you and Percy need to get the Minister out of here," Harry told Ron. "Then call in some help, and get back here."

"I'll stay and help," Kingsley told him, and Harry shook his head.

"With all due respect, sir, you will not," he said firmly. "I'm sure that Percy will be happy to go over the protocol with you later, but with the imminent threat under control, your safety is now first priority. Let your Aurors take it from here."

"He's right Minister," Percy said with a curt nod to Harry. "We'll help Ron and Harry move them, so Harry can keep the prisoners covered more easily until he gets reinforcements, but we must get you away from here."

Shacklebolt looked about ready to protest, but then he drew in a deep breath and nodded too. "Fine. Let's do that, get going, and have the help back here as soon as possible."

It only took a minute to levitate the ten captives to a spot on the sidewalk. They'd collected all ten wands, and Ron took them with him to Headquarters when he left with the Minister and Percy. The three Wizards had needed to walk to a spot outside of Harry's anti-apparition shield, but he hadn't dared dropping it. At least if any buddies of their attackers came to investigate, he'd have ample warning of their arrival. He put up Muggle-repelling charms too, and when he was alone with his captives, he finally had time to take a closer look at them.

"Mr. Goyle," he said quietly, looking down at the biggest Wizard in the group. "How's Gregory? I haven't seen him since my friends and I saved him and Draco from the Fiendfyre that Vincent Crabbe started at Hogwarts the night of the battle. Did you at least get to spend a little of that second chance at life we gave him?"

"Don't talk about my son, you mudblood-loving traitor," Goyle snarled, glaring at Harry with nothing but pure hate, and a little madness in his eyes. "When my son finds out about this, he'll hunt you down and kill you."

Harry shook his head. "I really hope not," he told the man seriously. "Things ended rather badly for the last Wizard who owed me a life-debt and tried to kill me, and at his own hand too." Goyle just stared at him in dumb incomprehension.

"We've got some time while we wait," Harry continued. "Why don't you tell me who your friends are?" Goyle clamped his mouth firmly shut.

"Anyone else?" Harry asked, looking from face to face, though a few of them were still out cold. One Wizard, the other one who'd still been standing with Goyle at the end, watched him with a cold, calculating expression. Bound and wandless, he was remaining focused and alert. Harry walked over to get a better look at him.

"You're Mulciber," he stated, and caught the briefest flash of surprise in those eyes. "I don't recognize the others, but then, if you've imperiused them, they wouldn't be on any wanted list, would they?" He waited for a moment, but other than that brief flash in the eyes, the other Wizard didn't say anything, and just continued to watch Harry.

"Do you really, honestly think you'll find a way out of this?" he asked Mulciber conversationally. "It's not going to happen, so you might as well forget about whatever idiocy you're considering." When he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, he turned to watch as Ron and six other Aurors made their way up the sidewalk.

"What have we got here?" Auror Dawlish demanded, even though Ron, Kingsley, and Percy had given him the briefing.

"Ten attackers," Harry answered. "The big Wizard is Goyle," he continued, "and that one," he said, pointing to the other man he'd identified, "is Mulciber. I have not yet discovered who the others are."

Dawlish's head snapped around to look at the Wizard Harry had identified, and shook his head emphatically. "That's not Mulciber," he declared derisively. "Mulciber was a contemporary of he-who-must-not-be-named, and would be in his seventies. That Wizard is clearly thirty-five years or so too young."

Harry stared at Dawlish for a minute, wondering if he really didn't know, but it was clearly obvious that he didn't. "Auror Dawlish, there are two Mulcibers."

"Excuse me?" Dawlish demanded. "What are you talking about? I've worked the Mulciber case for _years_ and there is only one Death Eater by that name."

"I'm sorry sir, but that's not true. There are definitely two of them," Harry repeated. "One who, as you say, was Tom Riddle's – Voldemort's - contemporary, and one who went to school with Professor Snape, Avery, and the rest of their group." Harry shrugged. "I wasn't dealing with that case, but I thought it was something you'd all know." Dawlish was still looking at him skeptically. "It's easy enough to check the school records, and Professor Slughorn, at least, would have taught both of them, so you can check with him too. I'd suggest Professor Binns as well, but he's notoriously bad with student's names and probably couldn't help."

While Harry had been explaining that to Dawlish, the other Aurors had spread out to check the prisoners. One had been bent over the prisoner next to Mulciber, and when Harry heard a sudden scuffle, he shoved Dawlish roughly to one side, and blasted the wand out of Mulciber's hand so hard that the now half-standing Wizard was slammed back into the ground with bone-breaking force, the wand flying out of his hand, and landing at Harry's feet.

He would have liked to say a few choice words to the Auror who'd just allowed a bound prisoner to take his wand from him, but he instead just took a deep breath, sent his wand back to him, and turned back to Dawlish as if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Make that one more prisoner requiring medical attention," he said calmly. "What would you like me to do next, sir?"

Dawlish just looked at him for a long, drawn out moment with an expression that was full of disdain, before answering. "Minister Shacklebolt gave us instructions to have you go on to St. Mungo's to have your broken arm treated. Are you able to assist with moving any of the injured prisoners?"

"Yes sir," Harry answered. "Since Mulciber is probably now the one with the most serious injuries, I can take him with me, though I may need help to guard him while I'm being treated."

"Auror-trainee Weasley, please go with Auror-trainee Potter and one of the other injured prisoners to St. Mungo's. Stay with the prisoners until we can spare others to guard them. I will send help along when available."

Harry and Ron both nodded, and while Harry went to prepare to move Mulciber, Ron went to get the Wizard who'd been thrown back against the car. When he had Mulciber immobilized to minimize any further injury when he side-along apparated with him, he smiled at him.

"I did warn you not to waste your time doing anything idiotic,' he reminded the man. "You should have listened."

"Ready to go, mate?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded his agreement. Gritting his teeth again to the pain he knew was coming, he turned quickly, keeping a firm grip on Mulciber, and apparating to St. Mungo's. When the four of them appeared near the entrance, Harry took a deep, shuddering breath, and looked at the now very pale Mulciber.

"That didn't feel so hot, did it?" he asked, then turned to smile at Ron. "Remind me next time to ask for a Healer to be sent to us. Apparating with broken bones seriously sucks."

Ron laughed. "I'll remember that," he promised. "Let's get them inside, and I'll watch them while you're getting that arm worked on."

Five minutes later, Harry was being looked at, sitting on an examination table, with a fairly young Witch gently checking over his arm. "This will only take a moment," she promised. "I'm surprised you didn't just let one of the other Aurors heal it," she added.

"The last time I let someone other than a Healer try to fix a broken arm, I ended up spending a fairly unpleasant night having the bones in my arm and hand re-grown," he explained with a quiet laugh. "Let's just say that since then, I prefer to leave such things to the experts."

"I can't fault you for that," she said, laughing too. "Skele-Gro is great, but it's not something anyone forgets easily if they've needed to use it."

As promised, she had Harry fixed up quickly, and he went to join Ron and their two prisoners. He got there to find Ron and the Healers in the middle of an argument that was quickly heating up.

"What's the problem?" Harry asked. Ron and the Healers all turned to look at him, and the eldest of the Healers answered his question.

"We're trying to treat these patients, but this Auror-trainee won't let us get near enough with our wands to do that," he said, looking defiant and angry.

"Considering that this Wizard," Harry said, pointing to Mulciber, "already disarmed an Auror – while bound and wandless – I'm sure you can understand our reluctance to risk any of you being injured or killed by our prisoners. Now that I've been treated, though, I'm sure that if we're all careful, we can manage to keep any further incidents from happening."

Ron nodded his head, and Harry smiled at him. "Why don't you stay a few paces back," he suggested, "and I'll stay with the Healers," he suggested. Stepping up to the bed so he could look down at Mulciber. "I'm going to take a guess that by now, you'd really like to have your injuries treated," he said, locking eyes with the other Wizard. "Let them, and don't do anything that Ron or I will be forced to put a stop to. I've had enough fun for one night."

Harry motioned for the Healers to go ahead, and they split up, going to work on the two prisoners. That took the better part of an hour, and then they were transferred to another room that could be better secured, the Healers deciding to keep them both, at least for now, for observation. The other two injured prisoners were eventually brought to the room too, and the Aurors who'd been with them returned to the Ministry. Ron and Harry were still there on guard duty as the sun came up, and they were both getting a bit surly about that.

"Do you get the feeling that we're being sent a message?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"Definitely," he agreed, "but I'm fairly sure the message being sent is not being received as intended."

Ron laughed. "That's true. I doubt the Minister is going to be amused either, though I'm sure that there will be some barely acceptable excuse for keeping us stuck here so long. It was just our luck getting Auror Dawlish as lead on the cleanup team."

It wasn't until after eight o'clock when four Aurors were sent to replace them, bringing orders for Harry and Ron to return to Headquarters. Josh and Neville were waiting for them there, but they didn't get time to talk. Josh led them over to Gawain's cubicle, and Dawlish was there with him. The look he directed at Harry confirmed what he and Ron had concluded, and Harry just met his gaze until the other Wizard finally looked away.

"We're all to meet with the Minister immediately," Gawain told them, getting to his feet. Dawlish stood too, and after stepping past Josh and his three trainees, Dawlish waited for Gawain, and then walked next to him as they headed for the lifts, leaving the other four Wizards to follow behind them.

When they got to the Minister's office, Percy was there to escort them in, and Minister Shacklebolt, looking about as angry as Harry was feeling right now, waved them all to sit down across the desk from him. He sat down too, and looked at each of the men in turn before speaking.

"I want to know what happened this morning," he demanded. "Then I want to know why two Auror-trainees just happened to be there when Percy and I were surrounded and attacked." He took a breath to calm himself. "Let's start there, and then we'll move on to the rest of my questions."

"Minister," Gawain began, "Auror-trainees Potter and Weasley have just returned from St. Mungo's, and we came directly here, so I haven't had time to get their reports."

Kingsley waved that away. "They can do that right now," he said shortly. "Your choice, gentlemen," he told Harry and Ron. Ron just nodded for Harry to go ahead.

"Minister, the attack this morning was an assassination attempt on you, as I'm sure you've concluded already. Two of the attackers are known Death Eaters, Goyle and Mulciber."

"We have not determined that as yet," Dawlish interrupted, and Harry just turned and gave him a hard look.

"You have not confirmed it, but he is the Mulciber who went to school with Professor Snape and Avery. The three of them would have also overlapped years with Lucius Malfoy, the Lestrange brothers, and Narcissa Black Malfoy, and Bellatrix Black Lestrange." Turning back to face Kingsley, he continued.

"I didn't recognize any of the others, and considering the company they were keeping, it's possible that they are or were under imperius curses, or are as-yet unknown Death Eaters. There are still a lot of unanswered questions that we need to get resolved."

Kingsley nodded. "Like why you and Auror-trainee Weasley were there at all," he prompted.

"We've been following you for about two and a half weeks," Harry advised him, and turned his head at Gawain's exclaimed "What?"

"My sentiments exactly," Shacklebolt said. "Please explain, Auror-trainee, and include why the Head of the Aurors obviously knew nothing about this."

"It began two and a half weeks ago, when Ron and I were working a stakeout," Harry explained, going on to relay the entire scene, the subsequent conversations with Ron, Josh, and Gawain, and ending with the decision that he, Ron, Josh, and Neville would continue to follow their best lead – which meant following the Minister, and waiting to see what happened. When Harry was finished, Kingsley just sat back and looked at him appraisingly for a minute.

"Considering the outcome earlier this morning," he finally said, "I think we'd all do well to pay attention to your insights in the future." He turned to Auror Robards next.

"Gawain, let's put a priority on finding out who these Wizards and Witches are. If the other eight have been imperiused, then let's get them helped. If they're newly found Death Eaters, then at least we've got them on two counts of attempted murder, and dozens of uses of unforgivable curses."

"Yes sir," Gawain agreed.

"Are you going to bring those other two in?" he asked Harry, who shook his head.

"I think Ron and I should keep on following McLeod and see where else he leads us, and if the other one pops up again, we can work out what to do with him later, since I've only seen him the once. They're still the best we have so far in hunting down Travers, and it's fairly obvious now that those two Wizards are linked up with other Death Eaters too."

"I agree," Kingsley told him. "Our enemies have been busy over the past months if they were ready to act in such a way against me directly. I'm going to want a full report on this entire incident as soon as possible, and Gawain, you had best make your Aurors aware that we are not completely done with the danger from the Dark Lord's minions." He looked at Neville and nodded. "That's a lesson we should not have forgotten this time - that what happened to Alice and Frank in eighty-one, and we should have all been prepared for something like this. Anything else?"

"Yes sir," Harry answered. "I believe that Elder Timms should be investigated."

"You believe that he played a part in this?" Dawlish asked incredulously. "He's a member of the Wizengamot!"

"What difference does that make?" Harry asked, holding up his hand to show Dawlish the 'I must not tell lies' scar that was clearly visible on his hand. "So was High Inquisitor Umbridge, and she was certainly very helpful to Voldemort. We've had Ministers of Magic Imperiused, along with Department Heads like Thicknesse. Do any of us actually think it was just a coincidence that the Minister and Secretary Weasley were held up for fifteen minutes after the last guests left Elder Timms' home, and the street was believed deserted when they left and were met by their attackers? The fight was quite noisy too, yet not only did Timms apparently not hear it, but he didn't come to the Minister's aid, nor did he even come out of his house afterward to check on his safety." Shacklebolt looked to Gawain to respond.

"The members of the Wizengamot will not like having one of their own investigated," he told the Minister, who nodded.

"That's true," he agreed. "So investigate everyone who was at the party, including Elder Timms. It could have been coincidence that Timms kept me talking after the others had left, but if that's the case, then they had someone else on the ground hiding somewhere who notified the attackers when Mr. Weasley and I left the house. In either case, I want to know who was responsible for helping these assassins out."

"Yes sir," Gawain agreed.

The meeting wrapped up shortly after that, and the three Aurors and three trainees returned to Auror Headquarters, where Gawain led them to his cubicle and motioned for them to take seats – or at least Dawlish and Josh took seats while the trainees all stood.

"I'm not very happy about how you handled this," he told Josh. "In fact, to be honest, the only reason I'm not firing all of you for disobeying an order is because the Minister, and the public in general, would have my head on a platter if I tried doing that after tonight's little show."

Gawain was talking quite loudly, and Harry was sure that he'd intended for everyone in Headquarters to hear his comments. Pulling out his wand, Harry returned the hard glare his boss was now directing at him even as he put up an imperturbable shield around them.

"What are you doing, Auror-trainee?" he demanded, and Harry smiled at him as he put his wand away again.

"If you want to have it out with us, it will not be for the amusement and entertainment of the rest of the Aurors, sir," he said bluntly, letting a bit of his anger show now.

Gawain's anger flared immediately too, and Dawlish looked even more outraged, and he was the one who spoke next. "Would getting a dressing down in front of your fellow Aurors tarnish your precious reputation, Auror-trainee Potter," he sneered, and Harry turned his piercing gaze on him.

"I find that it's almost always Wizards and Witches who care about such things too much who seem to think that I care anything at all about my reputation," he said, his voice calm, but full of conviction. "No, Auror Dawlish, I gave us some privacy because if you and Auror Robards want to have an honest discussion, then the other Aurors don't need to hear what I'll have to say about both of you."

"This meeting isn't going to be about Auror Dawlish and I," Gawain told him. "The four of you went ahead and ran an unauthorized operation that nobody else knew about. You had no backup, and now, when I want to deal with the matter, you're insubordinate! Do you even understand the concept of teamwork? I think not."

Harry laughed, which just infuriated Gawain more. "Your own sense of teamwork seems at best selective," he told Gawain. "Where was your trust in your team when Ron and I came to you with our information? If we hadn't acted as we had, it's very likely that the Minister, and Secretary Weasley, would be dead right now, and the Ministry of Magic in a state of chaos. Instead of admitting that we were right, and you weren't, you instead sit here wasting all of our time berating us for disobeying an order and in my case, being insubordinate."

"You have done nothing to earn our trust," Dawlish spat at him. "The three of you are dangerous to your fellow Aurors, and the public in general."

"Auror Dawlish, other than the fact that the three of us haven't taken our NEWTs, what exactly would we need to do to prove our trustworthiness to you? Save the life of a Confunded Auror who had attacked and seriously injured his own partner in a raid he led that resulted in innocent deaths and dozens of injuries? Never have a serious injury or fatality in any capture we've led? Saving the Minister of Magic's life by standing with him in what would have been a ten against two ambush?" He shook his head in disgust.

"How dare you!" Dawlish shouted, jumping to his feet. "I've earned my Auror's badge, while you've slipped in the back door because of your name!"

Harry laughed again, this time derisively. "You're a pompous self-aggrandizing fool," he stated. "If you're such a great Auror, where were you when Fudge was doing everything he could to keep the Wizarding World from preparing to fight Voldemort after he'd returned? Oh, yeah, you were trying to arrest one of the two Wizards who were shouting out the warning that he'd returned, on spurious charges of treason, while you also sat back and let his High Inquisitor torture the students of Hogwarts as she saw fit. Where were you when Scrimgeour was throwing innocent Wizards into Azkaban just to make it look like the Ministry was doing something, when in fact, they were doing nothing? How well did you protect Dirk Cresswell when you tried to take him to Azkaban for the monstrous, heinous crime of having Muggle parents? Sure, you screwed that up and he escaped, but then the Death Eaters killed him eventually anyway, didn't they?"

"I was following orders and doing my job," Dawlish said hotly, "just as we all were, and as you all should be, though you're obviously incapable of doing so."

Harry nodded. "That's quite true – I'm not," he agreed. Shouldn't you care about whether what you're being ordered to do is right or wrong, and best for the Wizarding World, or are your rules and regulations so precious to you that what's right doesn't matter anymore? Do you think that Dirk Cresswell's widow and two little boys are glad that you followed your rules and orders, such that they were when Voldemort was in charge of the Ministry? I noticed that you didn't arrest _him_ for having a Muggle father and grandparents, so I guess your rules didn't apply to everyone. How many Witches and Wizards died needlessly because you, and so many others, simply followed orders and turned a blind eye to what was really happening?"

Dawlish and Robards had both gone from red to pale, and they were both still furious. Dawlish was shaking with suppressed rage. "This is preposterous, Potter, and more than enough," Gawain told him. "We, nor anyone else but the Dark Lord and his minions are responsible for what happened during the war, and I, for one, have heard enough."

"That you seem to actually believe that says a lot. You're the one who wanted to have an honest discussion," Harry reminded him. "Here's some more honesty for you. The Aurors either couldn't or didn't even try to protect the Heads of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Amelia Bones was murdered, and Pius Thicknesse was imperiused right under your collective noses. While I had my share of issues with Minister Scrimgeour, he was murdered right here in the Ministry, and you didn't even see the danger coming, let alone do anything about his murder afterward. You've lost too many of your fellow Aurors, and as I've said before, Auror Robards, many of you have little or no regard for the safety of the innocents we're supposed to be protecting, and none at all for your fugitives." He took a deep breath, and stared at Gawain.

"I'm not going to ever lie to you, and I'm always going to do my best, and what's best for the Wizarding World," he told his boss. "I'll be glad to have all of the help I can get in cleaning up this mess, but you also need to be very sure that I won't stop until the work's done, and anyone who isn't with me on this will be left behind." He smiled then, and Gawain and Dawlish both stared at him, seeming unable to comprehend his audacity. "Gawain, I understand teamwork just fine. I think the problem here is that I'm choosing myself to be team leader. I'd strongly suggest you, Dawlish, and any other like-minded Aurors either get on board soon, or get out of my way. There's far too much I want to get done to allow you to slow me down anymore."

With that, he dropped the imperturbable shield without even pulling out his wand, and walked away, going around to his own cubicle, sitting down, and just laying his head against the back of his chair and closing his eyes for a moment until he heard Ron and Neville join him and sit down.

"You're completely daft, aren't you?" Ron asked, and Harry laughed quietly.

"Probably," he agreed. "We'll see what happens, but I meant what I said. Even when we get all of Voldemort's followers rounded up, it won't be the end of Dark Wizards. There will always be others, just as Riddle and his pals came after Grindewald and his. I'm going to make sure that we – the Aurors – will be here to stop them next time."

"I'm suddenly thinking that a career as a wheezes tester for George is looking pretty great right now," Ron joked. "How 'bout you?"

Neville laughed. "Same here, except something in Herbology for me. I'll take man-eating and poisonous plants any day over another go around with a new batch of Dark Wizards."

"What's Josh doing?" Harry asked, and Ron grinned.

"Either reviving Dawlish and Robards from their bouts of apoplexy, or trying to convince them not to fire you – or worse," he answered. "While he's busy, what do you want to do now?"

"Fill out my reports, get something to eat, and then go home and sleep until tomorrow sometime," Harry told them. "Do you know if anyone let your Mum know that we, and Percy, are okay? This might have even made the morning Prophet."

"It did," Neville told him. "All over the WWN too. While you're starting your reports, I'll go over and see if your father has sent word to her."

"Thanks, mate," Harry said gratefully. He opened up a drawer, pulling out a quill, ink, and parchment. "I'd better get at this. It's going to take a while."

Neville and Ron stood up again. "Me too," Ron said. "While you're fixing everything else in the Wizarding World, Harry, see what you can do about cutting back on the amount of paperwork we have to do."

Harry grinned at him. "This is the Ministry of Magic," he reminded Ron. "Try not to expect the impossible."

Ron went to his own cubicle, and Neville went off to find Mr. Weasley. Before Harry started in on his reports, he got his mirror out and said – "Ginny." Her face appeared almost immediately, and she looked anxious and worried.

"I'm fine," he assured her, smiling tiredly. "So are Ron, Percy, and the Minister."

"The Daily Prophet said you were hurt," she countered, and watched Harry nod.

"Your brother broke my arm with a brick," he explained, and Ginny looked at him as if trying to see if he was joking or not.

"Ron broke your arm?" she asked, and Harry heard Hermione's – "Ron did what!" in the background.

Harry laughed. "It wasn't his fault. I was using my cloak, and he didn't know I was there. The Healer who treated me had me fixed up in just a few minutes. How's your day been so far?"

"You mean other than being worried sick about our boyfriends and two of my brothers since we heard the news?" Ginny asked, and Harry nodded.

"Hermione, do you think it'd be possible to modify these mirrors to send one of my bat-bogey hexes through it when needed? We could take care of that when we're home for Christmas."

Harry laughed. "I love you, Ginny, and I'm sorry I couldn't let you know we were okay earlier, but this is the first chance I've had. Ron and I just found out from Neville that the attack had even made the paper."

"I love you too, Harry," she told him. "I'm sure you have loads to do there, so I won't keep you. Thanks for letting us know you're alright."

"Tell Ron to get his mirror out," Hermione called.

"I will," he answered. "When I get home later, I'll need to get some sleep, but maybe we can chat again later, if I wake up early enough."

Ginny agreed, they ended their chat, and he got up long enough to pass Hermione's message on to Ron before starting in on what ended up being a very lengthy report. That took until nearly one o'clock, and when he was done, he took two copies down to Josh's cubicle, sitting down at the desk across from him.

"I'll give you Auror Robard's report too, since I'm fairly certain he won't want to see me again today."

"More like just again," Josh joked in a quiet voice, so he wasn't overheard. "If you weren't positive that Auror Robards wasn't your friend before, you can be sure now."

"Getting everything that needs to be done is going to take years, Josh," he said seriously. "It'd take decades or centuries at the rate that some can accept change. They'll either come around, or they won't. I already have a long list of enemies, so a few more won't matter much. My list of friends might be very short, but I can trust all of them."

Josh let out a dramatic breath. "Why, with all of the Aurors available, was I assigned to be your trainer?" he joked.

Harry turned when he heard Ron's laugh. "I've been asking myself how I ended up best mates with him since first year," he told Josh. "All of the compartments on the Hogwarts Express, and I end up in his." He handed his reports to Josh too. "If you don't have anything else for us, I'd really like to go get something to eat and some sleep now."

Josh took the reports and waved them off. "Get out of here, and start back in on the Travers case when you're ready. I think a couple of days in the field, and away from here, would be a good thing right now. Neville and I will be doing the same, though we'll probably take a day off to rest up first."

"Yes sir," Ron agreed. "If nothing comes up before then, we'll see you on Wednesday morning."

They picked up Neville on their way out, and the three of them had a late lunch at the Leaky. Harry went back to the Burrow with Ron so that Mrs. Weasley could give him one of her bone-crushing hugs and see that he was okay, and then he went home. Once there, he went up to his room, changed, and collapsed on the bed, completely exhausted, and out for the count.

Other than getting up for an hour or so to get something to eat and have a late evening chat with Ginny, Harry slept through until morning, and after taking his time having a long, hot shower getting ready, and having breakfast, he went over to the Burrow to meet up with Ron. He was in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley and Teddy, and Harry grinned as he went over to pick up and hug is little Godson, who gurgled happily at him and tried to grab his glasses for a chew toy.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley, Ron. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she stopped what she was doing to hug him. "You look much better this morning than you did yesterday," she added approvingly.

"What's the plan for today?" Ron asked. "Take a day off, or get back to work?"

Harry grinned at him. "That depends," he answered. "The Harpies are playing the Cannons this Saturday at the Ilkley Moor stadium, and I was wondering if you, and your Mum and Dad would like to go." He laughed at the look on Ron's face as he pulled out the four tickets. "If we were going to take the day off on Saturday to do that, we should probably work today."

"Go see the Harpies play?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and Harry nodded. "I'll ask Arthur when he gets home tonight. If it's all right with him too, I'd love to go, Harry. Thank-you."

"You're welcome," he assured her, putting three of the tickets on the table, while Teddy tried to eat the fourth one. "Sorry, Teddy, but you need to get a bit older before Ron and I take you to Quidditch matches." He hugged the little boy again. "We will, though, and you're going to love them."

Harry had actually seriously considered taking the day off, but unless he actually had something to keep busy with, he just ended up feeling down and missing Ginny. He and Ron never really talked about things like that, but he was pretty sure that his best mate understood, and probably felt the same way about being apart from Hermione. For the next two days, they got back to tracking McLeod, who had unknowingly tipped them off to the attack on Shacklebolt. The man continued to do a lot of traveling each day, but he was also looking decidedly worried, spending even more time checking out his surroundings more carefully before and after each stop, and then going from place to place a little more quickly than he had before.

They were at Auror Headquarters for the first time since Harry's mostly one-sided conversation with Robards and Dawlish, but both Wizards studiously ignored them, except for a few behind the back glares for Harry. Josh did a long session with his trainees, and then Neville went with them to have lunch at the Leaky.

"You've been holding out on us," Harry told Neville quietly after Hannah walked away from the table after taking their orders.

Neville grinned at him. "I don't know what you're talking about," he declared and Harry laughed.

"Sure you don't," he said sarcastically. "Congratulations. When did you finally get around to a first date, and what did you do?"

"On Monday," he answered, still grinning happily. "I asked her out on Sunday after work, and since she had the day off on Monday, we went to the coast, did a walk on the beach in the afternoon, and then had a nice dinner together."

"Did she kiss you goodnight?" Ron asked, and then turned a bit red when Hannah answered him, having come up behind him with their drink orders.

"Yes I did," she told him, smiling happily at Neville. "We had a very nice day together." Her eyes grew soft then, and her smile seemed a bit sad. "It's been a long time since I've had a truly happy day like that."

"Then you should definitely make time to have more of them," Harry told her. "See what you can do about that, Neville," he added, smiling at his friend.

"I'll do that," Neville promised.

The rest of the week, at least for Harry, was work all day, get home late, have dinner for one, clean up, and then end the night chatting with Ginny before getting to sleep. By Saturday, he was ready to get a break, and do something fun with Ron and his parents. They went out for lunch together, and then went on to Ilkley stadium. They were getting drinks, snacks for Ron, and a couple of souvenirs at the concession stands when Harry heard his name called and turned to see Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet walking toward them, both Witches smiling at him as they approached.

"Hi, Angelina, Alicia," he said, ignoring Angelina's outstretched hand and hugging each of his former Gryffindor Quidditch team teammates. "You both look great! Are you here to watch the game?"

Both Witches laughed. "It's probably because he hangs around with that dyed in Orange Cannons fan," Angelina told Alicia, then smiled at Ron. "My condolences in advance, Ron. Your team is going to have a bad afternoon against mine." Turning back to Harry, she shook her head in mock disappointment. "If you'd keep up with what's going on around one of the really good teams in the league, Harry, you'd know that Alicia and I got on with the Harpies this season, and are Chasers on their reserve team."

"Really?" Harry asked. "That's brilliant!" he said, laughing too. "I'm surprised that Ginny didn't say something, since she loves the Harpies, but I guess we haven't really talked Quidditch except about her Gryffindor team."

"Gwenog told us she saw you all at the Quidditch World Cup, and that you told her Ginny's a better Seeker now than you are," Alicia said, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, she is," he agreed. "You should see her – she's amazing. Ginny was pretty impressed with your Captain too – especially that she remembered Ginny from one of Slughorn's parties."

"Gwenog's pretty demanding, but she's also brilliant, and remembers everything – especially about Quidditch," Angelina told him.

"I thought Wood was demanding, and you were even tougher," Harry told her with a grin. "If you think she's demanding, your training must be really hard."

"Angelina's practices were a Sunday afternoon pickup game compared to what we do now," Alicia assured him. "We love our jobs, though."

They talked with Harry and Ron for a few minutes, and then had needed to get going, since they were actually working, if not playing in the game. Harry, Ron, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to find their seats, and had another twenty minutes to wait until the game started.

"I should have made a bet with Angelina," Ron said, and Harry realized that her comment had actually bugged him.

"Players and Coaches can't bet on the game," Mrs. Weasley reminded him, then she smiled, her eyes sparkling. "If you're looking for a bet, though, I think your father and I might be interested. What do you think, Arthur? Could we risk maybe five galleons?"

Mr. Weasley laughed. "Maybe we should be asking if Ron wants to lose five galleons to his Mum."

Ron grinned at them. "You're on," he told them. "I've got a good feeling about this match."

If the Cannons were feeling good about their game, it wasn't showing out above the pitch. Gwenog Jones, and her Beater partner Lysa Horton, were giving the Cannons' players all they could handle, and keeping them dodging bludgers in a way that Harry hadn't seen since watching Fred and George play together. The Harpies' top Chaser, Volmai Morgan, was putting up good numbers against the Cannons' Keeper. The only place that the Cannons even seemed to be close was at Seeker, where both players seemed to be holding their own against each other as they fought for the snitch. The game was well into the fourth hour, and it wasn't looking good for the Cannons again, as the Harpies were up by a score of two hundred and forty to forty.

"What are you doing?" Ron practically shouted as he watched the two Seekers streaking across the pitch, side-by-side, both trying hard to get ahead. "Just block her, you dolt! You've got the angle."

There probably wasn't anyone who understood why Gudgeon did it, but instead of just keeping the Harpies Seeker from catching the snitch, he bumped her at the last moment, caught it himself, ending the game and handing the Harpies the two hundred and forty to one hundred and ninety point victory.

"He's an idiot," Ron declared as he watched the Wizard fly around with the snitch held triumphantly in the air until he finally realized that his team had lost the game. His first clue might have been the roar of anger from his coach, who had turned a nasty shade of purple, and could be heard above the loud cheers of the Harpies fans. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out five shiny gold galleons and handed them to his mother. "Sometimes, team loyalty really sucks," he joked.

"You could always pick another team," Mrs. Weasley suggested, and Ron shook his head.

"I know, but with my luck, the moment I did that, the Cannons will go out and with the championship or something."

After the game, Harry went back to the Burrow for dinner, and then stopped to see Andromeda and Teddy for a while before going home for the night. He and Ron were back to work on Sunday, and back to the hurry up and wait routine of tracking McLeod, who even a week after the failed ambush of the Minister of Magic, was still looking very nervous.

There was a Ministry Owl Post waiting for Harry when he got up on Monday morning with a note from Neville to meet him at Headquarters first thing, so after eating, he went in to the Ministry of Magic by way of the Burrow to make sure that Ron had gotten the same message. Neville and Josh were already there, so they all sat down around Josh's desk.

"We've located Nott," Neville told them excitedly. "He's on the Isle of Lewis, hiding out in a rather run-down looking cottage on the coast in the Stornoway area. We thought you might like to come have some fun with us."

"You've been hanging around with him too long," Ron told him as he waved a hand in Harry's direction. He was grinning, though, and both of his friends knew that he really was happy about the prospect of some action.

Getting to the action part took some time, since it wasn't like you could just apparate anywhere on the Isle of Lewis without attracting the attention of the local Witches and Wizards. The place wasn't like London, where that wouldn't be unusual, so they'd apparated to Portree first, then in singles to different places in Stornoway. From there, once they'd reunited, they used a mix of Muggle transportation and quite a bit of hiking before closing in on the dilapidated cottage and their target fugitive.

"Alright, I want to make sure he's there before we act," Josh told them just ahead of splitting up to take stakeout positions on either side of the place. "If you, or we, confirm that, put up an anti-apparition shield right away, and the rest of us will know to move in. Don't underestimate this guy. He's not all that powerful a Wizard, but he is clever, sneaky, and will fight dirty."

Harry and Ron had the longer route to where they were to hide, and it took nearly another half hour to get in position. It was past mid-afternoon, and they hadn't seen anything when they both felt the anti-apparition shield go up, and sprung into action, running toward the cottage. Within seconds, they heard the sounds of a fight on the other side of the building, and they split up, going around the building to the left and right. Harry made it to the other side first, and he fired a disarming spell at Nott, who never saw it coming, and whirled, desperately shouting "ACCIO WAND," but it was too late, and had no chance of overpowering Harry's spell anyway. Neville's binding spell hit Nott very hard, since he'd expected to be trying to get past Nott's shield, and the Wizard was knocked over. Unable to move, he'd landed face down in the mixture of weeds and mud of the unkempt yard.

"Nicely done, gentlemen," Josh complimented them. "Better turn him over before he drowns in the muck, Neville."

"Yes sir," Neville said, smiling as he obeyed the order.

"All of that traveling, the least you all could have done is let me get one spell off before finishing it," Ron grumbled good-naturedly.

"Try not to be too disappointed," Josh told him. "For every capture that goes like this, there are too many that go like the one we had at Borgin and Burke." He looked around the dismal place. "Let's get out of here, and Neville and I can take care of checking the house out tomorrow so that you two can get back to your own case."

They all went back to Headquarters, and while Josh and Neville processed their prisoner, Harry and Ron wrote up their reports, and then decided to knock off for the day instead of trying to pick up McLeod's trail in midstream. It was another long, tedious day of tracking on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, it was training in the morning, lunch with Neville, and back out in the field in the afternoon. After they'd called it a day on Wednesday, Harry had gone home, had dinner, did a little housework, put a letter and package together for Ginny and sent Snowstorm off with it, and then gone up to bed early, planning on doing a little reading from the fourth Auror training manual he'd gotten from Josh that morning.

"Advanced Techniques for Concealment," he read aloud to himself. Opening the book, he scanned the list of chapters. He stopped when he saw the chapter near the end of the list that simply said "Animagus Transfiguration" and stared at the two words for a long, unseeing moment before the need to turn to that chapter and begin reading had him flipping pages until he found the first page.

He'd learned about Animagus from Professor McGonagall, or at least the basics. She had demonstrated her own Animagus, and he had also witnessed both Sirius and Peter Pettigrew do their Animagus transfigurations. The fact that his father had also been one was something that Harry always thought was pretty great, but until right then, reading those two words, had he really thought about learning to be an animagus himself.

That had been another one of those moments, and he _knew_ that this was something he was supposed to do, and more – something he really wanted to do. He began reading, and completely lost track of time as he immersed himself into the material. It was a good thing he had kept his mirror with him, or he might have completely missed his chat with Ginny. He'd put the book aside for the half hour they talked together, and then read the rest of the lengthy chapter before putting the book aside for the night.

A lot of things could go wrong with attempting to become an Animagus, and the book had gone into that with great detail, warning the reader that, while the talent could be invaluable to an Auror, that it was also very rare for Wizards or Witches to have the abilities required to become one. Harry thought that the pictures and descriptions of some of those failures would be an effective deterrent to anyone not certain of their own power. He wondered if his father, Sirius, and Pettigrew knew those risks when they were on their quest to become Animagi so they could help Remus with his furry little problem.

Harry wasn't concerned about whether he had the power to become an Animagi, but there were things he needed to learn first, and then there was the matter of figuring out what his Animagus would be. His father had been a stag, like his Patronus, but that didn't mean his own would be, and he was fairly sure that it wouldn't be. It was going to take some time, but he was really excited about the idea of having one more thing that tied him a little more closely to his father and godfather.

There was now less than a week and a half left until Hallowe'en, which was on a Saturday this year, and also on a Hogsmeade weekend. While Harry had now added a quest to become an Animagi to his routine, and he and Ron continued their daily tracking and stakeouts, at Hogwarts, the approach of Hallowe'en meant that the fun factor went up, and also had the Quidditch players and fans talking about the impending start of the school Quidditch season that would start the week after Hallowe'en.

The study workload was very heavy, especially for the NEWT and OWL students, and while Ginny, Hermione, and Luna often studied together, more and more often, they'd have some of their other friends joining them so they could all study together. Padma and Parvati Patil, Ernie Macmillan, Lavender, Susan, Dean, and Seamus were all regular members of their study sessions, and they were all as glad to have Hermione's help with their assignments as Ron and Harry had always been.

Ginny managed to keep up with all of her schoolwork, but it was Gryffindor's upcoming game against Slytherin that had her getting fired up and at her high-energy best. She was also excited about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend, and while she had said that she wasn't going to count on getting to see Harry on every one of those weekends, she really was doing that, and knew that she'd be terribly disappointed if he and Ron couldn't come.

With their first game getting so close, Ginny had her team practicing five days a week, and working really hard at each practice, but she thought that she must be doing okay as Captain, since there was almost no complaining from anyone, and even with the hard work, they were all really having fun together. While she knew that anything could and did happen in Quidditch, with each successful practice, she quietly was getting more confident about her team's chances, since she really thought that they were the best Gryffindor team in years, and considering that they'd won three recent Quidditch Cups, that said quite a lot.

"He's staring at us again," Hermione murmured at breakfast on Thursday morning. 'He' was Theodore Nott, and the stares he'd been giving them were dark and angry. They'd been on the receiving end of those glares since the news came out in Tuesday's Daily Prophet that his father had been captured. "I think that we should be a little more careful around here for a while."

Ginny nodded. "That's probably a good idea, though Theodore ought to be giving those looks to his father instead of us. It amazes me that some of the kids of the Death Eaters like him can't seem to see just how badly their parents have botched things up as much for their own families as for themselves."

"I think that some of them do," Hermione suggested. "Theodore, Millicent, and a few of the others are still trouble waiting to happen, but a lot of the other Slytherin kids seem to be a lot different now. I actually like a couple of their Prefects."

"Get Ernie to write you up for that," Ginny joked. "I'm pretty sure that's against the rules for Gryffindors."

Hermione smiled. "I've lightened up on that rules thing," she reminded Ginny. "Your brother and boyfriend have been a terrible influence on me."

"That's funny. I love this new you even better than I liked you back when you were a by the book kind of Witch," Ginny told her seriously.

"I like this me quite a bit too," Hermione agreed. "Owl Post," she said, looking up as the owls began entering and circling the room. "Looks like you've got two," she added, pointing out that Snowflake and Snowstorm were both flying toward them. "Oh, and look, not one, but two packages."

Ginny laughed when Snowflake didn't land in front of her, but in front of Hermione instead, and her friend's face lit up with excitement as she saw that the package was addressed to her. "You were saying?" she teased. "I guess Ron decided to take advantage of having my owl there after she took my letter to Mum and Dad." She took her package from Snowstorm and gave him an Owl treat. "Thanks, handsome," she told the bird, ruffling his feathers fondly. When Hermione had her package, Ginny gave Snowflake a treat too. "Thank-you, Snowflake. You two go get some rest, and I'll come to the owlery later with a Post to send back with you, Storm."

Snowflake nipped her affectionately, then both birds flew off and out of the Great Hall while Ginny and Hermione both opened their packages. Hermione handed Ginny the letter that was inside of her package from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and by the time she'd read the letter Ron had sent her, and opened the little gift, Ginny had finished reading both the letters from her Mum and Dad, and the one from Harry.

"What did Ron send you?" Ginny asked, holding up a small, gold Holyhead Harpies pin.

Hermione smiled and showed her the set of silver hair combs he'd sent. "I think he's getting Fleur or your Mum to help him with these," she suggested, and Ginny nodded.

"I'd guess Fleur for that one," she agreed. "They're lovely. Are they from France too, or could that possibly be something that the English can actually make well enough to meet her standards?"

"There wasn't anything on the box that says where they were made, but he definitely bought them in Diagon Alley," Hermione answered. "Besides, you do know of at least one thing made in England that she does love."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah – Bill."

The two girls finished having breakfast, and while getting packages from their boyfriends was a pretty great way to start the day, it was soon time to get back to work, and a long day of classes, study, and Quidditch. Some combination of those three things made up their daily lives right through until Hallowe'en, and by that Saturday morning, they were both ready to take an entire day off to enjoy their Hogsmeade weekend, and the Hallowe'en feast that would be happening in the Great Hall that night.

Harry was taking the day off too, and he was excited about getting to see Ginny. He'd had a busy week at work, though he and Ron had also knocked off early on Friday so that they could go with the rest of the Weasley men and their wife or dates respectively, to take Mrs. Weasley out for a birthday dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. They hadn't stayed out too late, but had all enjoyed spending a few hours together, and Mrs. Weasley had loved both going out to dinner, and the gifts she'd been given for her special day.

While he was expecting to have a really great day with Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, the start of his day was really very somber. He'd been up before dawn, gotten ready, had breakfast, and then left the house about an hour before he needed to be at the Burrow to meet Ron. His first stop was just miles down the road in Godric's Hollow, and he apparated there, standing outside of the cemetery in front of the kissing gate for several minutes before taking a deep breath and walking into the cemetery.

"Hi Mum, Dad," he said quietly when he was standing in front of their graves. Seeing their names written in stone still somehow hit him just as hard as it had last Christmas Eve when he and Hermione had come here. He just stood there for a long time, silent, as his mind replayed the few memories he had of his parents – most of them other people's memories, or memories of things others had told him about his mother and father.

"I know it's stupid, but I miss you – miss what we should have been allowed to have together," he told them. "I wish you could have been here to meet all of my friends, and especially Ginny, since she's amazing." He smiled sadly. "I wish you could be here when I marry her, and could have grown old together, and played with your grandchildren." He sighed, shook his head, and brushed away the tears.

"That you don't get to have any of that, and gave it all up for me is pretty overwhelming. I can promise you that I'm going to do my very best to keep fighting for what you both believed in." He smiled again. "If it's alright, while I'm doing that, I'll make some time to have a really brilliant life with Ginny, her family, and our friends."

"I'd say that's the part your Mum and Dad would want most for you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said softly.

Harry turned around in surprise. He hadn't heard her approaching, lost as he'd been in his own thoughts, and she took the last couple of steps before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. There had been tears in her eyes, and having her there right then broke him, and Harry let all of the pain out, held on to her, and cried. Mrs. Weasley held him, brushing her hand through his hair.

"I was sure you'd be here this morning," she told him quietly. "You may have more than enough of your father's rogue in you, but what I've always thought was most special about you was that you have your mother's love and heart. They'd have been very proud of the Wizard you've become." She had other tender, kind words for him, and about his parents, and she continued to hold him until he could get a little control over his emotions again.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," he finally said, taking a step back and smiling at her. "For coming here, and, well, for everything. I love you."

She smiled and nodded. "You're welcome, and I love you too, dear. Are you ready to go? I'm sure Ron's likely pacing the kitchen waiting for you to go up to Hogsmeade with him."

Harry took one last look around, and then held out his hand to her. "I'm ready. Let's go save your kitchen floor from Ron wearing it out." When they walked into the kitchen at the Burrow, Ron was doing exactly that – pacing the floor – and Harry and Mrs. Weasley both laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked. "You're late, and why are you with Mum? I thought you said you just had to run out for a bit," he told her.

"You, pacing the floor like a caged tiger," Mrs. Weasley answered. "I did have to run out for a bit – I just didn't tell you why, and Harry's with me because we were at the same place before we came back here."

"Where were you?" he asked, and Harry answered.

"In Godric's Hollow. I've never been there on the anniversary before, so I really needed to go there. It was harder than I thought it'd be, and I'm really glad your Mum was there to help me through it."

Ron looked stricken. "Sorry, mate. I wasn't even thinking about what today was."

Harry smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm good now, and we've got a couple of Witches waiting to spend a few hours with us, so we should get going."

They both hugged his Mum, and then went outside, apparated to Hogsmeade, and went into the Three Broomsticks. It hadn't been raining in Godric's Hollow yet, though it was in the forecast, but the rain had already started in Hogsmeade, and it was quite cold. Hermione and Ginny were going to meet them there, and even though Harry had been a bit late to the Burrow, they still had time to have a hot drink before the girls joined them.

"How are you?" Ginny asked the moment they were together and she saw the look in his eyes.

"I'm okay," he assured her. "I know she just got a bunch of gifts for her birthday yesterday, but let's get your mother something special while we're out shopping. She came to the cemetery this morning…" he trailed off as he saw Ginny's eyes fill with tears, and then she was hugging him tightly, and it was his turn to hold Ginny like her mother had held him earlier.

"I love you, Ginny," he whispered, and then laughed softly. "You should know that you're the second Witch I've told that so far this morning."

Ginny leaned back, and laughed too as she wiped away the tears. "So far?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"I'm on a roll today, and was planning on making sure that Hermione knows that I love her too." He'd said it loudly enough so that Ron and Hermione would hear him, and they all laughed as she gave him a big hug before they all sat down at the table.

"Are we done with all of the emotional stuff?" Ron asked them. "You know how I feel about seeing Hermione in tears."

"I think we're done for now," Ginny answered. "No promises about later, though."

Ron nodded. "Good." He took two packages out of the bag he'd brought along and handed one each to Ginny and Hermione. "These are definitely not gifts to open up when you're feeling sad and weepy."

"Hallowe'en Wheezes?" Hermione said, laughing as she read over the list of what was contained in the box.

"New this year," Ron confirmed. "George says they're doing really well, but since he could only put together a limited supply this year, he didn't advertise, so there probably aren't many students at Hogwarts who got any, unless someone from home sent them some. They're like his canary crèmes, except with Hallowe'en themed Transfigurations. He's got the time up to over ten minutes now too."

"These will be a blast tonight at the feast," Ginny said excitedly. "Thanks, Ron."

"Why is there a Muggle one?" Hermione asked, and Ron laughed.

"For some Witches and Wizards, being a Muggle is scary," he explained. "You might find that one very interesting. I haven't seen it demonstrated, but George says that you actually are a Muggle while it lasts – you can't do magic."

"Seriously?" Hermione asked, and Ron nodded. "That's extraordinary!"

"George predicted you'd say that," Ron said, and handed her another, smaller box. "Here's a few extra of those Muggle wheezes for you to play with from him."

Hermione laughed and hugged him. "Tell him thanks for me."

They ordered a round of hot drinks, sat and talked for a while, and then went out to do the running around to get the supplies that Ginny and Hermione needed, along with some clothes shopping at Gladrags, and a gift for Mrs. Weasley. A long lunch at the Three Broomsticks followed the shopping, and then Harry and Ron walked the girls back to the school gates, where they all had to deal with another tough goodbye. Harry and Ron watched the girls walking up to the school until they were out of sight, and then apparated back to the Burrow.

While Harry spent the rest of Hallowe'en there, at Hogwarts, the combination of a Hogsmeade weekend, a Saturday night feast, and what was sure to be post-feast parties in all of the Common rooms had all of the students in high spirits. Hermione and Ginny spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the Gryffindor Common room with their friends, except for the better part of an hour when they got ready and dressed up for the feast.

"What are those?" Dean asked when the two girls put their boxes of wheezes in the middle of the table and opened both of them up.

"They're Weasley's Wizard Wheezes new Hallowe'en wheezes," Ginny told their friends. "Why don't you pass them around and see if we have enough brave Gryffindors to try them all out?"

"What do they do?" Seamus wanted to know, eyeing them speculatively.

"Ron says they're like the Canary Crèmes, except with Hallowe'en themes instead," Hermione answered. "There's a list of what you'll turn in to on the lid, and he says that the Transformations last for about ten minutes."

"Um, Hermione," Parvati said, smiling at her friend, "aren't you the Head Girl, and aren't joke wheezes banned by Mr. Filch?"

"I'd have to do something about that too – if I saw them," Hermione told her with a grin, looking everywhere except at the two boxes sitting right in front of her. "Maybe you should pass them down each way so I can't."

Pretty much everyone at the Gryffindor table was having fun for the next twenty minutes or so. Seamus was the first to give the new wheezes a shot, and once some of the other kids had seen him change into a vampire – one who thankfully didn't have the urge to suck blood, the entertainment was on. There were ghouls and goblins, werewolves and trolls, and just about every monster you could think of. Hermione had been most interested in the two students who tried the Muggle wheezes, and they confirmed that they indeed couldn't do magic, which had been a very scary ten minutes for them until they returned to normal.

"Your brother really is brilliant," Hermione told Ginny, "and that's not even saying anything about his imagination."

"He's definitely got talent for making his wheezes," Ginny agreed. "Is that Dennis?" she asked, pointing out a very short mountain troll down the table to their right.

Hermione nodded. "I think so. The boy on the right of the troll is normally who he sits with at meals."

"I hope that wears off for him before the feast starts. Trying to use utensils with those hands would be nearly impossible," Ginny said, and then laughed. "Seamus, you've changed back, so you can stop pretending to bite Lavender's neck."

"He's not pretending," Lavender told her, smiling as she gave him a little shove away, though she did kiss him before they both turned to face their tablemates. They'd gone to the Yule Ball together back in fourth year, and had sort of been together for a while before and after the ball, and they'd been friends for years too, but since getting back to Hogwarts they'd definitely become an item.

Watching them had Ginny thinking about some of their other friends. Since the war ended, they were all changed, and it seemed that when it came to couples that most of them were getting together with others who had gone through the worst of the war with them. Just as Seamus and Lavender had become close, so had Dean and Parvati. Ernie and Susan, Padma and Terry Boot, and from what she'd heard from Harry, Neville and Hannah were well on their way to becoming a couple.

"You're not supposed to be having deep thoughts today," Hermione told her quietly. "Thinking about classes, Harry, or Quidditch?"

"Actually, I was just thinking about how the Battle of Hogwarts and the war has brought so many couples together," Ginny answered. "You and me with our boyfriends included."

"It does seem to be working out that way," Hermione agreed. "I wonder if it was like that during the first war? Your Mum and Dad eloped, so there's one for sure."

"Could be," Ginny said with a nod. They were both distracted when the feast appeared on the tables, and that conversation was left behind in the sudden rush to fill plates and goblets, have fun with their friends, and enjoy another incredible feast.

After the festivities in the Great Hall, there were parties in the four Common rooms, and most of the students were up well past midnight enjoying having a night where fun and merriment ruled instead of the usual grind of weekend revision. Ginny and Hermione joined in for the fun, though they did each take time out for goodnight chats with Harry and Ron. Their boyfriends were both working in the morning, though, so after having dinner at the Burrow, and visiting for a while after that, Harry had gone home, done a little work, gotten ready for bed before he and Ginny had chatted, and been off to sleep right after that.

The second month of school was over, and November at Hogwarts meant Quidditch season had finally arrived. For Harry and Ginny, the start of November meant that they were more than halfway to the Christmas holiday when they could be together again for a while. Whether it was Harry's hunt for fugitives and his search to discover his inner animagus, or Ginny's continuing quest for knowledge and Quidditch Cup glory during those intervening weeks, there were going to be interesting and exciting times ahead for both of them.


	8. Seek and Ye Shall Find

Chapter Eight – Seek and Ye Shall Find

Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and their usual study group were all back to work on Sunday after taking the whole day off on Saturday for Hallowe'en. The whole day, by necessity, had been a marathon session so they could have all of their work done for Monday, and to even work a bit ahead, since Ginny was also going to be having her team put in extra practice time all week to get ready for their game against Slytherin.

She'd played enough Quidditch to know what to expect, and what to do, to get ready for a game, but was finding out that there was a big difference between being on the team and being the leader. The confidence she'd been feeling as their practices had progressed was tempered by worry over whether there had been anything she'd missed in getting her team ready to play. Trying to do the extra work with Quidditch, and keep up with the heavy NEWT level classes too, at times during that last week before the game seemed impossible. The one oasis she had each night was her chats with Harry, who patiently listened to her worries, offered gentle advice, and most importantly, lifted her up with unwavering belief in, and love for her.

Harry had been working hard all week too, putting in long days in the field, except for their Wednesday morning session with Josh and Neville. He'd had a couple of visits with Teddy, and continued his new quest to become an animagus. He and Ron hadn't taken a day off because they, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, were taking Saturday off to go up to Hogwarts and surprise Ginny.

He was at the Burrow having breakfast with Ron and his parents when Ginny was in the Great Hall, sitting next to Hermione, and watching the Owl Posts arrive. She'd been certain that there would be one from Harry this morning, but there wasn't, and she sighed in disappointment when the last Owl arrived, and Snowstorm wasn't among them.

"You okay?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine," Ginny answered, though it didn't sound convincing.

"You're going to do great today, so stop being nervous about it," Hermione told her. "Just play like when you're in the orchard with Harry, and have fun."

Ginny laughed. "You want me to hug and kiss the Slytherin Seeker like I do at home to distract Harry?" Hermione laughed too.

"Well, no, that probably wouldn't be a good plan, though it might actually work. You knew what I meant."

"I did," Ginny agreed, "but thanks for giving me a laugh."

They'd sat and talked quietly, with the occasional interruption from other Gryffindors wanting to wish Ginny luck. When it was time for her to go to the stadium to do warm-ups and have a pre-game meeting with her team, Ginny hugged Hermione goodbye, and left with most of her teammates. Hermione and anyone else still had lots of time before the game would begin, so she filled up a little of that time working in the Head's office, and then she went outside and walked to the school gates in time to meet Ron, Harry, and Ginny's parents.

"She was really disappointed when there wasn't an Owl Post from you," Hermione told Harry after she'd finished the round of hugs, and a fairly serious kiss for Ron.

"Hopefully I'll find a way to make that up to her," Harry joked. "How is she this morning?"

"Nervous," she answered. "Let's go find out whether having all of you here helps with that." They walked to the stadium together, and Hermione went into the locker room to bring Ginny out.

"I don't really have time for this," Ginny was saying as Hermione opened the door and led her outside. "You do know I've got a…" she saw Harry first, his beautiful emerald eyes flashing with happiness as they sprang the surprise on her, and she threw herself into his arms and kissed him fiercely. "You came!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly before moving on to hug her Mum and Dad, Ron, and Hermione before hugging and kissing Harry again.

"Let's go find seats, and Harry can catch up with us," Mrs. Weasley suggested. "Good luck with your game, honey."

Ginny had nodded, but her attention was all for Harry as they left. "I can only stay a minute," she said quietly, but she now had that fiery, passionate look in her eyes that Harry loved seeing, and he smiled as he handed the small gift to her that he'd brought along.

"Hopefully you have time to open this," he said, and Ginny laughed, letting go of him long enough to tear the wrapping paper off, open the box, and take out the golden snitch and diamond necklace that matched the earrings she had put on for luck this morning. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again, this time leaving them both breathless and a bit dazed by the time she let him go again.

"Um, Captain, while I'm sure this is an effective pre-game motivational activity, your team is ready and waiting for you," Demelza told Ginny. Neither of them had heard the locker room door open, but Demelza's smile told them that she'd been out there long enough.

"I've got to go," Ginny told Harry, kissing him again.

"You're all going to be brilliant today," he answered. "Good luck, and have fun."

"Thanks, Harry. I'll see you after the game." Ginny turned to Demelza and held out the necklace. "Can you help me with this before we go in?" Demelza did that, and then Ginny kissed Harry one last time, and the girls went back into the locker room, while Harry walked into the stadium and toward the Gryffindor section, looking for Ron and Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"They were invited to go sit with the Professors," Hermione explained, pointing to where Ron's parents were sitting next to Professor McGonagall, when Harry found them. "I hope you didn't leave our team Captain as dazed as you look right now."

Harry laughed. "Ginny always leaves me feeling like this when that fire lights up inside her. She's doing great."

"Good," Ron told him. "We wouldn't want her distracted during the match."

"That's what I love about you," Hermione said, leaning over to kiss him. "You're such a romantic."

They still had some time before the game would start, and Harry looked around the familiar stadium. The Slytherin section today was directly across from them, and he saw a number of the students either openly or covertly watching him. The looks he was getting from Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode in particular were venomous, but he calmly returned their stares; just a lingering moment for each, and then ignored them after that.

"Have you had any trouble with Theodore or Millicent?" he asked Hermione quietly, turning so he could watch as she shook her head.

"Nothing more than a lot of dark looks at meals and in class," she answered. "We're trying to be careful around here, though."

"They've got a lot of hate for me by the looks of them," he suggested. "I think I'll send you and Ginny something in the Post overnight that might come in handy, and it's probably a good idea to let some of our other friends know so they can help watch your backs." He looked into Hermione's eyes steadily, and she nodded.

"Alright, Harry," she agreed. "Are we ever going to have a day where we won't have to worry about things like this?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably not for Ron and me. It's going to be our jobs. If we do our jobs well enough, then yeah, I think that day is coming in the not so distant future for everyone else."

"But not today," Hermione said lightly, and Harry smiled.

"No, not today," he agreed.

When the two teams were introduced and flew out around the stadium, Harry's attention turned entirely to watching the two teams, and especially his fiery-haired, beautiful girlfriend. He knew all of the Gryffindor players, of course, but only four of the Slytherin players – Vaisey was Captain, and possibly still their best Chaser, Harper was one of their Beaters, and Malcolm Baddock and Graham Pritchard were Vaisey's Chaser partners. Harry didn't recognize their Keeper, Seeker, or Harper's Beater partner.

If anything, Ginny looked even more fired up than she'd been outside of the locker room, and Harry loved watching her fly around the stadium, her hair streaming behind her in the wind, a beautiful, bright red blazon to catch the eye and make the heart beat faster. There was a new announcer this year, and Hermione told Ron and Harry that Rose Zeller was a fourth year Hufflepuff. Once Madam Hooch had given her usual speech, and Vaisey had barely touched Ginny's hand when the Captains were told to shake, the game got started, and Rose launched her play-by-play.

"Madam Hooch throws the quaffle high, and Vaisey and Robins take off after it. Vaisey tries bumping Robins with a tail whip, but she dodges it and takes the quaffle, passing immediately to Thomas, who throws it on to Finnigan." Harry was following the action with the Chasers, while still keeping an eye on Ginny and her younger opponent. He was watching when Harper and his partner launched a pair of vicious bludger attacks on Ginny, and Hermione had a firm grip on his arm when she saw him flare with anger.

"That's part of the game," she whispered fiercely even as they watched Ginny expertly avoid both bludgers. "You know that, so get a grip, Harry." He nodded, and tried to calm down, though he did look over at the Slytherin section, and saw Theodore smiling coldly at him.

"And Robins scores!" Rose said, bringing Harry's attention back to the game. The Gryffindor students were on their feet, and Harry belatedly stood up too, though he hadn't seen the goal.

While Harry was having some issues as the game went along with Slytherin's tactics, which seemed to revolve around trying to seriously injure the Witch he loved, it was also incredible to watch her play with fierce abandon, dodging bludgers, avoiding attempts mostly by the Slytherin Beaters and Seeker to crash into her, and also direct her team's actions as if there was nothing else going on around her as she continually searched for the snitch, and occasionally made attempts at either catching it, or keeping the Slytherin Seeker from getting to it.

"Frobisher makes another brilliant save!" Rose shouted, and Harry smiled. She wasn't quite the announcer Lee Jordan had been, but she was excitable and was doing an admirable job keeping up with the action.

Demelza's first goal had just been the start, and Gryffindor was putting up big numbers, while the Slytherin Chasers were getting nothing past Vicky. Harry thought that their team's single-minded pursuit of taking out the Gryffindor Seeker left Demelza, Dean, and Seamus free to play catch and shoot against a Slytherin Keeper who wasn't very good, while the Gryffindor Beaters left the Slytherin Seeker completely to Ginny to defend the snitch against, and had focused their attention on the Slytherin Chasers and Beaters.

"You'd think that whatever your game plan had been, if you're down one hundred and sixty to naught, you might want to think about switching to plan B," Ron suggested to Hermione and Harry.

"When they came up with plan A, they should have considered what the boyfriend of their primary target will do to them if his girlfriend even gets a scratch on her," Harry shot back quietly.

"That's a stupid plan anyway," Ron told him. "Most of their players can't even keep up with the rest of Gryffindor's players on their Nimbus 2050's, and Ginny's just making them all look stupid on her Firebolt when they completely whiff on their attacks." He looked up at where his sister was again dodging both bludgers and the Slytherin Seeker, and there was a lot of pride in his face. "She's playing better than I've ever seen her play before, and she's practically playing three against one, while the rest of our team only has four Slytherins against them, since the Beaters are completely ignoring them."

They were just over three hours into the game, and Gryffindor was now up by a score of two hundred and forty to naught. Harry, and most of the spectators had just watched Demelza leave the Slytherin Keeper completely baffled as she faked, spun, and scored her fifteenth goal into the open right-side goal. When he turned his head to watch Ginny again, she was racing around the far side of the stadium, on the far side of the Slytherin goals. The other Seeker – Rose had said his name was John Wilkes - was pressing her, but Harry saw what the Slytherin Seeker and Beaters were setting up, and he steeled himself as he watched them try to box her in with another pair of vicious bludger attacks while Wilkes tried to keep her from getting out of their trap.

Harry was on his feet and cheering when Ginny dodged the first bludger anyway, and then basically did an aerial summersault, somehow pegging the nose of her broom in midair, and vaulting over it while the second bludger shot past, brushing her robes before slamming into the side of Wilkes' head. When he saw the lights go out in the boy's eyes, Harry had his wand out, and cast the spell that softened Wilkes' fall so he landed softly on the ground, unconscious, but safe.

"Weasley's seen the snitch again, and she's off!" Rose shouted, and Harry whipped his head around, searching for Ginny, and then watched, thrilled, as she dodged another bludger, reached out, and closed her fingers around the snitch before pulling up sharply on her broom and avoiding a crash into the Ravenclaw section of the stands, barely missing the students directly below her. "She's caught it!" Rose had announced. "Gryffindor wins three hundred and ninety to naught!"

The Gryffindor students were on their feet and cheering, but Harry was already moving, making his way down to the pitch, where Madam Hooch, Ginny and the other players were already starting to land. Vaisey looked red in the face, and he was arguing with Madam Hooch.

"I saw Potter draw his wand on our Seeker!" he practically shouted. "Surely others did too. Slytherin should be given the win by forfeit!"

Harry pulled out his wand, giving Vaisey a hard look, and the other young Wizard stepped back. Reversing his wand, he held it out to Madam Hooch, smiling at her. "You are welcome to check my wand," he told her conversationally. "I did indeed have it out, but only used it to cushion the Slytherin Seeker's fall after I saw he'd lost consciousness."

Madam Hooch took his wand, and using hers, was easily able to verify his assertion. She handed Harry his wand, turned back to Vaisey, and shook her head. "Mr. Vaisey, you should be thanking Auror-trainee Potter for saving your teammate from further injury or worse, rather than making spurious accusations that are so easily proven false," she chided him. "His wand was indeed only used to protect Mr. Wilkes. Now, if you will come with me, we will take your injured Seeker to the hospital wing."

Vaisey didn't thank Harry, and neither he, or any of the other Slytherin players offered Ginny and her team congratulations for their win. While Madam Hooch began tending to Wilkes, Harry turned to face Ginny, and he smiled at seeing the fierce joy of victory in her eyes and face.

"You were way past brilliant," he told her, stepping close and putting his arms around her waist. "Congratulations."

Ginny put her arms around his neck and happily kissed him. "Thank-you," she breathed after leaning back to look in his eyes. "That was even better than I'd dreamed it would be."

"For you," Harry agreed. "For me, it was really tough watching the way Slytherin was playing against you."

Ginny kissed him again, and then leaned back and smiled at him. "You expect me to trust you to take care of yourself when you, Ron, and Neville are off chasing Death Eaters all hours of the day and night. See what you can do about trusting that your girlfriend can take care of herself too."

"I'll work on that," he promised. Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and some of their other friends were gathering around, so Harry let go of Ginny so that she could visit with all of them for a while too.

"Don't you love seeing her like this?" Luna asked, coming over to stand next to Harry. "I think she's always really great, but there's something more and special about her – you see it in her eyes."

"I've noticed that myself on occasion," Harry answered, and Luna smiled fondly at him.

"I was fairly sure you had," she agreed. "Would you like me to distract everyone so you and Ginny can sneak off somewhere?"

Harry laughed. "That might be nice, but I think that getting some alone time with Ginny is going to have to wait for another day, thanks anyway." He hugged Luna. "I really appreciate the offer."

The gathering on the pitch didn't last very long, and Harry walked Ginny to the locker rooms, where they shared a too-short goodbye hug and kiss, but then she had a celebration to attend, and he needed to catch up with Hermione, Ron, and his parents as they walked out toward the school gates. After another round of goodbyes with Hermione, Mrs. Weasley led the three Wizards out the gates, and they apparated to Hogsmeade, where they planned on having a late lunch at the Three Broomsticks before Harry went home to get some work done, and Ron and his parents went back to the Burrow.

Ginny and the rest of her Gryffindor team had been the talk of the school for most of the next week, which they'd all enjoyed, though Hermione had managed to temper that a bit, at least within their study group. The Professors, for some inexplicable reason, had not considered a great Quidditch victory reason enough to lighten up on the assignments for their students.

While their girlfriends were busy and loaded down with schoolwork, Harry and Ron were back to long days too, starting early and working well into the evenings. They were back at the tavern where McLeod normally ended his daily trips on Friday, and as Harry went into the tavern under cover of his cloak a few minutes after McLeod had, he was looking forward to going home, getting a hot meal, and then wrapping up with his nightly chat with Ginny.

It took him a minute to locate McLeod, who was sitting at a table alone, and looking around, apparently expecting company. Harry hadn't quite yet reached the table when another Wizard walked up to that table, and sat down across from McLeod. He didn't hear the first comments, but he could clearly see McLeod's face go pale.

"Don't even think about going for your wand," Harry could hear the other Wizard growl in a fierce undertone as he closed the gap. "You'd be dead before you touched it."

"Where is…" McLeod started to ask, but stopped as the other man made a cutting motion with the hand he had above the table.

"He is no longer a concern of yours," McLeod's unwanted tablemate cut in. "Get up, walk in front of me, and don't do anything stupid. We're going to have a little talk, and this place is too public." When McLeod hesitated, the man hissed - "move it!"

Harry was in a position where he could move out ahead of them, but since nobody left the tavern ahead of the two Wizards, had to wait until they opened the door and walked out, and then followed them through the open door. They walked down the street nearly three blocks before turning into a darkened alley. They stopped about halfway up the alley, and McLeod turned to face the other Wizard.

"The others will not be happy that you've come out in the open, Travers," he said, and the other man barked out a short laugh.

"You're a fool if you think that they do not know," the man who McLeod had been nice enough to identify for Harry spat back. The man was in disguise, or Harry would have recognized him, but that also meant that McLeod knew him in that guise.

"Th-they know?" McLeod asked, suddenly sounding fearful.

"Of course they know!" Travers told him derisively. "What did you think would happen to anyone who betrayed our trust? Were you so foolish as to believe we'd let you live?"

"B-betrayed? I-I've always been loyal, and done everything that's been asked of me!"

Travers barked out another laugh. "Of course you have," he sneered. "It was just coincidence that two Auror-trainees were there when we moved against that fool, Shacklebolt." He pointed his wand at McLeod. "You're going to tell me what you've done, and then, you are going to die for your cowardly betrayal."

McLeod started backing away, shaking his head, but then his eyes went wide with shock as a shield intercepted the Cruciatus Curse that Travers had fired at him at the same time that an anti-apparition shield was put in place. The other Wizard reacted immediately, spinning around and looking for whoever had put up the shield charm. He had his own shield up already, and when he saw Harry, who had already been swinging his cloak off, he raised his wand and fired.

Harry had decided to remove his cloak this time to hopefully avoid any incidents with Ron backing him up, but not able to see him, but of course, being a target of a killing curse was not exactly fun either. His wand flicked, and a trashcan intercepted the curse, exploding and sending shards of metal flying, which he shielded himself against.

"Mr. Travers," he said in an almost conversational tone, "you are under arrest. Surrender your wand, and come with me."

"Kill him!" Travers shouted to McLeod, and Harry laughed.

"You can try, sir, but from what I've just heard, I'd really hope you don't succeed, since I'm only arresting you, while your pal here has already told you he's going to torture and kill you." He deflected a flurry of curses from Travers as McLeod seemed frozen, indecisive.

"Help me kill him, and you'll have proved your loyalty beyond doubt and be spared," Travers barked, and McLeod's indecision fled. He drew his wand, and then yelped when it kept moving, flying out of his hand and into the darkness behind him.

"That was a stupid move," Harry told McLeod. "Did you actually think I was here alone?" His wand flicked and twirled as he defended himself, and then finally counter-attacked, blasting through Traver's shield, and knocking him back into McLeod, who had already been put into a body-bind by Ron. Two more flicks of his wand, and Travers' wand flew into his hand, and the man was tightly bound in ropes.

"He doesn't look like Travers," Ron told Harry when he reached them, having come into the alley from the other end. "You sure it's him?"

"McLeod called him that by name, and he answered to it," Harry told him. He looked down at McLeod and shook his head. "Since it's obvious that you know Travers, and know him in disguise, it's a wonder to me that you still attempted to do his bidding just on a promise that all would be forgiven. Death Eaters do not forgive anything."

"Why are you holding me?" he countered in a quavering voice, ignoring Harry's comment. "I have done nothing wrong, and you've only stated that you're arresting him."

Harry look at him for a long moment before answering. His manners were different, more urbane, but McLeod was a lot like another rat he'd known. "You, sir, are under arrest for aiding and abetting known Death Eaters, and for your involvement in the assassination plot and attempt on the Minister of Magic. I'm quite certain that you'll be spending nearly as much time in Azkaban as your so-called friend here."

"I have not done those things!" McLeod said shakily, his voice now almost pleading. "You heard Travers, he was going to torture and kill me."

"I did hear that," Harry agreed, and watched as McLeod's eyes lit up with hope. "I also heard him tell you that he was going to do those things to repay you for betraying his trust – and since your alleged betrayal was over the attack on Shacklebolt, and you attempted to assure Travers that you had not betrayed him over that, you have both provided more than enough evidence for both charges."

McLeod was now staring at him, his face deathly pale. "I did not, did…"

"He seems to be having some difficulty talking his way out of this one," Ron joked as McLeod finally just shut his mouth, though he was obviously still trying to come up with a way to talk his way out of the mess he'd found himself in.

"Your a dead man," Travers told McLeod, and Harry turned to face him.

"Why would he be?" Harry asked. "Other than telling me your name just now, when he still didn't know we were here, I'd say you're the one who betrayed him by implicating both of you in the attack on the Minister."

Travers stared at him, hate and murder in his eyes. "Don't insult my intelligence, traitor," he snarled. "You found out about the attack from him, and it's obvious to me that you're here tonight because he's dancing to your strings, so spare me this scene you've obviously set up."

Harry laughed. "Believe what you want, Travers, but the only reason that Auror-trainee Weasley and I are here tonight is because it's our night," he answered, then expanded his answer as Travers stared at him in disbelief. "We work undercover at that Tavern regularly. Mr. McLeod here has been in before, but you were new, and he looked quite scared when you left with him, so I followed. Seems it's turned out to be a very lucky Friday the thirteenth for both him, in so much that he's still alive, and for us, finding and getting to put the both of you away, that I did." Travers closed his mouth firmly, and Harry looked over at Ron and nodded. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Definitely," he agreed. "We'll be hours longer processing these two and doing all of the paperwork now, and you know how much I hate staying up late doing that."

"True, and we've got the game tomorrow too," Harry added.

One good thing about bringing fugitives in on the weekend was that the Ministry of Magic was nearly deserted. The downside was having to deal with processing Travers and McLeod, getting them into holding cells on the dungeon level, and then doing up the reports really made for a long night, and it had already been a very long day before they'd even gotten to the action part of their evening. Harry had only been able to take a minute to let Ginny know he would have to skip their nightly chat while he and Ron dealt with their prisoners, and he'd felt terrible about having to disappoint her. Since those chats were his favorite part of the day too, even though they had managed to get another Death Eater and one of their accomplices off the streets, he wasn't in a particularly happy mood by the time he got home shortly after three in the morning. He hadn't eaten anything but field rations all day, but didn't feel like cooking, so he just changed and went to bed, hoping that a few hours sleep would help improve his mood.

The sleep didn't do it. Neither did the hot shower or breakfast, but when Snowflake arrived while he was eating with a letter from Ginny, his mood immediately improved. As always, it wasn't really so much what was in her letters, but just having that small connection with her that felt so great. In some ways, they learned more about each other through their Posts than when they were together and had other distractions. When he'd finished reading it, he tucked it carefully into his pocket after taking her last one out and putting it away with all of her other letters.

Before he'd be meeting Ron to go out to lunch and the game, Harry had a morning play time set up with Teddy, so after cleaning up, he went over to the Tonks' house, where he and Teddy spent a few fun hours together. Harry was continually amazed by Teddy's progress every time he visited, and while he'd been sitting up for a while, his first forays into crawling were new, and Harry quickly learned that his Godson needed to be watched constantly now that he was mobile. It was obvious that Teddy loved spending time with Harry, and they both had fun most times they were together. They sat on the floor and played with some of Teddy's toys for a while, and then Harry held Teddy in his arms and told him stories while Teddy just listened and watched him with wide-eyed fascination. As they often did, Harry and Andromeda ended his visit with a little snack and drink break for three, catching up on what they'd each been doing since his last visit until it was time for Harry to head out for his lunch and afternoon plans.

"Did you have fun playing with Teddy's stuffed dragon and action figures this morning?" Ron asked as Harry sat down across from him at the Leaky.

"Yes I did," Harry agreed. "You got to have Wizarding toys when you were a boy. They're all new to me, so Teddy and I get to discover them together."

Ron laughed. "By the time any toys got to me – especially after Fred and George got done with them, there wasn't much left worth having." He looked up and smiled. "Hi Hannah."

"Hi Ron, Harry," she greeted them, smiling brightly. She, and Neville, seemed to be smiling quite a lot more often these days, and they'd gone out on several dates now. "Going to the Cannons game again today?"

"Yes, and maybe, if we go to enough games, I'll get to actually see them win one," Ron joked, and Hannah laughed.

"Anything's possible in Quidditch," she answered. "What can I get you today?"

Ron and Harry placed their orders, and spent the better part of an hour there talking mostly about Quidditch before moving on to the Bodmin Moor Stadium. The Cannons were playing the Montrose Magpies, and while they were usually one of the top teams, and certainly the most successful overall, they'd been having a rough season, with a combination of injuries and poor play pushing them into the bottom half of the standings. Now that the initial thrill of going to their first professional league games was pretty much over, they hadn't come too early, and after visiting the concession booths, they'd only been in their seats for ten minutes before the game got started.

"This isn't off to a great start for the Cannons," Harry suggested after the Magpies scored two quick goals to start the game.

"We'll see," Ron answered, not looking at Harry as he followed the action. "The Cannons are always slow starters."

The Cannons might be slow starters, but they didn't get the chance to really get going. With the score at sixty to twenty in favor of the Magpies, at the forty-three minute mark of the game, Galvin Gudgeon, the Cannons' often inept Seeker basically ran into the snitch, which he managed to grab hold of when it momentarily got caught up in his robe, miraculously ending and winning the game for his team with a final score of one hundred and seventy to sixty.

"Yes!" Ron shouted as he jumped to his feet, celebrating his team's first win of the season.

"Congratulations," Harry said, standing up too and applauding so that Ron and the other handful of fans would have some company. "That was an interesting technique for catching the snitch, but it seems to have worked."

Ron turned and grinned at him slyly. "Well, I'll give you that it's not as spectacular as catching it in your mouth, like you have, but it's still a win for my team."

Harry laughed. "That particular catch may not have been pretty, but it's still one of my favorites."

Ron had wanted to stay until the post-game was over and the Cannons left the field, but then he and Harry went back to the Burrow, where Harry spent a few hours visiting, staying for dinner, and then he went home to get a little work done around the house before his nightly chat with Ginny, and plans to have a good night's sleep before getting back to work in the morning.

"So, now that we've put Travers away, what are we going to do today?" Ron asked him, and Harry smiled. They were sitting in Ron's cubicle, having cups of coffee, and deciding what to do with their day.

"Unless Josh and Neville stop by, I was thinking about just having a light day, do a little work around here, and maybe get ready for our training session on Wednesday instead of doing that at nights."

"You've read what we're working on ages ago," Ron reminded him.

"True, but I do still review the work before each Wednesday, and I'm sure you'd rather not have your usual late night on Tuesday while you try to read five or ten chapters in one sitting."

"You sound like Hermione," Ron muttered, and Harry laughed.

"Probably," he agreed, "but since we don't have a current case, let's go with that plan, and then knock off early today. I'm sure that we'll be getting something new by tomorrow."

Since they really didn't spend all that much time at Auror Headquarters, Harry and Ron didn't really get all that much of a chance to watch what went on around the place. On Sunday, it was apparently very little – or at least it was today. A couple of Aurors came in, though neither stayed long, and they were pretty much left alone, though the first had waved in greeting, and Auror Kirke stopped on the way by to see what they were doing and congratulate them on catching Travers before moving on.

While Ron hadn't been especially excited about spending a day with his head stuck in a book studying, Harry had actually liked having a day to just work in his cubicle, and catch his breath. When they'd left Auror Headquarters, he'd done a little running around before going home, making dinner, and then spending the evening doing a little laundry and work around the house, spending an hour or so on his Animagus studies, and then ending the day with a long mirror chat with Ginny.

Harry, Ron, and Neville met with Josh on Monday morning in his cubicle to discuss what they were going to do next. Josh and gone to talk the matter over with Auror Robards earlier, and the Head of the Aurors had given them the Selwyn case. It had been just over five weeks since Harry had laid it all out for his boss and Dawlish, and their continuing insistence on ignoring him, except for the occasional angry glare, was proof enough that they weren't coming around, but just getting more entrenched in their beliefs.

"Why's it so busy in here today?" Harry asked after they'd pretty much finished talking out how Ron and Harry were going to get started on the Selwyn case.

"We're heading into winter," Josh answered, as if that explained everything.

"And?" Harry prompted.

"And so there is pretty much zero enthusiasm for field work," Josh explained. "It'll be like this in here until spring."

Harry looked at him to make sure he wasn't joking, which he obviously wasn't. "You're telling me that for the next upwards of four or five months, there will be almost no field work going on?" he asked, and Josh nodded. "Do they all think that our fugitives are going to sit around and wait out the winter too? We can't give them that kind of time to regroup and rebuild!"

"Not all of us do stop working, Harry," Josh pointed out quietly, "but right now, we're not exactly in a position to do anything about the others, and even if we were, and could give that order, you'd never be able to enforce it unless you're going to follow all of them around all day."

"He's right," Neville told Harry. "This isn't good, though."

"Let's just keep doing our jobs, and hope it's enough," Josh suggested. "There's not much point in worrying over what we can't control."

Their little meeting broke up shortly after that, and while Josh and Neville got back to work on their case, Ron and Harry started researching their new case. The Selwyn family was well known and very large, and they were going to have their work cut out for them. They spent the rest of the week, except for Wednesday morning, working on that research, and going out into the field to check out some of the many, many places that were of potential interest to them, including family homes, businesses, and locations of known associates.

Having a new case kept them interested and busy, and before they knew it, Saturday had arrived, and they were in the Three Broomsticks, waiting for Hermione and Ginny to join them. It was another very cold, rainy day out, and even though they'd apparated into town from the gates, and used impervius shields while walking from the school to the gates, the two girls looked uncomfortable and cold when they joined their boyfriends, just as Ron and Harry had been when they'd arrived.

"Come and sit down," Harry urged Ginny after they'd shared a hug and kiss. "We'll get hot drinks and you can both warm up for a while."

"I wish we didn't have to go around and get supplies at all," Hermione told them, shivering as she sat down next to Ron, and he put his arm around her.

"Maybe the rain will let up in a bit," he suggested.

"If by 'in a bit' you mean Tuesday or Wednesday, then you're probably right," Ginny said. "Since Gryffindor doesn't play again until February, I'm not going to make my team go out and practice in this."

"That should earn you their undying gratitude and loyalty." Ginny smiled at Harry's comment, and leaned close to kiss him again.

"That's my plan. Too bad you and Ron won't be able to do that with your field work."

"Don't remind us," Ron said with a shudder. "Let's not even talk about work today."

The girls were happy to do that for Ron, and they talked about school, Quidditch, and the now just a day under four weeks away Christmas holidays. Braving the weather, they went out around town to get all of the supplies that Ginny and Hermione needed for the next few weeks, and then went back to the Three Broomsticks to have lunch and warm up again. After that, with no interest in just wandering around in the rain and cold, the two young couples apparated to the school gates, where Ron and Hermione, and Ginny and Harry shared a few too-short hugs and kisses goodbye, and then the girls hurried up to the school, wanting to get out of the rain, while the boys apparated to the Burrow.

Counting down weeks instead of months to the Christmas holidays was pretty great, but it still seemed like a long time away. At Hogwarts, the main topic was the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match on the last Saturday of November. While Ginny had been able to cut her team some slack while the weather was so lousy, the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams were out training hard through it all. There was some good-natured ribbing among the House players about Gryffindor being a fair-weather team, while the real Witches and Wizards of the school were prepared to play through anything.

Ginny was interested in that game, since Gryffindor would be playing both teams, but during the week, she, Hermione, and their study group were focused on their schoolwork. The Professors were dumping loads of new assignments on them, and every report and project was due before the holidays. That kept them busy every day, and from the time they finished breakfast until bedtime, the only real break from studying for Ginny or Hermione was their nightly chats with Harry and Ron.

"I suppose I'll have to come to the game," Hermione said unhappily as she looked out the windows at the snow flying around outside as they ate breakfast.

"That would be the right thing for our Head Girl to do," Ginny agreed. "I've brought a heavy blanket for us to huddle under, so maybe it won't be too bad."

"Let's keep telling ourselves that," Hermione suggested. "Over and over and over again. If nothing else, the brain activity might warm us a little."

The Owl Posts arrived, and Ginny was, for once, happy to see that Harry hadn't sent Snowstorm with anything for her after seeing so many of the birds looking frozen and unhappy as they made their deliveries. She made a mental note to check up on Snowflake after the game to make sure she was comfortable in the Owlery and give her some treats.

After breakfast, she and Hermione went to the Heads' office, where they worked on a Potions assignment until the very last minute before they had to go outside and brave the snow, wind, and cold to get to the stadium in time for the game. They huddled under the blanket, sitting close together, and only had to wait a few minutes for the game to start, as the teams were being called out to the pitch even as they'd been getting settled in to watch.

"Our two team Captains are off, and battling to get to the quaffle first," Rose announced after Madam Hooch had thrown the quaffle high into the air and the two teams had taken off. "Cadwallader gets it for Hufflepuff, and spins back toward his own goals. He passes to Smith, who moves out toward the Ravenclaw end of the pitch – and he lets go of the quaffle as he puts both hands on his broom to dodge a bludger! Chambers picks it up for Ravenclaw, and passes to Ackerley, who races in on goal and shoots – GREAT SAVE BY WHITBY!"

"I do believe her House colors are showing," Ginny said with a smile. "She's still doing a really good job, though."

"I'm impressed she's even able to talk without her teeth chattering," Hermione answered.

Ginny nodded, still watching the game. Every member of her team was watching the game too, and they each had their assignments to watch both teams in general, and specific players too. Her main job was to watch the Seekers to help with getting ready to play them in February and May. Ravenclaw had Anthony Goldstein, who she of course knew from Dumbledore's Army. Summerby was Hufflepuff's Seeker, and while he was younger than Goldstein, he'd played Seeker for Hufflepuff since fall of ninety-five, and had more experience. They were very closely matched, and both players were battling hard throughout the match.

Their announcer had enough to cheer about for Hufflepuff as the game went on. Both Keepers were playing very well, but with the wind and snow making their jobs very tough, there were some goals getting scored. Hufflepuff had a small lead, the score at one hundred and twenty to eighty when the two Seekers raced off together after the snitch that Ginny had been watching for quite some time. Anyone who missed the catch could tell from the roar of cheers from the Ravenclaw section that their Seeker had made the catch, and the suddenly disappointed Hufflepuff fans, and the game announcer had gone very quiet.

"That was fun," Hermione said, standing up quickly. "Now let's go inside, get some hot drinks, and find a warm fire to sit next to while we defrost."

Ginny was all for that plan, though she did have Hermione stop at center pitch for a minute so they could congratulate both team captains on a really good game before hurrying on to the school. They had large cups of hot chocolate, spent the better part of an hour getting warm, and then it was time to hit the books again for the rest of the day except for meal or snack breaks. When they wrapped up for the night, Ginny got ready for bed, and after climbing in and snuggling under the warm comforter with Arnold, she put up her imperturbable shield, got her mirror out, and called Harry.

"You look really tired tonight," he said quietly. He was smiling gently, and his eyes sparkled they way they always seemed to whenever he was looking at her, and Ginny felt a bit warmer just being able to see and talk with him.

"It's been a long day, and the game was good, but it was really uncomfortable out in the stadium," she answered. "How was your day?"

"We had rain all day, and it was fairly unpleasant to work in, but since Ron and I are taking tomorrow off, we had things to get done today."

"Have you heard who all could make it to the birthday party?" Ginny asked.

"Bill and Fleur, and Charlie and Julianne are all coming, of course, since the party's for both Bill's birthday tomorrow, and Charlie's on the twelfth. Your Mum told me that Charlie and Julianne both have to work on Monday, and with the time change, they'll need to leave not too long after dinner. George won't be there until he closes the store, so he'll just make it in time for dinner, and Percy will be coming from whatever it is that he and Kingsley have going on, so I'm not sure what time he'll make it there. He may be bringing Audrey, but I haven't heard for sure yet. Ron and I will be at the Burrow all day so we can help with cleaning up. De-gnoming the garden should be a lot of fun if it's raining like this all day tomorrow too."

"As muddy as the garden will be, it won't matter if it's raining or not," she suggested. "Better take a change of clothes and plan on a shower after doing that job. What are you doing tonight? Studying your manuals again?"

"As usual," he agreed. "Josh is hinting that I should slow down, but a lot of these lessons really aren't taking me all that long to learn."

"Since Aurors need to have such high marks in their NEWTs, it's a wonder you don't find that you have a lot of catching up to do compared to other trainees."

"I've thought about that," Harry answered. "We know that Dumbledore pretty much had a free hand with what's been taught at Hogwarts, but the Auror training was set by the Ministry, probably a long time ago."

Ginny nodded. "And you think our work at school has gotten more advanced than what they have," she concluded.

"When you and Hermione are done your own NEWTs, it might be worth comparing what you've done with the training Ron and I are doing."

"If Hermione is interested, she can have at it, but once I'm done next June, I do not plan on going into any career that involves years more of study like you have ahead of you."

"I'm glad you're not planning on joining the Aurors," Harry told her.

"Don't you think I could handle the job?" she asked, her eyes flashing dangerously, and Harry grinned at her.

"Actually, I think you'd make a brilliant Auror," he answered. "The problem would come when you and I were partnered on stakeouts, where I'd be way more interested in snogging you than doing my job."

"There is that," she conceded. "I guess it really is a good thing I don't want to be an Auror."

They stayed up and talked for over an hour before Ginny started falling asleep, and they ended the chat. Harry hadn't stayed up much longer, and when he got up in the morning, he ran through his usual morning routine, and then went over to the Burrow. Ron and his parents were still having breakfast, so he had a cup of coffee and talked with them until they were done, and then they all got to work.

Harry and Ron started with the outdoor work, including de-gnoming the garden, and then they both went to have showers and change out of their muddy clothes before helping with the cleaning inside of the house. They had lunch together, and then mostly worked in the kitchen with doing everything from cleaning and preparing the vegetables to helping out with some of the baking, including a birthday cake. Charlie and Julianne came over to the Burrow with Bill and Fleur, the two couples having spent a few hours together already at Shell Cottage.

Bill was twenty-eight years old today, and while it wasn't like that was old or anything, Harry also hadn't ever really thought about just how much older Bill was than his youngest brother and sister. Charlie would be twenty-six on December twelfth, and while Harry hadn't spent a lot of time with him, he did get the feeling that Charlie was a lot happier now, and it seemed likely that Julianne had a lot to do with that cheerfulness.

They had a fairly entertaining afternoon, with most of the action either going on in the kitchen or sitting room. The conversations covered everything from dragons, curse-breaking, and hunting Death Eaters to shopping and the latest gossip either being picked up by Fleur, Julianne, and Molly, or making the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly. Percy actually managed to get there more than a half hour before dinner, and brought Audrey with him. Mrs. Weasley, Harry, and Ron started putting dinner out on the table when everything was ready, and George got there just in time to sit down to eat with everyone.

"While most of us are here," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling as she looked around the table, "I'd like to find out what all of you are doing for Christmas. I'm hoping we can all get together at the same time for a family dinner."

"We haven't been able to be with Fleur's family for Christmas in two years, so we're going to be in France for a few days," Bill told her.

"I can't be home for Christmas Day either, Mum," Charlie told her. "They've got me working shifts from Thursday to Saturday while some of the other handlers are with their families. I get Sunday off, and then Thursday to Saturday for the New Year's weekend, so those days are open for me to come here."

Mrs. Weasley looked to Percy next, who smiled and shrugged. "I've got the Minister's Christmas Eve party, and then Audrey's invited me to have Christmas dinner with her family," he said apologetically. "If everyone else finds another day that works, maybe Audrey and I can both at least come to the dinner with everyone, but it will depend on whether the Minister needs me for work."

"I'm open late Christmas Eve," George chimed in next, "but I was planning on being here with you after I close up the store, and stay over for Christmas Day. You know my store schedule for any other family dinner plans you make, though Lee's working on getting me to go to a New Year's Eve party that I probably won't be able to talk my way out of attending."

"Um, I have no idea," Ron said when his mother turned her gaze on him. "Christmas is still weeks away. I didn't even know people made plans this far ahead."

"I'll send Hermione a note and ask her," Mrs. Weasley told him. 'How about you, dear?" she asked Harry, who smiled at her.

"I'm pretty much counting on Ginny sharing her family with me over the holidays, so I'll probably be here as much as I'm home. Ron and I can change our work schedules around anything you plan for having a dinner, though we can't do anything about any emergencies that might come up."

"The Head of my offices has me on call all of that weekend too," Mr. Weasley told her, and she laughed.

"I'll have a talk with him about that later," she promised, and he grinned encouragingly at her. "Okay, Christmas Eve and Day look like they're out, though I'll do something special for anyone who is here for the day. Maybe I'll invite Aunt Muriel to have dinner with us Christmas Day."

"That's a good idea," Mr. Weasley agreed. "It's the least we should do after she took us all in when we had to go into hiding."

"How about either having our family dinner on the Sunday after Christmas, or New Year's Day?" Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"We could come back from France earlier on Sunday," Fleur suggested to Bill, who nodded, smiled, and leaned over to kiss her.

"Sunday works for us," he told his mother.

Charlie and Julianne were a yes too, with George being an after the store closes, get there for dinner yes, and Percy and Audrey were a tentative yes pending Percy's getting that worked out with Kingsley. Mrs. Weasley would include the invitation in her Post to Hermione, and Harry was another yes with an offer to help with the cooking and cleaning.

"Stop that," Ron grumbled in a whisper. "You're making the rest of us guys look bad going and offering to work all day around here."

Harry grinned at him. "Sorry mate. I'll try to remember that. It's funny how much I like doing things like that now for your Mum, when I really hated doing the same jobs at my Aunt and Uncle's house."

"Was there anything you did like about that place?" Ron asked, and Harry laughed.

"Yeah – I really liked getting to leave."

When they were finished dinner, Bill and Charlie each had some gifts to open, though Mrs. Weasley made Charlie take the one from her and Mr. Weasley home unopened so he'd have it for his actual birthday. The birthday cake and hot drinks followed, and then it was time to say goodbye to Charlie and Julianne so they could get back to Romania. Everyone else retired to the sitting room to continue their visit until a little after nine, when there seemed to be a collective decision that it was time to head for home. Harry had enough time to spend a few minutes with Snowstorm, get ready for bed, and settle in before his mirror vibrated and Ginny's face appeared.

"How'd the party go?" she asked. "Did Bill and Charlie like the gifts we got them?"

"They loved them, and the party was fun," Harry answered. "Charlie and Julianne are doing great, and while I wouldn't exactly say that Percy and Audrey are the hugs and kisses type, at least in public, they seem to be getting along fairly well too. Bill and Fleur are as blissfully happy as always."

"That post-war love in the air thing really seems to be catching on," Ginny joked. "George seems to be the only one managing to avoid it so far."

"Maybe he's worked out an antidote for his love potions and is trying it out on himself," Harry suggested. They both knew why George wasn't interested in, or looking for, a serious girlfriend. He tried his best to be his old fun and cheerful self, but he couldn't completely hide the hints of deep sadness that the people who loved him most could see clearly.

"If he has, it's time to get it on the market," Ginny told him. "There have been a few cases here as we're getting closer to Christmas, and Professor Slughorn has actually taken to carrying a bottle of antidote around in his case."

"If Romilda Vane was one of the Witches using one again, I sort of wish I'd left Ron to her. It might have taught her a lesson."

Ginny laughed. "That might have been really funny, but then you'd have never let that happen to your best mate. I think Romilda's done with love potions anyway. She's managed to land Zacharias Smith, and they seem quite happy together."

"Why am I not surprised?" Harry asked. "Then again, if they're truly happy together, good for them."

They talked for a while longer, but didn't make it a late night. Ginny had a lot of extra work to get done over the next two weeks, with major assignments due in all of her classes before getting to the last week before the Christmas break when it would be mostly fun and getting their holiday revision from the Professors, and Harry was going to be back out in the field first thing in the morning.

Over the next two days, Ron and Harry spent a lot of time out in the cold and wet, continuing their search for Selwyn. By Wednesday, they were both ready for a break from that, and welcomed getting to be indoors for their morning training with Josh and Neville, and then going for their usual Wednesday lunch with Neville at the Leaky. The first thing that Harry and Ron both noticed was that Hannah was not quite as cheerful as she usually was around Neville, and after she left, Harry turned to him with an inquiring look.

"What's wrong with Hannah?" he asked, and Neville's shoulders slumped.

"I invited her to dinner at home, and Gran was, well, Gran," he answered quietly. "I'm sure Hannah was crying before I'd even left her place. I love Gran, but sometimes, I would really like her to just accept people for who they are."

Harry had looked around and saw that Hannah was on her way back with their drinks, so he waited until she'd dropped them off and moved on before turning back to Neville.

"Invite her to go meet your parents," he suggested. "Without your Gran along."

Neville looked at him like he'd just grown a tail. "Have I mentioned that I really like Hannah?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

"You did mention that on occasion," he agreed.

"Then why are you suggesting I do everything I can to scare her off?"

"I'm not," Harry assured his friend. "She's thinking your Gran doesn't think she's good enough for you, so you need to prove to her that you know she's special enough to trust with the hardest thing in your life."

"Here I've spent the last couple of days thinking that getting my own flat would be a life-shaking move for me, and you come out with that," Neville said, and Harry grinned.

"There's a lot to be said for having your own place, and while I only have a few months of experience with being on my own, I'd recommend it to anyone." He turned around again, and Hannah was already loading up a tray with what looked like their orders. "She's been through a lot too, Neville, and I do think that you can trust her with anything."

"And if those ideas don't work, then try telling your Gran to shut it," Ron suggested with a laugh that Harry and Neville joined in on, especially when they saw Hannah start laughing too, having again overheard Ron's comment.

"Just for that, you get your meal first," she told Ron. "Thank-you. I really needed that laugh."

With both Neville and Hannah in better spirits, their lunchtime was a fun, nearly hour-long break before the three young Wizards had to get back to work. For Ron and Harry, that meant going back out into a cold, damp afternoon as they continued searching for any lead they could dig up on their case. After hours of numbingly cold work, Harry didn't have any trouble talking Ron into knocking off early, and after doing a little running around for supplies, Harry went back home and actually was able to have dinner at a reasonably normal time instead of the late evening meals he normally had.

He wrote a letter for Ginny, put it together with another package, and went to get Snowstorm ready to take it. "I'm sorry about sending you out on a cold night, but the rain's supposed to let up for a couple of days, so I thought it would at least be a bit drier for you to make the round trip."

Snowstorm nipped him, and Harry smiled. "Thanks, mate. Give our girls a kiss for me, will you?"

Once the owl had left, Harry got a load of laundry started, and then went back into the library, closing the door behind him, even though he was alone. He'd been working on learning everything about being an animagus in his spare time for a month and a half now, along with trying to find his true animagus. He'd been going over everything in his mind for days now, and was now ready to try it for the first time. After reading the horror stories of attempts gone wrong, he thought it was natural to be a bit nervous about it, but he was also quietly confident too.

"Just get on with it," he chided himself. He took his glasses off and put them on the desk. There was a mirror on the wall, and he lifted it off, put it on the floor, and leaned it against one of the chairs next to his desk.

Stepping back from it into the center of the room, he closed his eyes, and concentrating very hard, he started the Transfiguration. The sensation was similar to other disguise Transfigurations he'd experienced before, but it was more than that, which was where the intense focus and concentration came in. The flowing, liquid sensation of being changed was subtly different with this too. With normal Transfigurations, it was as if you were forcing yourself into something unnatural, where this was more like changing from one self to another. It only took moments to complete, and then he opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror, he was filled with a mixture of joy, excitement, and the thrill of knowing that he'd achieved something remarkable.

Sitting down on his haunches, he continued to examine himself in the mirror. His distinguishing feature was definitely his eyes, which had remained the same brilliant emerald green. He thought that he made quite a handsome looking Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The blenheim coloring, with no black that he could see was a bit of a surprise, since he did think that his hair color might affect his animagus, but now he knew that wasn't necessarily true. Standing on all fours, he turned around in a circle, once in each direction, and then sat down again.

"Well, you're hardly intimidating," he told himself. "More like cute and cuddly." He smiled, but when his tongue lolled out of his open mouth, he laughed silently and closed his mouth again. "There's a lot to be said for being small," he thought, and then he smiled again, not caring that his tongue immediately hung out once more. Looking at the mirror, he silently fired off a spell that sent it soaring into the air and put it back on the wall. His smile got wider, and he next lifted his desk, all of the chairs, and a few dozen books into the air, leaving them floating high above his head as he considered what he'd just managed to do – something that the books said wasn't possible.

"Is it just the power that limits the ability?" he wondered. He knew that he was by no means the only Wizard or Witch who could do wandless and non-verbal magic, but the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that was the right answer. The bottom line was that he was still able to do magic while in his Animagus form! "So I may be small, but I've got a few tricks that the big dogs don't have."

He gently put everything back down and in its place, and then he calmed his mind and a moment later stood on two feet again, the smile bright and his eyes glittering with triumph. The whole Transformation, and his little magic experiment hadn't taken more than ten minutes, so just to have a little practice, he changed back and forth two more times. The third time, he went for a little run around the house, finding that it took a bit to get used to running with a tail, and having four paws. It was actually with a twinge of regret that he changed back that last time.

There had still been more than an hour to go until it would be time for his chat with Ginny, and while he really wanted to tell her about his success, he also wanted to be able to surprise her in person, so he didn't mention it to her, and planned on waiting until she was home for the Christmas break to show her. Being an unregistered Animagus was something else, though, and he had an idea about what he might be able to do about that. In the morning, he stopped in at the Burrow to meet up with Ron like he normally did on the days they were working in the field, but then let him know that he needed to go into the Ministry of Magic for a while before they got started.

"What's up?" Ron asked him. "Not that I'm complaining about spending some time at my desk where it's warm."

"I want to talk to Kingsley about an idea I have, and see what he thinks about it," Harry answered.

"Any chance it's a suggestion that we go somewhere in the southern hemisphere for the rest of the winter to search for Death Eaters instead of staying here?" Ron asked hopefully.

Harry laughed. "That might be nice, but no. If he doesn't think it's completely idiotic, I'll tell you about it later."

When they got to the Ministry, Ron went on to Auror Headquarters, while Harry went to the Minister of Magic's offices. He knew that Percy would be with Shacklebolt, and asked the Minister's receptionist to let Percy know he was there and would like a word with him.

"Good morning Auror-trainee Potter," Percy said formally as he stepped out of the Minister's office. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes sir," Harry answered. "I apologize for not giving you any notice, but I'd like to have ten or fifteen minutes with Minister Shacklebolt as soon as it can be arranged."

Percy looked surprised. Other than the meeting that Kingsley had wanted after the assassination attempt, Harry had never been in his office, and had certainly never requested time with the Minister. There must be a good reason for it, or he wouldn't be asking for it now.

"Let me make a few changes, and let the Minister know," he told Harry. "If you'll wait here, I'll return for you once I've cleared the time."

That took about fifteen minutes, and several paper airplanes came sailing out of the Minister's office during that time. When Percy reappeared, he waved Harry to follow him into the Minister's office.

"Thank-you for seeing me Minister," Harry told Kingsley, who'd stood up and held his hand out to Harry. "I'm going to seal your office so this meeting stays private." Kingsley nodded, and Percy looked on with interest as Harry put up a formidable privacy shield around the room.

"You're fired up about something," Kingsley said. "Am I going to like this or not?"

Harry smiled at him. "I hope you'll like it," he answered. "As of last night, I'm an Animagus."

"You are?" Percy exclaimed, and Harry nodded.

"I'll show you in a minute, but before I do that, we need to discuss the potential this talent would have for my work – especially if I wasn't listed in the public registry." He smiled at Percy's sudden look of concern.

"Percy, I understand that it's required that my animagus be registered – that's why I'm here now - but is there really no way that this can be done confidentially? The purpose of the law is so that the Ministry and Law Enforcement know who all of the Animagi are. If only you and the Minister knew about my Animagus, I could do things and go places in that form that I could never manage in human disguise. The only benefit to making this public would be to the Wizards and Witches I'm trying to track down."

"What do you think, Percy?" Kingsley asked. Percy looked from Harry to the Minister, and then just looked out of the magical window for a minute.

"Any document or record within the Ministry can be placed at Minister of Magic eyes only clearance level," he answered, looking at Kingsley again. "That's essentially at your discretion, but then changing that status would also be at the discretion of future Ministers. If you did that with Harry's Animagus registration, that document would go into the same vault as the other documents so classified."

"I'm expecting this to be most advantageous for the Aurors in the short term," Harry pointed out. "There will probably be a time when keeping it a secret won't be necessary. There will be a few others, like Ron and Neville who would need to know so I can work with them while in my Animagus form. Once we've rounded up the worst of the fugitives, it will be of less value anyway."

"Very well," Kingsley decided. "Let's see what you've got, Harry, and Percy can put the necessary forms together and have them sealed." Harry nodded, and after putting his glasses in his pocket, quickly made the change.

"That's unexpected," Kingsley told him with a laugh. "I thought you'd be bigger. Are you planning on infiltrating the Death Eaters by becoming their cuddle buddy?" Even normally straight-arrow Percy couldn't keep from laughing at that, and Harry hopped up into the chair, turning around once and settling on his haunches.

"Those emerald eyes might be a giveaway too," Percy suggested. Harry thought he might be right about that. Closing his eyes for a moment, he opened them again, and Percy and Kingsley both stared at him.

"How did you do that?" Kingsley asked as he stared into Harry's now soft-brown eyes. When Harry next lifted the chair he was sitting in, the one next to him, and the desk, the other two Wizards stepped back, each of them now looking incredulously at Harry. He set everything back on the floor, jumped down from the chair, and resumed his normal form.

"You may not have noticed, but we didn't lose our privacy shield either," he told them. "I thought that was a pretty cool bonus when I figured it out."

"I'm absolutely certain there's no law that says we have to include that last bit of information in his Animagus registration," Kingsley told Percy, who nodded his agreement, still looking a bit stunned over what Harry had just demonstrated.

Harry looked at his watch. "I've about used up my time," he told them. "I'm planning on using this in my work wherever it might come in handy, but if you have anything that comes up that my new talent might help you with, let me know."

"We will," Kingsley promised, already thinking of several situations where Harry could now be a huge asset for him. "Thank-you, Harry. Percy and I, at least as long as I'm Minister of Magic, will be the only two who will know about this. I'll leave it up to you who else you're willing to trust with the information, though I'd like you to let us know who you do bring into your confidence."

Harry nodded. "I can tell you that right now. It'll be Percy's Mum and Dad, Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Ginny. I don't expect anyone else to need to know anytime soon. None of them know yet."

"Very good," Kingsley said approvingly. "If you need anything from Percy or I, the door's always open for you."

"Thank-you, Minister. Since Ron's waiting for me to go out in the cold and play Auror-trainee with him, I'll let you get back to your work too." With that, he dropped the privacy shielding, left the office, and went to Auror Headquarters to meet up with Ron again.

"So, are you a genius or idiot?" Ron joked, and Harry laughed.

"Let's get out of here," he suggested. "I'll let you decide for yourself which." They left the Ministry, and went to Harry's house, where Ron was let in on the Minister of Magic's newest classified piece of information.

"I'd say it's bloody brilliant," Ron said after Harry had returned to normal. "Kingsley shouldn't have been surprised, though. Everyone knows you're a big softie underneath all of that Dark Lord fighting, war hero exterior."

Harry laughed. "Don't tell Hermione or Ginny. I want to surprise them with this in person when they get home for the holidays. I'll let your Mum and Dad know then too."

Ron laughed too. "That'll be fun. I know Ginny's sure that you're the best Wizard for her, but I'll wager she never expected you to be Best in Show too."

They got back to work then, and after another cold day outdoors, Harry was glad to get home in the evening, have a hot shower and meal, and then relax for the rest of the night. He and Ginny had talked for quite a while before they'd both gone to sleep, but he was still up fairly early, sure that Snowstorm would be back with a Post from Ginny. He was already sitting down and eating breakfast when Storm, and then a Hogwarts Owl Post arrived. He retrieved the two letters, gave both Owls treats, and while the Hogwarts Owl waited patiently on the counter, obviously expecting a reply Post, Snowstorm gave Harry a companionable nip and flew to his cage and settled in to have his treat there.

He knew immediately who had sent the Post with the school owl, but he opened and read Ginny's letter first before opening the second.

Dear Harry,

I would like to invite you to attend my annual Slug Club Christmas party, which will be a week from this Saturday, beginning at eight o'clock. You are welcome to bring a guest, and I sincerely hope that you will be able to attend.

This Owl will await your reply.

Professor Horace Slughorn

Harry went to get and envelope, parchment, ink, and quill from the library, wrote a quick answer, and had the owl on it's way again in short order before sitting down to finish his breakfast. The two letters had put him in a very good mood, and he was still smiling brightly when he got to the Burrow to meet up with Ron.

"Did you get one too?" Ron asked immediately, and Harry laughed.

"Professor Slughorn invited you to his party?" he asked, and Ron nodded, looking a bit shocked. Harry laughed and winked at Mrs. Weasley. "Maybe it's because you're now the son of a famous war hero dueling master," he suggested. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Ron all laughed too, and she hugged Harry in greeting.

"More likely Horace finally figured out that Ron's pretty amazing all on his own," she told the three Wizards.

"When I sent my reply back, I asked the Professor not to tell anyone ahead of time, so hopefully he'll do that for both of us, and we can surprise the girls," Harry told Ron. "I'm sure he'll think it's because I want to avoid any media attention."

"Which you do want to avoid. The surprise will be on us if they bring dates," Ron joked.

"You mean that you're not?" Harry asked. "My letter said I could bring a guest."

Ron laughed. "Go ahead and do that," he suggested. "I'll pick up whatever pieces are left of you when Ginny gets done with you."

"Or what'd be left after her Mom got through with him if he did something like that to my little girl," Mrs. Weasley told them ominously.

"Actually, I was thinking about seeing if Rolf might be interested in going along, and if Luna's not going yet, Ron could always ask her," Harry suggested. "I'm pretty sure Ginny and Hermione wouldn't mind."

"His grandfather is pretty famous," Ron pointed out. "Rolf could be going anyway."

Harry shook his head. "Professor Slughorn wasn't teaching when Rolf was there," he answered. "I'm pretty sure he only invites current and former students he's taught, plus the Professors, of course."

The news about both of them getting to spend an extra evening with their girlfriends had been a great way to start the day for Ron and Harry, but they were soon focused on their work, and another rainy, cold day made for long, uncomfortable hours. They'd finally picked one particular Selwyn business to set up a stakeout for, and they took turns following any visitors to the place as far as they could be tracked, which most often just meant until they found a good place to apparate to unknown destinations.

It was early evening when the business was closed for the night, and Harry and Ron both went back to Headquarters to write up their reports for Josh and Gawain, and found notes from Josh on their desks to meet him and Neville at Headquarters in the morning. With that change in their plans for the morning, they both got the reports done and headed for their respective homes for what was left of the night.

"Good morning, Neville. Have you got him?" Harry asked. Neville was already at his desk and working, and he smiled when he looked up at Harry.

"Finally," he confirmed. "It's been a long haul getting our case ready against him."

"Are we taking him down today?" Harry asked next.

Neville shook his head. "Tomorrow. I'll let Josh go over the details."

They'd chatted for a few minutes, and then Harry had gone to his desk to do a little work too while they waited for Josh and Ron. When they were both in, the four Wizards gathered around Josh's desk, and he gave Harry and Ron the rundown.

"Mr. Warrington has been hiding out in a flat above a friend's business," he told them. "There are quite a number of Witches and Wizards there from Monday to Saturday, but including Warrington and his friend, only eight to ten on Sunday."

"Do you expect those workers to be a problem?" Ron asked.

"We're hoping that they won't be," Josh answered, "though we'll be prepared to take them all into custody if they do try and aid Warrington."

"You're not bringing extra help," Harry stated, and Josh nodded.

"We're not," he agreed. "I trust that the four of us will have fewer – complications – if we handle this on our own."

"What do you want us to do today?" Ron asked Josh.

"Neville's going to take you on a tour of the area, and then we'll spend the rest of the day bringing you up to speed on everything we've got, and reviewing the plan we've put together for tomorrow. We'll decide on any revisions to that plan as we go."

Other than stopping for a lunch break at the Leaky, Josh and his trainees had a busy, intense day getting ready for their planned raid, and by the time they all went home for the night, they were confident that all contingencies were covered, and they were ready for whatever happened in the morning.

The building they were raiding was not particularly large, but the two levels did have a number of rooms that they needed to cover when they entered the building. There were open work and storage areas on the ground floor, along with some offices and other small rooms, while the upper floor had two flats, one used by the owner, and the other currently occupied by Warrington. Harry and Ron were in position at the back of the building, and Harry was watching the time, so he'd be putting the anti-apparition spell up exactly on time for Josh and Neville. They would be going in through the public entrance at the front of the building just moments ahead of that, and once Harry had the shield up, he and Ron would be entering through the back service entrance and covering that side of the building.

"Let's go," he whispered as his shield roared into place, and he and Ron ran for the entrance. They could see flashes of light signaling that a fight was already in progress when they walked through the door, and dove to the left and right as they attracted the attention of two Wizards and one Witch who had turned to face them.

"I'd say they've decided to give Josh a hard time," Ron suggested, his wand flicking counter-curses and shields to defend himself. Turning to his left slightly, he blasted one of the Wizards they were facing against the wall and the man slid to the floor, his eyes glazing over as Ron's stunning spell knocked him out cold.

"We could offer them the chance to surrender," Harry suggested, as he knocked out the other Wizard, disarmed him, tucked the wand into a pocket, and bound his new captive.

"Excuse me, Madam, but would you consider surrendering?" Ron asked the Witch, who was now standing alone and looking shocked. "Auror-trainee Potter and I really feel especially bad when we have to duel with a woman, so we'd appreciate it if you'd just hand over your wand and let us get on with our job."

The young Witch just stared at him in disbelief for a moment, but then her shoulders slumped, and reversing her wand, she held it out to him.

"Thank-you," Ron said, genuinely grateful. He then put her in a body-bind, promised to release her from it once they'd secured the building, and then he and Harry had hurried into the main workroom.

Josh and Neville had their backs to the front door, and were dueling three Wizards. A fourth was already down, and with two quick spells, two of their opponents were disarmed, their wands flying behind them to Ron and Harry. The third Wizard spun to counter-attack, and Josh and Neville both caught him with attacks while he was momentarily distracted, blasting him into a worktable. He flipped over it, and didn't move after coming down hard on the floor.

Let's make sure we've secured this level," Josh ordered. "We'll move upstairs together once we're sure."

Neville and Ron bound all three of their new captives, and they quickly went from room to room, confirming that they were all empty. There was just one wide staircase up to the top floor, and Josh and Neville led, with Harry and Ron a few steps back, covering them. The stairs came out into an open hallway, and Josh and Neville both hit the ground when a pair of killing curses came flying at them from the right, Neville shooting a hall table and chair to intercept the attacks.

There was a shout from that direction as Josh countered the attack, and with shields up and blazing, Harry and Ron moved into the hallway with Josh and Neville. "Cover us to the left!" Josh ordered, though Harry was already doing that while Ron helped defend them on the right.

"This is Auror Williamson," Josh shouted out. "We are here to arrest Mr. Warrington. Surrender your wands immediately or you will be charged with aiding and abetting a known fugitive." He was answered by a fierce attack.

"Why do they almost always make the wrong choice?" Ron asked. He pointed his wand at the wall behind which one of their attackers seemed to be hiding. "REDUCTO!" he bellowed, and a ten-foot wide section of the wall next to the doorway was blasted away, hurling the Wizard behind it across the room like a rag doll, where he crashed very hard into the far wall. Neville had a disarming spell following him, and the wand was on its way into Neville's hand when he had it change direction and intercept another killing curse.

Harry was letting them do their job, and scanning the end of the hallway he was facing. There was an open door at the end, and he stayed focused and ready for any movement. It was a tiny thing – a blurring of the air, but he struck at once, and something crashed so hard against the wall to the left of the open door that the wall itself buckled and cracked. A loud thump, and then suddenly, a Wizard appeared out of thin air, slumped against the wall and staring vacantly at Harry, a stunned look of surprise on his face.

"I surrender!" they all heard another Wizard shout from the rooms to the right, and a moment later, a wand was tossed out into the hallway.

"Step forward and keep your hands were I can see them," Josh ordered. A scared-looking man tentatively stepped out into the hall, and was quickly put into a body bind. "Are there any others up here?" Josh demanded, and the man shook his head, looking past the four Wizards to the man slumped on the floor at the other end of the hall.

"No, there was just the three of us," he answered. When he looked at Josh and saw the skepticism, he nodded emphatically. "I'm telling you the truth! My boss and I were supposed to distract you while Warrington escaped using an invisibility charm."

"Remind me to include that possibility in future contingency planning," Josh told his trainees. "Nice catch, Auror-trainee Potter. You've all done very well today. Clear this floor to be certain, and then bring these three downstairs with the others. I'll meet you there."

Once they'd all made it downstairs again, and assessed the situation, Josh sent Neville for a team from the Hit Squad to take seven of the Wizards into custody, two of whom were going to need minor medical treatment. After interviewing the young Witch, Josh had Ron return her wand and released her with a promise to come to Auror Headquarters on Monday for questioning about the activities her boss and Warrington were involved in.

Harry and Ron were put in charge of dealing with the Hit Squad Wizards and Witches, and cleaning up the scene once they arrived, while Neville and Josh took Warrington and his business owner friend to St. Mungo's for treatment before taking them on to Auror Headquarters.

"How are they doing?" Ron asked when the four Wizards walked into Headquarters. He and Harry had been back and working on their reports for more than a half hour.

"Fine now," Neville answered. "The one you hit had a broken collarbone and two broken ribs, and Warrington had three broken ribs and broken bones in his right arm and hand. We were mostly just held up because it was busy there today."

"Did you get everything finished back at the building?" Josh asked, and Ron nodded.

"Yes sir," he agreed. "The Hit Squad had some very talkative workers, and they've got a team there still going through the place for their own investigation now, but we finished everything we needed to get done. Anything we thought might interest you is in your cubicle."

Harry had just been listening, and looking over the two prisoners. The Wizard who owned the business looked pale and defeated, but Warrington was paying close attention to what was going on, and returned Harry's look with one of dark anger mixed with just a hint of uncertainty. Harry smiled at him.

"Trying to figure out how I knew you were there?" he asked conversationally. "I'd love to tell you, but then I'd really hate to deprive you of the entertainment you'll have for the rest of your life in Azkaban trying to figure that out." Warrington's face flushed with anger, and he glared at Harry now, while Ron laughed, and Josh and Neville both smiled at him.

"Get your reports done, and then you can get out of here for the day," Josh told Ron and Harry. "Neville, let's go get our prisoners processed and find them a pair of nice, comfortable cells downstairs before we get on with our own work."

It took another couple of hours to finish the detailed reports required for a raid like this one, and then Harry decided to go do a little Christmas shopping before going home to do some work around the house, while Ron went back to the Burrow, deciding to spend that time getting his studying done for their next training session while he had the break in the action.

When Harry went to bed on Sunday night after his chat with Ginny, it hadn't really started to feel like Christmas yet during that first week of December, but especially after doing a little Christmas shopping, he was beginning to feel that excitement now. Ginny and Hermione would be home in less than two weeks, and there was a Hogsmeade weekend and Professor Slughorn's party on the Saturday between. Considering his history with the holiday, which, except for a very few bright spots, had been pretty dismal most years, as he let his thoughts wander before drifting off to sleep, it was with a sense of deep, quiet joy that he was able to experience the thrill and newness of those feelings now.


	9. The Joy of Christmas

Chapter Nine – The Joy of Christmas

"Thanks for joining us for lunch," Harry told Rolf, smiling as he stood up to welcome the other young Wizard. They hadn't met before, and Harry had a good first impression as they shook hands.

"You're welcome," Rolf answered as he shook Ron's hand next before sitting down. He smiled at Harry. "My Grandmother went all soft on me when she found out about the invite. She thinks quite a lot of you, especially after getting to know Luna a bit, and hearing some of her stories."

Harry laughed. "With Luna's talent for honesty, I'm surprised she would still think that way."

"Luna does have a knack for cutting through to the core of things," Rolf agreed. "My grandparents both find that as refreshing as I do." Hannah came and took their orders, and then Rolf turned to face Harry. "I'll guess that this lunch invite has to do with Luna, since we don't exactly travel in the same circles of friends."

"It does," he agreed. "Professor Slughorn is putting on his annual Christmas party at Hogwarts this coming Saturday night. Ron and I are among his former students who have been invited, and I thought that Luna might enjoy the surprise if you were interested in coming with us."

Rolf's smile was bright and immediate. "I'd love to go along," he assured Harry. "I've heard about the Professor's parties and the Slug Club, but he wasn't teaching at Hogwarts while I was there."

"Knowing the Professor, he's probably disappointed that he didn't get to teach the grandson of the famous Newt Scamander," Ron joked.

"From what I've heard, he'll only be disappointed if I wind up famous or in some powerful position too," Rolf answered. "The Wizarding World is fairly littered with Slug Club members who didn't quite meet his grand expectations for them. Speaking of, Luna's not in the Professor's Slug Club. Will she even be at the party?"

"Definitely," Harry confirmed. "I talked to Ginny last night, and she's taking Luna as her guest."

"You talked to her?" Rolf asked in surprise. "Luna and I have been exchanging Owl Posts, but we didn't want to use the Floo to talk – there are just too many other Witches and Wizards listening in the Common rooms there."

"Ginny and Hermione made up two sets of two-way mirrors that they gave to Ron and I so that we can use them to talk to each other and have some privacy," Harry explained. "We've been going up to Hogsmeade when the students are in town too, which has helped a lot."

"Those mirrors are brilliant," Rolf told him. "If I wasn't out of the country so much, I'd have gone up to Hogsmeade too, but that just never seemed to work out."

"Well, since it seems you'll be home for the party this weekend, you could always go to Hogsmeade for the morning too," Ron suggested. "Just don't tell Luna about coming to the party, since we're hoping to surprise our girls too."

Harry and Ron continued to spend a little time getting to know Rolf over lunch. He reminded them a bit of Charlie with his easygoing, friendliness. He loved getting to work in the outdoors like Charlie too, though where Ron's brother was stocky and strong from working with dragons for years, Rolf was tall and rangy, and preferred hiking and camping as he studied the magical creatures of their world. When they'd finished eating and were getting ready to leave, Rolf shook hands with Ron, and then with Harry.

"So, did I pass?" he asked, and they were all smiling.

"This wasn't a test, and Luna, Ginny, and Hermione would all hex Ron and I into next week if we presumed to butt in over who Luna chooses for friends," Harry answered. "We do love her though, and since you've become so important to her, I'm really glad to finally get to meet you."

"Thanks, Harry. It's been great meeting both of you too," Rolf said with a nod. "I'll see you on Saturday."

The rest of that week was a mixture of long, usually wet, and always cold workdays, and for Harry, a pair of evening visits with Teddy and Andromeda, and two evenings of Christmas shopping. Ginny was busy at school with getting assignments done and handed in before the end of the week or weekend deadlines, so they kept their nightly chats short to allow her to get as much sleep as she could after having long, exhausting days.

"We can have the whole weekend off?" Ginny asked, shooting for little girl excitement as she stared at Hermione with bright, wide-eyed astonishment. "Like as in no revision at all?"

Hermione laughed. "Now aren't you glad that we worked late every night this week? I'd like to get ahead on our holiday assignments next week, but the Professors won't start handing that work out until Monday anyway."

"I knew there had to be a catch," Ginny told her.

"Working next week is all about leaving as little work as possible for when we're home," Hermione explained, even though she knew that Ginny was just teasing her. "I doubt we'll get it all done, but it'd be nice not to have to spend too much of our holiday with our noses stuck in books or writing reports."

"Good point," Ginny conceded. "What are you wearing to the party tonight? Has Ron asked you if you're taking a date yet?" They'd both thought that it was funny and cute that Harry had asked Ginny about that last weekend, but Ron either wasn't worried about that with Hermione, or he was afraid to find out the answer.

"Not yet," she answered, "and I'm leaning toward the silk blouse and the jacket and skirt set. You?"

"The cashmere sweater and dress pants," Ginny said. "You've probably got the better choice, since you can take the jacket off if it gets too hot, but I love my new sweaters."

"And you look really great in them too," Hermione added with a smile. "Can you believe that a week from today we'll be having breakfast at home? Sometimes it's felt like the holidays would never get here."

"I know what you mean," Ginny agreed. "Do you have much to get in town today? I only need a few things to get me through next week."

"Same here," Hermione answered. "Maybe we should take the boys to Madam Puddifoot's tea shop and spend the day snogging them there."

Ginny laughed. "Ron might be good with that plan, but you know Harry would hate being there."

Hermione nodded. "That's true, but then his minimal previous experience at the tea shop was pretty awful, so maybe he just needs someone to give him a new perspective on the place."

"Sure, and if we throw in a major redecoration that isn't frilly taken to the extremely tacky side, and put up walls between the tables so he doesn't have to watch every other couple snogging, there might be a chance he'd be able to tolerate the place."

Their conversation moved on from there, and they talked quietly while they finished breakfast, and then it was time to get ready for a cold, snowy trip to Hogsmeade, or at least to the school gates, since they did plan on apparating into town from there. Most of the students who were of age were doing that now, and Ginny and Hermione had been with their usual group when they'd all popped into town not far from the Three Broomsticks.

"Rolf!" Luna called out when she saw him standing outside of the tavern, hurrying over to him, her smile bright and excited. They shared a warm hug and short kiss, but then Luna took his hand and turned to face Ginny and Hermione.

"I'd like you to meet two of my best friends," Luna told Rolf. "Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger, this is Rolf Scamander."

"It's nice to meet you," Rolf told them as he shook hands with each of them in turn. "Luna's told me a lot about you and the rest of her friends."

"We're glad to finally meet you too," Ginny said. "We're meeting Harry and Ron inside, and we usually order hot drinks to warm up before going out to do our running around. Would you like to join us and meet them?"

Rolf looked at Luna, and she nodded, still smiling happily. "We'd love to," he answered. "Thank-you."

They went into the Three Broomsticks together, and after Ginny and Hermione had hugged and kissed their boyfriends, Luna made the introductions. For the next half hour, they sat and talked while having cups of coffee or hot chocolate, and then went out and around Hogsmeade together to shop for the supplies the three girls needed. When they had that finished, it was back to the Three Broomsticks for a long, leisurely lunch, and then the three couples split up after that. While it was really cold out, Harry and Ginny had decided to walk back to the school gates. There weren't any other students near them as they walked hand-in-hand, and it was nice to have even that little bit of privacy.

"So, how long have you known Rolf?" Ginny asked, laughing when she saw the look on his face. "Hermione may not have noticed," she explained, "but I grew up with six brothers, and the three of you didn't fool me for a second."

Harry laughed too. "We met him at lunch on Monday," he admitted, and laughed again when Ginny stopped, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him rather soundly.

"I love you," she told him. "That's why you seemed so happy when I told you I was inviting Luna as my guest for the party tonight."

"Well, that surprise is definitely out of the bag," Harry said with a nod of agreement.

"It's still a really great surprise, even if I did find out a few hours early," Ginny assured him as they started walking again. "I won't say anything to Hermione or Luna unless they've figured it out too. You were going to bring Ron too, weren't you?"

"Hadn't planned on it," Harry answered, and laughed at the look on her face. "He was sent an invitation too."

Ginny laughed too. "Really? That's a bit surprising."

"I think that the Professor's figured out that your brother is going places after all, even if he didn't see that when he was teaching us."

"Maybe if he'd look for more than famous relatives or good bat-bogey hexes, the Professor would find out that every one of his students are special."

They dragged out their walk as long as they could, but once they were at the school gates, it was time for a long hug and kiss goodbye. "I'll see you tonight," Ginny whispered into his ear, since they weren't alone anymore.

"I love you, Ginny," Harry answered, and smiled. "Six more sleeps, and you'll be home again."

"Yes I will," she agreed happily. "Plan on staying over at my house on Friday night. We seriously need to catch up on some me and you time."

"I'll do that," he promised.

There were another few soft kisses and hugs, and then Ginny started walking up to the school. Harry watched her until she was out of sight, and then he apparated to the Burrow for the usual post-Hogsmeade weekend debriefing with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, which Ron joined them for about twenty minutes later. Normally, he'd stay for dinner too, but with the party to get ready for, after having drinks and a nice visit, Harry went back to his own home, where he did a little work, had a light dinner, and then spent over an hour getting ready before popping over to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Ron and Rolf before going on to Hogwarts together.

"Harry Potter!" Professor Slughorn said loudly as he, Ron, and Rolf entered the already rapidly filling room. "So good of you to come, and Ron Weasley! Welcome!" He looked inquiringly at Rolf, and Harry smiled.

"Professor, I'd like you to meet Rolf Scamander. I'm quite sure you'd know his grandfather, Newt, quite well."

"Oh-ho!" Slughorn said enthusiastically. "Yes, of course," he agreed, pumping Rolf's hand. "We've not met, but your grandfather speaks very highly of you indeed. Says you've inherited his passion for working with magical creatures."

"Yes sir," Rolf agreed. "He has the highest regard for you as well."

"Hello, handsome," a soft voice said near Harry's ear, and he turned around to see Ginny, looking gorgeous in a beautiful, soft sweater and dress pants smiling at him. He returned her smile as she put an arm around his waist.

"Hi. Fancy meeting you here," he answered. Professor Slughorn returned his attention to Harry, and he beamed at them. "Merry Christmas, Professor," Harry told him, handing him the large box he'd brought with him, which also freed him up so he could hug Ginny back.

"Why thank-you, Harry. That's very kind of you." He seemed to be straining a bit with the weight of the box, and quickly moved over to set it down on a table that had quite a few other gifts on it. "That's quite heavy," he panted. "What have you put in there?"

"A little selection of some French wines," Harry answered. "Ginny's sister-in-law helped us with choosing them, and she assured me that you'll love them."

"Excellent!" Slughorn said happily, "and again, thanks to both of you."

Ron was handing the Professor the large box of assorted chocolates he'd brought for him when Hermione and Luna joined them, both girls looking thrilled and surprised to see their boyfriends there. Harry and Ginny didn't get a chance to talk with them right then, because Professor Slughorn took them in tow and began introducing them to his other guests, though all of the students and Professors, and many of his guests already knew them.

"We meet again, Harry, Ginny," Gwenog Jones said, smiling at them as she shook their hands.

"You've all met?" Horace asked in surprise, and Gwenog answered his question.

"You introduced me to Ginny the year before last at one of your parties," she reminded him, "and she introduced me to Harry when we were all at the Quidditch World Cup this past August in Transylvania."

"Ah yes," Slughorn said, bobbing his head and smiling happily. "Ms. Weasley is quite the Quidditch player, which my poor Slytherin team found out the hard way this year, I'm afraid."

Gwenog smiled at Ginny. "I heard about that game. Angelina and Alicia were talking about it the week after at one of our practices. It sounds like you've put quite a team together."

"We're pretty happy with the season so far, but it's still early," Ginny said modestly. "If everyone can stay healthy, I think we'll do well enough."

The meet and greet lasted for nearly an hour before Harry and Ginny could escape, find Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Rolf, have drinks, and take a break. They'd been mingling too, and where the last party hadn't gone well for Hermione or Harry, this one was going much better, mostly due to having Ron and Ginny there to share it with them.

"You knew they were coming," Hermione accused now that she finally had a moment to talk with Ginny. "I saw the look on your face before Professor Slughorn dragged you off."

"I only found out earlier today," Ginny answered, "and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for you and Luna."

"It was a really nice surprise," Luna told her. "You look like you're having a lot more fun this year than when you brought me last time," she told Harry.

"I am," he agreed, "though last time the only fun I did have was thanks to you."

"That's so sweet," Luna said happily, and Ginny smiled at them.

"Really?" she said meaningfully. "What exactly were you doing together that was so much fun?"

"I'd like to hear this one too," Rolf told Harry and Luna.

"Well, other than the fact that she was one of the prettiest girls at the party, I think my favorite part of the night was her discussion with some of the Professors regarding the Auror involvement in the Rotfang Conspiracy. Ron, Neville, and I are a bit busy right now rounding up runaway Death Eaters, but once we get that done, maybe we'll be able to get to the bottom of that and put an end to it once and for all."

"That would be wonderful if you could," Luna told him sincerely while Rolf, Ron, and Hermione tried not to laugh. Ginny was the only one able to keep a perfectly straight face and play along with Harry.

"Yes it would be," she agreed. "I'm sure that our three newest Auror-trainees are just the Wizards we need to clean up messes like that."

The party started wrapping up near midnight, and when it was time for Harry, Ron, and Rolf to leave, the only disappointment was in that they couldn't have a few private moments to say a proper goodbye to their girls. Harry and Ginny had to do another round with Professor Slughorn, this time as he was seeing everyone off.

"I'll see you on Friday," Ginny said in a whisper as she hugged Harry. "Have a good week, and be careful out there."

"Thanks," he whispered back. "I will, and you have a good week too."

Harry went straight home from the school, and off to sleep. He and Ron were back at work first thing in the morning, and despite spending five more long, cold, and mostly wet days on stakeout, they were both getting more excited as the days ticked off of the calendar, and the boredom and misery of their current assignment had no effect at all on their high spirits. Harry only got over to see Teddy one night, and he went shopping one other evening after they were done work, but other than those two trips and his nightly chats with Ginny, he spent the week focused on work.

They were back to work on Friday, but unless something major happened, they were going to knock off for the day in time to get to King's Cross Station to meet the girls when the Hogwarts Express arrived at four o'clock. Harry could hardly believe that the day he'd been waiting for since September first was finally here, and it took everything he had to stay focused on his work, and not daydream about how great the next two weeks were going to be.

"Is it time yet?" Ron asked, and Harry smiled. He'd been asking that same question since about ten minutes after they'd settled in to their stakeout.

"An hour left to go," Harry told him just as a young Witch came out of the building they were watching. "Let me guess – it must be your turn to follow her. It's convenient how that seems to work out for you every time."

Ron grinned at him. "I'm just trying to save you from having to explain such things to my sister. She might not appreciate you chasing pretty girls all day while she's away from home."

"I'll be sure to let Hermione know how much I appreciate you doing that instead so I don't have to," Harry joked, and Ron actually looked worried.

"Now let's not do anything I'll seriously regret later, mate," he suggested, and Harry laughed.

"Relax, Ron. I was joking. Now get going before you lose her," Harry said with a nod of his head in the direction the Witch had begun walking.

That last hour seemed to drag by for Harry. Ron was only gone about twenty minutes, and he reported that the Witch had made a couple of other stops, and then apparated out of sight. While catching bad guys was their job, they were both silently relieved when nothing came up to keep them from leaving on time for King's Cross Station. There were still ten minutes to spare when they got to platform nine and three-quarters, and there were more than a few stares directed at Harry from other adults and underage kids who were on the platform and waiting for their students too.

"Finally!" Ron said when the train came into sight around the closest bend in the tracks, and approached the platform, slowing down quickly as it drew close.

"Why don't you go to where the Prefect car will end up, and Ginny and I will catch up with you and Hermione there once I've met up with her," Harry suggested.

Ron nodded, and moved down the platform, watching excitedly for any sign of Hermione. Harry probably saw Hermione at the same time Ron did, since she stepped off of the train the moment the doors started opening, but while his best friends were being reunited, he scanned the other cars and watched the students pouring out of the train, looking for his own girlfriend. He saw Luna, Lavender, Parvati, and Padma getting out of a car more than halfway down the platform, and he started moving that way, his smile bright, and his eyes flashing with happiness when he saw Ginny step onto the platform, looking around until she saw him. His heart was doing some happy little flips when her face lit up, and it was only a few more moments before she was in his arms and hugging him tightly.

"I was half expecting that you'd have some emergency come up and not be able to come," she told him, and Harry nodded.

"So was I," he admitted, "but it was another quiet, uneventful workday for us."

Ginny kissed him, and then smiled happily. "Good. Then you should be all rested up for when I have you all to myself later tonight," she said in a way that had him wishing they could skip the rest of the day and get right to the promise that was in that 'later'. He helped with getting her trunk and cages then, while she spent a few minutes saying goodbye to their friends, and when he had everything together, she looked at him inquiringly.

"Do we have a car again today?" she asked.

Harry pulled out his wand and shook his head. "I thought we'd just send everything on ahead, apparate home, and save ourselves some more travel time," he answered. Waving his wand, he sent it all to her room.

"Even better," she said happily, giving him another short hug and kiss. "Let's go catch up with Ron and Hermione."

By the time they got over to the Prefect car, Hermione had already sent Crookshanks and her trunk home, and she and Ron were waiting for them. "Ready to go?" she asked them, and Ginny and Harry both nodded.

Ron and Hermione were only going to the Burrow with them to have a short visit with Mrs. Weasley and get Ron's bag, since he was going to spend at least the next few nights at Hermione's house, though they were going to pop back over for a visit after dinner sometime when Mr. Weasley would be home too.

"Welcome home!" Mrs. Weasley said as the four teens walked into the kitchen. She dropped what she was working on, and had long, warm hugs for both girls. "We've missed you so much," she told them. "Come sit down. I'll get us some nice, hot drinks, and you can tell me all about anything I've missed since your last letters."

Mrs. Weasley continued to work on making dinner while Hermione and Ginny took turns telling her about what they'd been doing in classes, Professor Slughorn's Christmas party, the feast they'd had the night before, and a few gossip tidbits that had been going around the school. Hermione and Ron couldn't stay long, since they were meeting her parents and going out to dinner after they were finished at their clinic for the day. After they left, Harry and Ginny pitched in to help with the cooking. Bill and Fleur were going to come for dinner too, and they got to the Burrow at around a quarter to six, while Mr. Weasley made it home by a little after six.

Harry was happy to spend the next hour and a half or so letting Ginny catch up with her parents, brother, and sister-in-law while he mostly listened, enjoyed the meal, and held hands with her as they sat close together. Bill and Fleur had a Christmas party to attend later, so they only stayed until maybe a half hour after dinner, continuing to talk with Ginny while Harry helped Mrs. Weasley with cleaning up. After they left, the little party of four retired to the sitting room, each of them choosing to have a glass of wine, and settling in for a quiet evening together. Mrs. Weasley turned on the WWN, so they had Christmas music playing in the background while they relaxed and unwound from a long, busy week.

"What are you kids doing tomorrow?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"We're going to decide that tonight after Ron and Hermione drop in to see Dad," Ginny answered, "though Christmas shopping is definitely going to be a big part of the day. Do you and Dad have plans?"

"We have a little shopping to do, and we thought we'd pick up the tree tomorrow too. Maybe we can all get together and decorate it tomorrow night."

"Harry and I would love to for sure," Ginny agreed after Harry nodded when she'd looked at him first. "Have you decorated your house?" she asked him, and he shook his head.

"I hadn't really thought about it," he admitted. "Since it's just me and Storm there, I really didn't expect to decorate or do a tree at all."

"Well, you will be here a lot," Ginny said, "but maybe we should see about getting you a little tree and a few decorations so it feels Christmassy when you are there."

Ron and Hermione joined them just before nine o'clock, and Harry poured drinks for them while they got comfortable, and refills for Ginny and her Mum. He stayed standing after handing Ginny her drink and smiled at her.

"Now that you're all here, I've got a little surprise for you," he said, smiling at Ginny. "I'll be right back with it in a minute." Leaving them with that teaser, he went out into the kitchen, waited a minute, and then changed into his Animagus. He trotted into the sitting room, leapt onto the sofa, and climbed into Ginny's lap.

"You're adorable!" she said, laughing and throwing her arms around him. She laughed again when it licked her face. "When did you get a dog, Harry?" she called out, but there was no answer. Looking into the beautiful brown eyes of the soft and warm dog, here eyes widened when it blinked, and the eyes were suddenly a very familiar emerald green.

"Harry?" she asked incredulously. She laughed in delight when he licked her face again. 'You're an Animagus! This is brilliant!" Hermione, Ginny, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley all laughed as he played around for a minute, jumping from Ginny's lap to Mrs. Weasley's, and then to Hermione's before hopping back onto the floor and changing back.

"Mum, if Harry changes into his Animagus later, can he sleep in my room? He could keep my feet warm all night."

"That would be a no," Mrs. Weasley answered. "When did you learn to do that?" she asked Harry. "We didn't hear anything about it in the news, and I would have thought that a new Animagus would have been big since they're so rare – especially since it's you." She suddenly looked worried. "You did register, didn't you? It's a serious offense if you don't."

Harry smiled as he got snuggled close to Ginny again. "I made my first Transfiguration a little over two weeks ago, and I am registered, but that record has been sealed, and is restricted to Minister of Magic eyes only security clearance. The five of you, Minister Shacklebolt, and Percy are the only ones who know so far. I'll be telling Neville too when I have a chance to do that in private. I'm not planning on telling anyone else, at least for now."

"I'd like to know how you managed to hide your eye color," Hermione told him. "They were brown at first, weren't they?"

"They were," he agreed. "I can still use magic in my Animagus form, though I haven't tested the limits of what I can do yet."

"That's supposed to be impossible," she said incredulously, and Harry laughed.

"Everything I read about it while I was studying how to become one said the same thing," he agreed. "It seems that they're wrong. Maybe you'll have a better answer for the why than I do, but I think it just comes down to being strong enough to maintain the Animagus and still be able to do non-verbal, wandless magic too."

"Of course," Hermione said in a tone that spoke volumes. "No big deal, since Animagus magic is such a trivial thing. So why didn't you tell Ginny and I earlier? Did you have trouble holding the mirror in your paws?"

"Maybe the mirrors won't work when he barks my name," Ginny suggested.

"Or maybe I just wanted to get hugs in person when I did show you," Harry answered while everyone else laughed. "If you're done having fun over this, why don't we decide where we're going shopping, and whatever else we're doing tomorrow?"

They talked about that for a while, making plans to shop in Diagon Alley and at Hermione's favorite Muggle Mall. They were all going to meet at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, but then Hermione and Ron were going to be spending the evening with her parents, so Harry and Ginny would be the only two at the Burrow with her parents to help trim the tree and decorate the sitting room.

When Ron and Hermione left again to go back to her house for the night, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided to go up to bed then too. Harry and Ginny were getting comfortable on the sofa when they heard footsteps on the stairs again, and Mrs. Weasley came back into the sitting room, carrying a folded up blanket, which she put of the arm of the sofa.

"Just in case you fall asleep down here again," she told them with a smile. "I wouldn't want you to get chilled."

Ginny got up again and hugged her. "Thanks, Mum. We'll see you in the morning." Once her mother was on her way upstairs again, Ginny picked up the blanket, opened it up, and then she and Harry stretched out next to each other on the sofa, warm and cozy underneath the blanket.

"This is much better," she said, smiling at him as they held each other close.

"Don't you want me to change into my Animagus and keep your feet warm?" Harry joked, and Ginny shook her head before kissing him, soft, tender, and absolutely breathtakingly sweet.

"Not tonight," she assured him.

There wasn't much talking after that, and they were happy to lose themselves in each other for a couple of hours before Ginny rested her head on his chest, and they both drifted off to sleep. When they woke up to the sounds of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley moving around upstairs, they had time for a couple of really spectacular good morning kisses, and then they folded up the blanket, and went up to their rooms, all four of them taking turns getting showered and dressed for the day.

"Have you got your shopping lists ready?" Hermione asked Ginny and Harry when they met up in Diagon Alley after breakfast.

"It's probably not much different than yours," Ginny answered. "We've got one set of parents instead of two, and you've got one less brother and one more sister than I have on my list. Then I've got one sister-in-law, three brother's girlfriends, my own boyfriend, and between Harry and I, a number of friends to shop for."

"We'll be running all day," Ron complained.

"And probably one or two extra trips before Christmas," Hermione agreed, "so let's get started."

One good thing about having many of the same people to buy for was that they could either go together on a gift, or pick out presents that went together. Ron and Harry were more than happy to leave it completely up to the girls to pick out the gifts for Fleur, Julianne, and Audrey, and they worked together while shopping for Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, and Ron and Ginny's Mum and Dad. They spent the morning in Diagon Alley, then had lunch in the food court of Hermione's favorite Muggle Mall, and spent several hours there in the afternoon. They didn't get all of their shopping done, and hadn't the time to split up and shop for each other, but they did get most of the shopping done for their families and friends before taking everything back either to Harry's house or Hermione's, and then going on to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for dinner.

"Come on, Paddy," Ginny told Harry as he put the packages they'd brought over to his house in the library. "We're going to be late."

"Paddy?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded.

"I've decided your Animagus should have a name," she informed him. "You're a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel – a dog bred for Royalty. The Irish name suits your emerald eyes, and Paddy means 'Noble', works for a dog name, and of course, it could also be considered short for Padfoot."

Harry laughed, walking over to Ginny and hugging her. "I like it," he said happily, "and I love you." They shared a lingering kiss, and with both of them now smiling happily, they left for the Leaky Cauldron.

They were the last to arrive, and the other two couples were already sitting down, so they joined them, and ordered drinks when Hannah stopped by with the drink orders for everyone else, and she took their meal orders while she was there too.

"Did you find a nice tree today?" Ginny asked her Mum and Dad, and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"We did, and your father's already gotten the decorations out and moved into the sitting room," she answered. "Ron and Hermione have just started telling us about your day. It sounds like you've been having fun."

"Shopping's always fun," Ginny agreed, "though the crowds were a bit crazy – especially at the Muggle Mall we were at."

"George seemed pretty happy about the big crowds, if a bit harried when we stopped in to see him," Mr. Weasley said.

"I'm going to help him out there a bit between now and Christmas," Ginny told him. "Harry will be working anyway, so it'll give me something to keep busy with, and make a little extra money to have for Hogsmeade weekends too."

"I was hoping to have you all to myself this week while the boys were at work during the day," Mrs. Weasley said, and Ginny smiled and leaned over to hug her mother.

"I won't work all day, every day," she promised. "We'll have lots of time for you to put me to work at home too, and maybe we can even get out for a few hours and do a little mother-daughter shopping."

The Leaky Cauldron was busy, and Ron and Hermione had to get back to her house right after eating, so while they had fun and enjoyed their meal, they didn't linger over it, and Harry and Ginny were back at the Burrow with her parents just over an hour later. Mr. Weasley already had the tree standing in the corner, and for the next few hours they all enjoyed having one of those really special times together as Ginny led Harry and her parents on an amazing decorating adventure.

"I think the place looks brilliant," Ginny declared as she looked around at their handiwork.

"You've outdone yourself once again," Mr. Weasley assured her, raising his glass of wine in tribute. "The tree and all of the rest of your decorations are wonderful."

"Thanks, Dad," Ginny said happily. "This whole day has been a really great way to start the holidays."

"It has been," Mrs. Weasley agreed, "but it's time for at least some of us to go get some sleep, and since you and Harry are both going to be working tomorrow now, you should probably get started on saying your goodnights soon too." Standing up, she held her hand out to Mr. Weasley. "Come on up to bed, Arthur." She smiled at Harry. "Will you come for dinner tomorrow after you and Ron are done work?"

"I'd like that, Mrs. Weasley. Thank-you," Harry answered. He and Ginny watched as her parents left the sitting room and then smiled at each other.

"Mum did say we should get on with saying our goodnights," Ginny said quietly, and Harry laughed.

"Then we should definitely do as we're told," he answered. Their goodnight snogging session made for a perfect end to what they both thought was a brilliant day, and then Harry went home, and they both were quickly asleep in their own beds for the night.

Harry and Ron were both taking a three day weekend from the time they finished work Christmas Eve Day on Thursday through Sunday, but had five busy workdays to get through before then. There were no new breakthroughs in their case, and the stakeouts were long, cold, wet, and very uncomfortable. Wednesday morning's training session was the one exception to that, along with the lunch they had with both Josh and Neville after they'd finished for the morning. The fun parts of each of those days started once they were done work for the day.

On Sunday evening, Harry and Ginny went to visit Teddy and Andromeda after dinner. They played with Teddy for an hour or so, and then helped out with the bedtime routine for him, including Harry rocking him to sleep while telling him a bedtime story. They made plans to get together for a visit on Christmas Day, and then Harry went back to the Burrow with Ginny, where they eventually ended their night with another lengthy snogging session.

Ginny had worked at George's store all day on Sunday, stayed at home with her mother on Monday and Tuesday, and was helping George out on Wednesday and Thursday. She'd done a fair bit of shopping too, going out with Harry on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and for the morning on Tuesday with her mother and Hermione so they could pick up gifts for their husband and boyfriends. Every day had been really great, even the hectic, action-packed hours at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. By late afternoon on Thursday, Ginny was really getting fired up. It was Christmas Eve, and she and Harry had three whole days to look forward to sharing together. When he came into the store just before six o'clock, she went right over to him, and ignoring the crowd around them, put her arms around his neck and kissed him rather soundly.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," George said, thumping him on the back on his way past. "Go ahead and get out of here, Ginny. Thanks for your help. I'll see you both later tonight after I close." He'd kept on moving, and Ginny smiled at Harry. "You heard the boss. Let's get out of here." She went into the back of the store for a minute to take her work robe off and put it away and grab her cloak and bag, and then she and Harry made their way out of the busy store.

"Is there any last minute shopping you need to do before we go back to the Burrow?" Harry asked, and Ginny shook her head.

"Mum's expecting us for dinner, and if there's anything we haven't gotten yet, I can't think of what it might be."

"Good. Let's stop by my place so I can grab my bag and make sure that Snowstorm has everything he needs, and then we can go on to your place."

They did that, and by the time they got to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley had dinner just about ready. Mr. Weasley was already home too, so Harry took his bag up to his room, and when he got back to the kitchen, they sat down to eat.

"I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm so excited about Christmas this year," Ginny told Harry and her Mum and Dad. "You've always tried to make the best of them for us, but I don't remember the last time that I've felt like this."

"The last few haven't exactly been wonderful, have they?" Mr. Weasley agreed. "You've always been pretty excited about the holidays, though. "You dragged the pink, stuffed kneazle you got when you were two or three around with you for years."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, smiling at those fond memories. "Remember how she'd make it talk, and take it for rides on her toy broom. What was its name?"

"Harpy, I think," Mr. Weasley answered. "I think that she decided to be a Harpies fan about a minute after Ron declared he was going to be a life-long Cannons fan."

"That's a story I really wish you'd told me before we saw Gwenog at Professor Slughorn's party," Harry joked, and they all laughed when Ginny blushed and looked mortified at the thought.

"You wouldn't!" she exclaimed. "You tell her or anyone else about that, and I'll hex you so bad, you'll still have bats coming out of your nose a month later."

Harry leaned close and kissed her. "I'd never do that to you," he promised, and then smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "I'd really love to hear some other stories about Ginny when she was little, though."

"What would you like to know?" Mrs. Weasley asked, obviously warming up to the topic.

"Everything eventually," he answered. "What was she like back before I'd met any of you? Did she get in trouble a lot like Fred, George, and Ron did, or was she more like Percy? You home schooled all of your kids, so was she a good student?" He smiled at Ginny again. "We don't have to cover it all in one sitting, so take your pick."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took turns while they ate telling Harry some of their favorite stories about Ginny, and he loved getting to learn about some of her childhood adventures. Ginny was nearly as entertained by the stories as he was, though there were a couple of the tales which had her blushing with embarrassment even as she laughed. After finishing their meals and cleaning up, they went into the sitting room, and Mrs. Weasley turned on the WWN, getting ready for the Christmas Eve broadcast of Celestina Warbeck's annual Christmas concert.

"I know it's really wrong," Harry whispered to Ginny as they listened to Celestina's 'You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me', "but it would be really funny if you did an imitation of Fleur's imitation of Celestina."

Ginny grinned at him, her eyes sparkling in the fire and candlelight. "Right up until Mum lost it on me," she whispered back.

The concert was a mixture of Celestina's hit songs and Christmas favorites like 'God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs', 'Silent Knight', and 'It's the Most Magical Time of the Year'. It was possible that George had just stayed open later to help out desperate last-minute shoppers, but Harry, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley all thought it was convenient that George arrived at the Burrow about ten minutes after Celestina's concert had ended.

"You come right into the kitchen and sit down," Mrs. Weasley ordered. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

"I demonstrated a couple of chocolate Christmas wheezes around dinnertime," George answered with a grin. "Does that count?"

"No, it does not," she told him. "I've some leftovers from dinner, though, and will get them warmed up for you right away."

"Thanks, Mum," George said gratefully.

"How'd the rest of the day go at the store?" Ginny asked.

George smiled. "I should've gotten you to stay, since it was busy right through until we closed up. Didn't hang around to tally up yet, but I'm pretty sure we've had our best day ever so far. The only problem I've got now is that we're a bit low on inventory going into the second week of holidays."

"Don't you expect to be slow next week?" Mr. Weasley asked, and George shook his head.

"I'm hoping that all of the kids who've been given money for Christmas will come spend a lot of it in my store," he answered. "Hopefully my New Year's wheezes will do well too when they go on sale this Saturday, and the Fireworks should really do well too."

While George had his late dinner, the rest of them had hot drinks and snacks as they sat around the table and talked with George. When he was done, they all decided to go up to bed, though it was quite a while before any of them got to sleep. Harry hadn't gotten changed, and he lay awake on the bed, waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and George to finish making trips down to the sitting room to put presents under the tree. He waited for nearly twenty minutes after the last round of footsteps on the stairs before silently getting up and going down to the first floor. Ginny must have known it was him this time, since she opened her bedroom door, hugging him tightly before they went downstairs together.

"Ready to play?" he whispered, and Ginny nodded excitedly, pulling her wand out and smiling at him.

They were standing in the kitchen, and Harry had his wand out too. Closing his eyes, he pictured what they had talked about doing, and then released the complex spell that Hermione had taught him. He heard Ginny's soft gasp of wonder, and opened his eyes again. The kitchen was now a bit more than twice the size it had been, and he laughed quietly when she hugged and kissed him.

"Your turn," he whispered. "I'll move the furniture while you're busy."

Ginny's job was to make changes to the counters and cabinets, and decorate the much larger room, so she got to work on that. Harry put the old kitchen table and chairs into storage, and they all disappeared with a wave of his wand, and a moment later, the new table, chairs, and matching china cabinet appeared silently. It had eight chairs around it at the moment, but the table could be expanded to seat double that, though Harry hadn't moved the extra chairs over from where they'd been kept in one of the spare bedrooms at his house yet.

"It's perfect," he whispered when Ginny was finished.

"Almost," she agreed, and with another wave of her wand, put a big red bow and ribbon on the table, with a card for her mother and father. Looking around, she nodded in satisfaction, and turned to Harry. "Ready to do the sitting room next?" she asked, holding her hand out to him.

Harry followed her into the other room, where they repeated the process, this time moving out the sofa and armchairs, and replacing them with two new sofas, a pair of his and hers recliners, two other big, soft, matching armchairs, and several new tables. Ginny had to spend a little extra time with adjusting their holiday decorations, but she had that fiery, victorious look in her eyes when they'd finished.

"Just one thing left to do," Harry said quietly, and waving his wand, more than doubled the number of gifts around the tree. "I left Teddy's and Andromeda's gifts at the house. We can pop over and get them tomorrow before we go for our visit." He looked around the amazing room again. "You and Hermione are brilliant," he told her. "They're going to love this."

Ginny hugged and kissed him for a long minute, then sighed as she lay her head against his shoulder for a while. "That was fun, but I'm really tired now. Let's go get some sleep."

They walked up to the first floor together, shared another soft kiss goodnight, and then Harry went up to his room, got changed, and went off to sleep quickly. His morning wake-up call came rather abruptly, and he was smiling even as he sat bolt upright in bed.

"OH MY – ARTHUR, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Mrs. Weasley practically shrieked. Harry jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on before leaving his room, and heard Mr. Weasley running down the stairs. By the time that Harry stepped out of his room, George was coming out of Percy's old room.

"Do you know what all of that shouting is about?" George asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yes, but don't worry. I'm fairly sure that it's a good kind of shouting," he answered. "You'll see why when we get down there."

He followed George down the stairs, and since there was still a racket going on in the kitchen, went in there first, though George's eyes had opened wide when he looked into the sitting room. Ginny was already there too, and while she looked very happy, Harry also thought that it was possible she was running out of oxygen as her mother hugged her.

"Are we having a happy start to our Christmas?" he asked innocently, and then it was his turn for a bone-crushing hug.

"We're having a brilliant start to the day," Mrs. Weasley assured him. "You and Ginny did all of this last night?"

"Ron and Hermione did a lot of work with us to get everything ready, but yeah, Ginny and I did the magic part of it last night."

"Do you like what we've done, Mum?" Ginny asked, and Mrs. Weasley hugged her again.

"We love it, honey," she assured them. "This will be so perfect for our family dinner on Sunday."

"I should have the two of you come over to my store," George told them, "though I suppose if we doubled or tripled the floor space, my rent would just go up too."

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, "since we're up already, let's get started on breakfast, shall we?"

George and Mr. Weasley went to check out the sitting room, while Harry and Ginny were put to work, helping with the cooking and setting the table for five. Ginny was pretty excited about opening presents by then, and while they were going to wait for Ron and Hermione to come over to open most of them, she did urge everyone to hurry through breakfast so that they could go and open the presents they had for each other right after they'd finished eating and cleaned up.

"I think she likes what Harry gave her for Christmas," George told his parents as they watched Ginny kiss her boyfriend enthusiastically.

"It would seem so," Mr. Weasley agreed. "Either that, or he got her some of your lip-lock lipstick, and they're just stuck."

Harry and Ginny both laughed, and she got up to go over and show her parents the beautiful set of emerald earrings, necklace, and bracelet set that Harry had put inside of a lovely musical jewelry box.

"Can you help me with the necklace, Mum?" she asked, lifting it out and handing it to her mother. She took her diamond snitch necklace off first, putting it in her new jewelry box, and then pulled her hair out of the way so that Mrs. Weasley could put the new necklace on for her. She put the new earrings in and the bracelet on, and then went to look in the mirror to see how they looked.

"You look beautiful honey," Mrs. Weasley told her. "Emeralds and your hair are a devastating combination."

Ginny went over and hugged her mother happily, knowing that she hadn't just been talking about the emeralds she was now wearing. "Thanks, Mum." She sat down beside Harry again, and leaned close to kiss him. "Thank-you too. I love my presents."

"You're welcome," Harry assured her. "I love what you got for me too." Ginny's smile brightened, and she ran a hand along his arm, loving the feel of the soft, warm sweater that was made especially for snuggling.

"I'm glad you like them," she answered. "This sweater is definitely going to be the one I'll like the best."

They'd had nearly an hour after breakfast before Ron and Hermione got to the Burrow, so after opening the gifts they'd gotten for each other, Harry and Ginny went to the kitchen and made up more hot drinks for everyone, and they relaxed for a while, enjoying the comfortable new furniture. Mrs. Weasley had some more crushing hugs for Ron and Hermione when they came in, and then Ginny had them all move back into the sitting room again, where she began handing out presents.

"It's a Firebolt!" Ron shouted when he opened the large box that Ginny had used to disguise what she and Harry had gotten him. Hermione laughed when he hugged and kissed her exuberantly. "Well, you don't expect me to thank Harry or my sister like that, do you?" he explained, and everyone laughed.

"If you are feeling the urge to do that, mate, I'd really appreciate it if you'd keep passing them on to Hermione instead of me," Harry told him.

They were all distracted a moment later when it was Mr. Weasley's turn to shout with excitement. "Does this really fly?" he asked, looking over at Hermione, and she nodded.

"You'll have to build it," she answered, and it's only a scale model, but it flies just like a real airplane, just using a radio remote control. All of the instructions, and everything you should need to build and fly it are included."

There were actually tears in his eyes, and he got up and hugged his son, daughter, Hermione, and Harry. "Thank-you," he told them. "This is a wonderful gift."

He'd been given some books on airplanes and how they work too, and when he sat back down, Mrs. Weasley had needed to remind him that there were still presents for him to open when he'd picked up one of the books and started reading it.

"Now that I know why Ginny suggested a new set of dishes for you, it makes sense," George told his mother when she'd opened the present with the new set of fine china.

"They're wonderful, George," she told him, lifting out one of the plates to look at the simple, but elegant floral pattern that circled the edge of the dishes, cups, and serving platters and bowls. "Thank-you!"

Harry had liked all of the gifts he'd been given from Ginny, her parents, brothers, and from Hermione, but he'd loved getting to see how happy everyone else was today. There were touches of sadness too here and there – after all, they were all missing Fred at this first Christmas without him there with them.

When they'd finished opening gifts, Harry and Ginny had to go and get cleaned up and ready to go visit Teddy and Andromeda. Ron and Hermione were going to be having Christmas dinner with her family, but would be staying to visit and help Mrs. Weasley while Harry and Ginny were gone.

"I guess we won't see you until tomorrow," Harry told them as he hugged Hermione. "Have a great rest of the day."

"You too," Hermione told him as she moved on to hug Ginny. "Thanks again for everything."

"We will, and you're welcome," Ginny assured her.

After a few more goodbye hugs, Harry and Ginny went to his house first, where they gave Storm a few treats, picked up the gifts for Teddy and Andromeda, and then popped over to the Tonks' house. Andromeda greeted them with a warm smile, handed Teddy over to Harry as soon as they had their cloaks off, and led them into the sitting room, where they spent an hour mostly playing on the floor with Teddy, and talking with Andromeda.

Teddy was now around eight months old, was getting more active all of the time, was now a speed crawler, and babbled almost constantly, happy to carry on a conversation that nobody else understood. He was more interested in playing with the bows, ribbons, and wrapping paper than with the toys, but he did keep the stuffed hippogriff close to him, and he was at least momentarily distracted by the toy dragon, even though it wasn't as colorful as the paper and bows. He hadn't been even remotely interested in the clothes that Ginny and Hermione had picked out, but Andromeda had loved those the best.

Andromeda had gotten Harry and Ginny a little box of chocolates from Teddy, and the little boy was more than happy to help them with sampling a piece. Andromeda had opened her presents last, and she'd laughed when she saw that she'd gotten a toy dragon of her very own too, and cried a few happy tears over the beautiful golden locket that had a picture of her and Ted on one side, and one of Nymphaodra, Remus, and baby Teddy on the other that Ginny had managed to get copies of during their visit on the weekend, though the ones in the locket were much smaller than the originals.

"Gama!" Teddy said as he looked at the pictures in the locket, and then looked up at Andromeda. She laughed and cried and hugged him tightly.

"That's right, Teddy," Ginny said happily. "That's your Grandma."

"Gama!" Teddy said proudly again, and then looked up at Ginny with his bright, happy smile. "Ginee!"

Ginny laughed and went over to scoop him up from Andromeda's lap for a hug and kiss that had him giggling. "Ginee!" he said again, and giggled some more when that earned him another hug and kiss.

"Good timing, Teddy," Harry told him. "I think you've managed to come up with the best Christmas presents that your Grandma and Ginny got this year."

"Gama! Ginee!" he said happily, and reached out for Harry to take him.

Harry did that, and had a big hug for him, but it wasn't much longer before they had to leave, since Andromeda and Teddy had Christmas dinner plans with other friends, so Harry and Ginny went back to the Burrow and spent most of the afternoon helping out with making their own Christmas dinner. Aunt Muriel came over to the Burrow shortly after two o'clock, and Harry and Ginny were both in the kitchen working when she came inside.

"Molly, what have you done with the place?" she exclaimed loudly.

"Do you like it, Aunt Muriel?" she asked, and seemed to be holding her breath.

"Of course I like it," Aunt Muriel said in a way that suggested the answer should have been obvious to anyone. "It's about time you've gotten around to doing something with this place." She looked around, and then fixed her gaze next on Ginny.

"Well, haven't you become quite the stunner since I saw you last," she said, and Harry smiled at the look of surprise on Ginny's face. "Jeans are a bit snug, but that sweater, and the jewelry are quite lovely." Harry didn't have time to appreciate Ginny's reaction to the snug jeans comment, because Aunt Muriel had him pinned with her razor-sharp eyes next. He continued to smile, and held her gaze for what seemed like long minutes, but was really only seconds at most.

"Harry Potter," she said in the same loud voice, walking across the room and holding her hand out to him. He shook her hand, not at all surprised to find out that she had a very firm grip. "I thought Ronald said you were a friend of his, though until now, I thought he was telling me stories. It seems to me that you've got eyes for our Ginevra."

"I certainly do," he agreed, "and Ron's been my best friend since our first year at Hogwarts. We've been through quite a lot together. It's nice to meet you."

"Yes, well, of course it is," she said in what seemed to pass for her normal speaking voice, which could probably be heard in town, had the windows been open. "You're not what I expected, considering some of the stories, and the camera does not capture you well at all, does it? He looks a bit rough around the edges and he's certainly underfed Ginevra, but there does seem to be some potential there."

"If they all weren't a bit rough around the edges, we'd miss out on all of the fun from getting to polish them up, Aunt Muriel," Ginny said, smiling now that it was her turn to be amused. When Aunt Muriel laughed, they were all surprised.

"I think she gets that from me, Molly," she said after taking a moment to catch her breath. Mr. Weasley and George had joined them by then, and they were both grinning.

"Arthur, I'm glad to see you're taking care of my Molly," she said waving her hand around the kitchen. "Now, which one are you?" she asked George. "Ah yes, easy enough to remember you, unless you get around to fixing that lopsided ear, George. Surprising as it is, I hear that store is doing quite well for you. Haven't been in, of course, but it's certainly the brightest in Diagon Alley, isn't it? Where's the rest of your brood, Molly?"

"They weren't able to come today Aunt Muriel," she answered. "Bill and Fleur are with her family in France, Charlie had to work at the Dragon Reserve in Romania today, though he is having Christmas dinner with his girlfriend's family, and Percy and Ron are spending Christmas with their girlfriend's families too, though Ron and Hermione stopped in this morning for a couple of hours."

"I remember her from the wedding," Aunt Muriel said. "The Muggle-born with the skinny ankles." She looked over at Harry again. "If she was his girlfriend when you were on the run last year, that must've been awkward for you hiding out with a couple of young lovebirds."

Harry grinned at her, and his eyes were flashing. "We were all still just best friends then," he explained. "They didn't figure out that they were in love until Hermione snogged him during the Battle of Hogwarts." Aunt Muriel, and everyone else laughed.

"Now that one will be a tale for you to tell the grandkids some day, Molly," she said after a minute. "Why don't one of you young boys help me to a nice comfortable seat. I am a hundred and eight after all, and standing around this long isn't as easy for me as it used to be."

Harry was first to offer his help, and escorted her to the sitting room, which she'd had several comments about, including how much more comfortable she thought the recliner she'd picked to sit in was compared to the old, worn chairs and sofa. Aunt Muriel was like a force of nature, and Harry mostly watched in amazement as she ruled the Burrow like her own little fiefdom for the next several hours. She was as opinionated as he remembered from the wedding, and more than a little eccentric, but it was also clear that she genuinely cared for her niece and family.

"You haven't tucked any dung-bombs under my chair this year, have you George?" she asked when they sat down for dinner, and George laughed. "No Aunt Muriel," he assured her. "Mum definitely made sure that Fred and I knew to never do that again."

"Good for you, Molly," she approved with a short laugh. "Sometimes I wondered if all of these boys were too much for one Witch to handle, but you've done well enough with them."

Aunt Muriel seemed quite pleased with the meal, though she had some less than complimentary comments about other holiday dinners that she told them all about as she led the dinner conversation as forcefully as she'd managed the rest of her visit. When they'd finished dinner, Ginny and Harry sent everyone else back into the sitting room for after-dinner drinks while they took care of the cleanup in the kitchen. Since George needed to leave fairly early so he could get some work done at the store to be ready to open for business in the morning, he escorted Aunt Muriel home shortly after Ginny and Harry had finished in the kitchen. Aunt Muriel was not the hugs and kisses kind of Witch, and the goodbyes hadn't taken long, with the exception of some parting instructions meant to help them with a little self-improvement. When she'd left, and it was down to just the two couples again, they all felt a bit like they'd weathered a storm, and all was again calm. They went back into the sitting room, and Harry went around refilling drinks as they all got comfortable again.

"Well, what do we do now to follow up that act?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Take a nap?" Mr. Weasley suggested. "You know that I love your Aunt Muriel, dear, but she's quite possibly the most formidable frail old one hundred and eight year old Witch in the history of the Wizarding World. I'm exhausted, and she did most of the talking."

"The boys will probably say they're glad they missed out on this, but I actually had fun with her today," Ginny said, directing her comment at her mother. "Some of those stories she has are pretty wild."

"That's a nice way of putting it," Mrs. Weasley said with a laugh. "She doesn't always have the facts right, but they are usually fun." She smiled at her husband. "As for having a nap, it's still a bit early for that, so any other suggestions?" All three of them looked at Harry when he nodded in answer.

"If it's okay with you, Ginny and I have one more present to hand out tonight. Do you mind having company for a minute or two?"

"Of course, dear," she answered. "Who's coming over?"

Harry grinned at her. "Kreacher!" he said, and the old house elf immediately appeared in the sitting room in front of Harry and Ginny. He bowed slightly and looked up at them.

"How can Kreacher serve, master?" he asked, and Harry's smile brightened.

"Merry Christmas, Kreacher," he said, "and this evening, it's what Ginny and I can do for you." Waving his wand, he floated a present over from under the tree and then handed it to Kreacher, who looked more than a little stunned by the gesture.

"Master is giving Kreacher a Christmas present?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

"You have served me, and your family with honor, Kreacher. In the Battle of Hogwarts, helping to rebuild the school, and taking care of the Black family home," he said quietly. "This is just a small token of my appreciation for everything you've done." Kreacher had stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes, and then opened the present. When he saw what was inside, he began to shake violently.

"Kreacher, those are _not_ clothes," Harry said quickly. "I would not do such a thing to you unless you wished to be freed. Take one out – you'll see that they are only new pillow cases – with the black family crest embroidered on them."

"Master has given Kreacher pillow cases?" he asked, and Harry leaned back again as he saw the elf's obvious relief, and he nodded.

"Yes, Kreacher. I think that it's quite appropriate that a house elf who has served his family so well should be able to proudly wear his family's crest should he choose to do so."

"Thank-you, Master," Kreacher said with a deep bow. "Will there be anything else?"

"That's all I needed you for, Kreacher. Continue to take care of Grimmauld Place, and if you need anything from me, you only need to ask – though as we've discussed before, please don't pop in anywhere when I'm working in the field."

"Yes Master," Kreacher agreed. "Merry Christmas." With that, he popped back over to Grimmauld Place, clutching his gift tightly to his chest. Ginny hugged him, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both smiling.

"That was very nicely done," Ginny told him. "Hermione would surely be telling you to set him free, but doing that would be a horror for an old elf like Kreacher."

"What do you plan on doing with Grimmauld Place and Kreacher?" Mr. Weasley asked, and Harry shrugged.

"I really don't know yet," he answered. "For now, I'm happy to just leave Kreacher to take care of the house until I can come up with something to use it for."

"It's a shame that such a fine old house was turned into such a dark place," Mrs. Weasley said. "Kreacher has changed quite a lot, though, so you may be surprised at what he gets done around there."

"After seeing how different he is now, I wouldn't be surprised at anything Kreacher does there," Harry disagreed. "If he does get the place fixed up, though I expect that'd take years, maybe I'll have figured out what to do with the house by then."

Ginny smiled at him. "And if not, you could see if Terror Tours would be interested in using it for a house of horrors adventure trip. That'd be right up their alley."

Harry and Ginny sat up with her Mum and Dad and talked for another couple of hours, and then shared a quiet, tender Christmas snogging session after the parents had gone to bed until they were both ready to get some sleep, and Harry left for home. Saturday was a play day. Ron, Hermione, and Harry all went over to the Burrow after breakfast, and while Hermione was happy to stay inside and chat with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley over hot drinks, Harry and Ginny went outside with Ron to play Quidditch, in part so Ginny could have a workout, but mostly because Ron wanted to play around with his new Firebolt. The three couples all had lunch together, and then decided to go and wander Diagon Alley for a while in the afternoon, checking out the after Christmas bargains.

Ron and Hermione were back at her house for dinner and the evening, and Harry and Ginny spent another quiet evening at the Burrow, most of the time sitting around the kitchen table and chatting while Mr. Weasley began learning about building Muggle model airplanes, and Harry and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley with a little Christmas dessert and treats baking. Harry went home fairly early, since they were all going to be up early in the morning, and he would be spending the whole day at the Burrow, helping out with getting everything ready for the family Christmas dinner, and then spending the rest of the day having fun with Ginny and her family.

"It looked like the Burrow from the outside," Bill told Fleur as they came into the kitchen and saw the changes to the room for the first time. "The Witches and Wizards in here look like our family too, but I don't recognize anything else in here."

Fleur laughed as they were both greeted with hugs and kisses. "I think it is all wonderful. Was this one of your Christmas presents?" she asked her mother-in-law.

"Yes it was," she confirmed. "Wait until you see the sitting room of you think this is great. How are your parents and sister? Did you have a nice trip?"

"Mama and Papa are doing very well, and Gabrielle seems happy," Fleur answered. "She's in second year at Beauxbatons, and Mama says she's tops in her year."

"Just like her big sister was," Bill added proudly. He grinned at Ginny. "I got the feeling that she wasn't very happy to find out that you and Harry were still together."

"She does still have a bit of a crush on Harry," Fleur agreed, "but I think she will survive the disappointment."

Harry was blushing by then, and Ginny laughed and hugged him. "You just have that effect on girls when you save their lives."

Bill laughed too. "Well, technically, he's saved the lives of every Witch in the Wizarding World," he pointed out.

"True," Ginny agreed, "but he's only done a few of the one-on-one rescues, and that tends to leave an impression. I know it did with me."

"We noticed that," Bill joked. "Anyway, our trip was great, and we've had a wonderful Christmas, which it seems you've all had too."

Harry was grateful that Bill had neatly changed the topic, and he enjoyed listening to everyone catch up on what they'd all been doing over the past few days while he and Ginny helped her mother with the ongoing cooking and baking. Charlie and Julianne were next to get to the Burrow; followed by Ron and Hermione, and Percy and Audrey.

"You've been promoted?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed when Percy advised them that he'd been named Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. "That's wonderful news, Percy! Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Mum," Percy said, and fairly basked in the glow of the praises that followed from everyone else.

"Our promotions are probably just held up in the Owl Post," Ron joked to Harry, though his comment was only loud enough for Harry, Hermione, and Ginny to hear.

"Yours may be," Harry told him quietly. "I haven't exactly endeared myself to Auror Robards, so I don't expect a promotion any time soon."

"Since Auror training is three years, I doubt either of you will be seeing a promotion in the Owl Post this week," Hermione told them. 'You knew that when you signed up."

"Except they're probably the only Auror-trainees in history who should be doing the training instead of getting trained," Ginny suggested. "Auror Robards ought to be grateful to have you in his department, not bent out of shape because you're not going to play the game his way."

"While the prospect of a little boss bashing would be fun, let's change the subject," Ron suggested. "I'd rather not be thinking about work all day, since Harry and I will have to get right back to that tomorrow."

Percy's promotion had been the big family news story, but they had all been busy since the last time they'd all gotten together, and while that had only been weeks for most of them, Ginny and Hermione had wanted to hear all about what Charlie and Julianne and Percy and Audrey had been doing since they'd gone back to Hogwarts. The afternoon seemed to flash by, and then George joined them after closing his store, just in time for dinner.

With most of them working on Monday, the rest of the evening seemed like a bit of a rush as they had their meal, cleaned up, and moved into the sitting room to open presents before it was time for Charlie and Julianne, Bill and Fleur, Percy and Audrey, and George to leave again, and as always, their time together was over much too soon. Ron and Hermione were staying at the Burrow overnight, but Harry was going home for the night too, though he did stay until after eleven before Ginny kissed him goodnight at the door, and then went to bed, leaving Ron and Hermione alone in the sitting room.

Now that the family Christmas was over, it really felt like Christmas was over too. There was still a week left of the holidays, but Ron and Harry were working for the next four days, and Hermione and Ginny had holiday assignments to get done before going back to Hogwarts. As they each eventually went to sleep, none of them wanted to think about only being days away from being separated again, and while they were all hoping that the holiday fun would continue, none of them were expecting the surprises that were coming their way.


	10. New Year's Holiday Adventure

Chapter Ten – New Year's Holiday Adventures

"Tell me again why we're out here instead of hanging out with our girlfriends in a nice, warm house instead?" Ron asked, and Harry smiled at his friend.

"Is this a test to see how many different ways you can come up with to express how much you don't want to be out here this week? You can take your pick of answers if you want. There's the we're too young and idealistic to know what a waste of time this all is, or the junior members of the team get all of the lousy jobs. If you don't like either of those, try the one where we work the hardest, so that's why we're the best Auror-trainees ever."

"Right now, I'd settle for warm and above-average to frozen solid and best ever," Ron grumbled.

"We've only been out here an hour, mate," Harry reminded him. "You'll get used to it again soon enough. We've just gotten soft being away from it for a few days."

"Easy for you to say," Ron shot back. "If you get cold, all you have to do is put on your fur coat."

Harry laughed. "I'd rather be wearing my boots, gloves, and cloak. This cold is tough on my paws and nose." A pair of Witches came out of the building they were watching, and Harry nodded toward them. "Tough choice there – do you want to follow them because of the young, cute one, or give me this one because of the older, not-so-cute Witch?"

"I'll go," Ron answered. "At least it means moving around. If that's not-so-cute for you, though, get your glasses checked, 'cause that older one is hag-of-the-month material, maybe of the decade."

"My glasses are fine," Harry told him as he stood to leave. "I was just trying to be nice."

Ron laughed. "It's one thing to be nice, and something else to be mirror of Erised delusional. I'll see you whenever I get back."

Harry ended up being on his own for the next three hours as Ron followed the two Witches around. They were nice enough to talk about where they were going before each time they apparated somewhere, so Ron had been able to keep up with them right up until they went home around lunchtime. When Ron joined him again, he handed Harry a bag with a sandwich and pastie inside.

"Thought you might be hungry by now," he suggested, and Harry nodded.

"I am, but this probably won't be as good as the hot meal you stopped for," Harry answered, and Ron laughed.

"Probably not," he agreed. "You're doing much better than I am on those powers of observation lessons, mate. What gave me away?"

"The I'm not still completely miserable look on your face," Harry explained. "That, and the fact that you're not still frozen solid, so you've been somewhere warming up for a bit. Anything interesting with the two Witches?"

Ron shrugged. "Nothing that caught my eye specifically, but they did do a fair bit of running around, and weren't exactly shopping for food or clothes, so they might be worth taking a closer look at. I've got what's probably their home address, so we can do a little research and see what we come up with."

"It wasn't a place on our watch list?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head.

"Nope," he confirmed. "They weren't skulking around or anything, and they talked aloud with each other about what they were doing and where they were going, so there's likely nothing there, but we should make sure about that before totally dismissing them. What's been happening here?"

"A whole lot of nothing," Harry told him. "It could just be slow because of the holidays, and there've been a few more visitors, but nobody we haven't seen before." Harry ate his food while Ron filled him in on where the two Witches he'd followed had gone, and they spent the rest of the day on Monday, and every day through until Thursday afternoon, continuing their stakeout, except for their Wednesday training session and weekly lunch with Neville.

Ginny and Hermione had spent a lot of their time together those days too, working on their holiday assignments. Luna came over to work with them on Monday and Wednesday too, and by lunchtime on Thursday, they were finished all of their work, and were ready to enjoy another three-day weekend with their boyfriends. Since Hermione and Ron had spent most of Christmas with her family, they were going to spend New Year's Eve at the Burrow, and Hermione and Harry were both going to stay overnight instead of going home late after they'd rung in the New Year together.

"I'm surprised that you and the boys didn't want to go out to a party tonight," Mrs. Weasley told the girls as they all worked in the kitchen, "though Arthur and I are happy to have the company."

"Harry didn't want to be the main source of entertainment at any parties tonight, and Hermione and I are happy to just have a quiet night here where we won't have to share the boys with a room full of people," Ginny answered. "You and Dad aren't going to the Minister's party either."

"You father and I haven't ever really been into the Ministry party scene, and while it was a bit flattering to actually get an invite this year, that part of politics is never going to be something we'll be comfortable with."

"That's okay, Mum," Ginny said with a smile. "We can let Percy take care of that for the family while Dad, Harry, and Ron concentrate on their work instead. Percy loves all of that political intrigue."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at her. "Percy may not have the adventurous streak that you and the rest of your brothers all seem to have inherited in spades, but he is very talented, and he's becoming a good man. Kingsley certainly appreciates his abilities."

"I know he is, Mum," Ginny agreed, "but I'll never understand his unquestioning faith and loyalty for his precious rules and regulations regardless of how absurd some of those rules might be."

"Maybe you should join the Ministry after you graduate and work on changing those rules," Hermione suggested.

Ginny laughed. "That would probably be a really bad idea, Hermione. I'd be setting records for how many Witches and Wizards I offended if I went to work there."

"A little blatant honesty around the Ministry might be refreshing," Mrs. Weasley suggested, laughing too. "I don't really see you in politics, though. That'd be a bit too tame for you – there wouldn't be enough excitement and adventure for your liking."

"No doubt about that," Ginny agreed. "Especially now that I'm old enough that nobody can tell me I'm too young to do the things everyone else is doing."

"Like that stopped you very often," Hermione said, and Mrs. Weasley nodded and laughed again, obviously thinking the same thing.

Their three boys all came home from work earlier than usual, and they enjoyed having dinner together. After eating, they cleaned up the kitchen together, and then retired to the sitting room to enjoy their quiet little New Year's celebration. They played cards and Wizards Chess, talked, listened to music on the WWN, and even did a little dancing. When midnight rolled around, they welcomed in the New Year by counting it in with the WWN broadcast being done live from the Minister of Magic's party, and sharing first New Year's hugs and kisses with their respective boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed shortly after midnight, while the two younger couples took care of the cleanup, then returned to the sitting room to visit until shortly before one o'clock. Ron and Hermione went up to bed then, leaving Harry and Ginny on their own in the sitting room, where they stretched out on one of the sofas, snuggling under a blanket, and having every intention of staying there together for the rest of the night. They shared some soft, tender kisses, but by then, they were both tired out, and neither would be sure later which one of them fell asleep first.

"This isn't fair" Harry thought to himself. They'd had such a wonderful time, and he'd expected to have happy dreams, but here he was, once again, entering what he knew was another of his nightmares. Once you'd experienced enough of them, you knew the signs, and nightmares were old hat for him.

Like one of his trips into Dumbledore's pensieve, he was a visitor to this nightmare, and it was also the same in that he suddenly just landed in the middle of the scene. He was standing in the lane leading to the Burrow, and he could just make out the outline of the house in the darkness. His sense was that it was late at night, and it was cold. There was snow on the ground, so it was definitely wintertime. If there was a moon shining, it was hidden behind thick, black clouds.

While he couldn't see the Burrow clearly in the dark, his mind's eye could picture the house, garden, orchard, garage, and every other detail clearly. He could even see everyone inside, all of them asleep. He smiled to himself as he saw Hermione snuggled with Ron in her room. Apparently his friend hadn't made it all the way up to his own bedroom, and Harry wondered how often that happened both at the Burrow, and at Hermione's house. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were in their room, and he and Ginny were exactly where he knew they were right now, snuggled under a warm blanket on the sofa in the sitting room.

His attention was drawn to the skies, where dark shadows were suddenly somehow discernable from the equally dark skies. The sense of winter cold turned bitter, and his stomach lurched in mute recognition of what was happening while he stood, frozen in place, unable to move as the horrors approached the Burrow. There were movements at the edge of the orchard now too, and he saw masked figures watching on as well. He couldn't make them out, but felt their anticipation of impending violence, and the deep, mad hate that drove them to this moment – an attack that would destroy their most hated enemy and all that he held dearest.

The shadows swooped in on the house, and Harry silently and impotently screamed a warning as they swarmed in seemingly endless numbers into the house. He watched, unable to do anything as first Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Ron and Hermione had their souls sucked out of them by the overwhelming attack, their faces contorted with unimaginable horror at what was done to them before being left soulless shells, unmoving in their beds. The shadows moved into the sitting room. They swooped in to attack him and Ginny as they lay together on the sofa, but it was only Ginny's face he saw now as her eyes opened, the soft, love-filled look that had been in them so recently replaced by horror and fear as the attack began. Harry roared with fear and impotent rage as he watched, his eyes streaming tears even as he witnessed the life being crushed out of his heart.

"It's okay, Harry! You're just having a nightmare!"

Opening his eyes, Harry looked into Ginny's wide-open, and very much alive eyes. He was sitting bolt upright on the sofa, and she was kneeling on the floor next to him, tangled in the blanket, and holding on to his arms tightly. It took him a moment to make the jump from nightmare to wakefulness, and he wrapped his arms around her and held on until he had come fully awake, but then he jumped to his feet, the fear of the nightmare replaced by a towering rage.

"They're coming!" he said as he dragged Ginny up with him. "Right now!"

Ginny only needed to look in his eyes for a moment before she was yanking off the blanket and pulling out her wand. Harry was already moving, and she followed as he practically ran through the kitchen, out the door, and into the yard. They were both just wearing socks on their feet, and while they were dressed, it was far too cold to be out without heavy cloaks. Harry was scanning the dark skies, and as Ginny looked up, she saw them – shadows closing in from all sides. She felt the anti-apparition spell slam into place around them, and knew they were trapped.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALIS!" Harry roared so loudly that it shook the house, and certainly woke everyone else inside. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Ginny watched as his wand flashed with blinding speed, and the shadows were being pulled close together, though they were fighting impotently to get free. Her eyes widened with awe and wonder as she saw his patronus begin racing around the shadows, pressing them in on each other. It was a huge, magnificent stallion! As it raced in it's ever-shrinking circle, the shadows writhed in what Ginny sensed was unbearable anguish. The door to the Burrow slammed open, and Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran out into the yard, each of them sliding to a stop in the snow, their mouths hanging open in amazement.

"Ware the orchard!" Harry yelled, his attention still on the sky and his counter-attack on the Dementors.

Ron was the first to react, and he was just in time, as he sent an old boot into the air to intercept a killing curse that had been heading straight for Harry. There were more flashes of green following the first, and he was immediately joined by Ginny, Hermione, and his parents as they all put everything they had into defending themselves, and Harry as he continued to round up the Dementors.

They weren't able to clearly see their attackers in the orchard, but the three Witches and two Wizards counter-attacked blindly, and must have hit their mark at least twice, judging by the cries of pain that echoed back toward them. Time seemed to stand still, and the fight seemed endless. Harry's Patronus lit up the sky above them, which helped their attackers, and hindered their defense and counter-attack.

Harry had been completely focused on the Dementors, trusting everyone else to defend him against the other attackers. He hadn't known why he'd decided to round up the Dementors instead of driving them off, but he now had them bound within a small area where his Patronus held them as it continued racing around them in a tight circle. With that done, he turned his attention to the battle going on around him. Ginny was at his side, defending him against all attacks, and his heart roared with pride as her wand whirled and slashed, meeting every attack on both of them, while still managing to get in the occasional counter-attack. When he saw the blood stain spreading along her sleeve, the fury was back in full force.

Turning to face their unseen attackers, he bellowed – "EXPELLIARMUS!"

There were multiple explosions along the edges of the orchard as shields were blown apart, and Wizards and Witches were blasted off of their feet. A small flurry of wands shot out of the darkness, landing in the snow in front of Harry and Ginny, and there were shouts and cries of pain as their attackers were thrown back against trees or to the ground with bone-crushing force.

"Is everyone alright?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

"Ginny's hurt her arm," Harry told her immediately.

"It's just a scratch," Ginny protested, but Mrs. Weasley came over to her, taking her arm and carefully moving the sleeve of her sweater away to show a six-inch long cut on her forearm.

"That's hardly a scratch," Mrs. Weasley said, but then she focused on what she was doing, and a moment later had the deep cut healed, the only sign of the injury now the bloody sleeve of the sweater.

"Thanks, Mum," Ginny said, rubbing her arm lightly even as she looked around. "Anyone else get winged?"

"I'm going to have a few bruises, but other than that, I'm not hurt at all," Hermione reported, and Ron nodded.

"Same here, but I'm fine too," he assured his mother.

"Go check on that lot in the orchard and bind them," Harry told Ron. "I need to concentrate on holding the Dementors. "Mr. Weasley, could you go for help? We're going to need it. Hermione, have you got any suggestions? Dementors can't be killed, but I'm not going to let them just go back to their masters again."

Hermione looked torn for a moment between staying at Ron's side, and Mrs. Weasley stepped over to her even as Mr. Weasley apparated out of the yard. "Ginny and I will go help Ron," she said, waving Ginny to follow her and Ron. "Help Harry if you can."

Hermione nodded, moved over toward Harry, and looked up at the confined Dementors speculatively. "The Petrificus Totalis spell has had some effect on them," she mused. "They're probably weakened by the Patronus."

Harry smiled grimly, beginning to feel some strain from holding his Patronus for so long. "Okay, does that help us hold them somehow?" He watched, and could practically see Hermione's mind racing as she tried to find an answer. Suddenly, she laughed, and without saying a word, turned and ran into the house.

"Well, let's hope that was a good sign," Harry said to the empty air. He now needed to really concentrate on keeping his Patronus circling the Dementors. He could hear Hermione run up the stairs inside, a number of loud thumps, and then more running, this time coming down the stairs. She was breathless when she slid to a stop next to him again, and he laughed too when he saw she was carrying her little undetectable expansion purse.

"Have you got something very big in there that'll help?" he asked, and Hermione laughed again too.

"No, but I will have once you've forced those Dementors into it," she advised him. "It's got more than enough room to hold them, and it's unbreakable. They won't get out until we decide what to do with them."

"Like you did with Rita," Harry said, and Hermione nodded, her eyes flashing with triumph. "That's brilliant, Hermione!"

"You can force them in, can't you?" she asked, and Harry nodded grimly.

"Yes, I can," he agreed. "Put it down somewhere, though. I don't want you anywhere near them when I do it. You can close the bag using your wand once they're all inside."

Hermione nodded, and took the bag with her, walked about fifteen feet away, and set it on the ground, the top open, and ready to be filled up. The sounds the Dementors made as Harry used his Patronus to force them into the purse was horrid, and he gritted his teeth as they now desperately fought to escape the prison he was pushing them toward. The amazing magical bag's opening grew to accommodate what was being put into it, and then, as the last Dementor was driven within it, it closed to it's normal size, with Harry's Patronus a blazing, impenetrable guardian until Hermione closed the top with a wave of her wand that sealed the Dementors inside.

"I'm going to let my Patronus go," Harry said. "Will you be able to use yours if it looks like this isn't going to work? I'm not sure if I have another one in me right now."

"We will," Ginny assured him, coming out of the darkness into the silvery light of his Patronus and standing next to Hermione, her wand pointed at the bag. Hermione nodded, and with that, Harry released his spell, and nearly collapsed with relief.

Bill and Fleur apparated into the yard then, their wands drawn, and looking both worried and angry. "What's happened?" Bill asked. "Dad roused us and told us you'd been attacked, to hurry up and get here to help, and then rushed off to get others."

"We decided to ring in the New Year by fighting off an attack by a flock of Dementors and a gang of Death Eaters," Ginny told him, her expression fierce with the exhilaration from their victory. She pointed to Hermione's bag. "Since you're the curse breaker in the family, we should probably let you figure out what to do with a purse full of Dementors."

Hermione and Harry both started to laugh helplessly as the terror and strain of the battle gave way to the hilarity of Ginny's comment. Bill and Fleur both looked at the three of them like they'd lost their minds.

"She's not joking," Hermione finally managed to wheeze out. "Harry rounded all of them up with his Patronus. That's my unbreakable, undetectable expansion bag, and he forced all of the Dementors into it – dozens of them. We will have to figure out what to do with them eventually, but someone will definitely need to be in charge of making sure that the bag doesn't get opened before we've worked that out." She looked at her little purse a bit wistfully. "I guess I'll have to make a new one now. That one is likely not going to ever be the same after this."

"Just as well," Ginny told her. "That style was so last year."

"We've got a total of eleven Witches and Wizards out there," Ron reported as he and Mrs. Weasley joined them. "They all have some injuries, so we'll need to get them to St. Mungo's for treatment before sorting out the mess."

"Anyone we know?" Harry asked.

"I think one old guy is Lestrange, though he's older than the picture we have at Headquarters," Ron answered. "One Witch looks like an older version of Millicent Bulstrode, but she wasn't in any condition to answer questions right now. I didn't recognize any of the others."

"Let's be really careful with all of them," Harry suggested. "We don't need any surprises like we almost had with Mulciber after they attacked the Minister."

"We will be," Mrs. Weasley assured him.

Percy and Kingsley arrived with Mr. Weasley then, and Kingsley assured them that he'd sent for a team of Aurors. They arrived a few minutes later, led by a grumpy looking Gawain Robards. Josh, Neville, and five other Aurors were with him, all of them, except for Neville and Josh, looking either sleepy or angry.

"What's going on here?" Gawain demanded. "Minister Shacklebolt, was it really necessary to rouse a whole team at this hour?" He'd looked around, and apparently couldn't even see the debris and other signs around them, which practically shouted that a major fight had just been going on right where he was standing. "The guard who woke me said it was an emergency."

"Arthur and his family were attacked by Dementors and an as-yet unidentified group of Witches and Wizards. I am just getting the details now," Kingsley told him. "For the moment, please send your team to the orchard over there, where I'm told you will find eleven captives who have been disarmed and bound. Auror-trainee Weasley has also advised me that all of them have injuries of varying severity that they sustained during their attack here."

"Let's go," Josh ordered, not waiting for Gawain as his boss stared at Kingsley. Neville followed immediately, and the other Aurors only hesitated a moment before following Josh too. Harry was starting to shake from the cold, and Ginny was there, putting her arm around him.

"We need to get out of the cold," she told the others. "Bill, you'll deal with the bag of Dementors? We don't want any accidents with handling them." Harry looked ready to protest, and she shook her head. "Let your fellow Aurors deal with them. You've got nothing left to help them with anyway. Come inside and we'll get you warmed up."

"You must be right," he conceded. "I don't even have the strength to argue with you."

Harry was content to let Ginny help him inside, and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione came with them, while Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, and Percy stayed outdoors with Kinsley and Gawain.

"I want all of you to go get changed into dry, warm clothes," Mrs. Weasley ordered. "I'll make hot drinks and have them ready when you get back downstairs."

"Okay Mum," Ginny answered for them, leading Harry toward the stairs, and helping him up to his room before going to get changed too. She was back outside of his room when he emerged, and he smiled tiredly at her.

"I might have made it downstairs without falling," he suggested, and Ginny took his hand.

"Maybe, but you're not quite positive about that, are you?"

"No," he agreed. "I'm not positive."

They were back in the kitchen before Ron and Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley told them to sit down at the table, putting cups of hot chocolate in front of each of them, and then two more cups for Ron and Hermione when they joined them. Mrs. Weasley continued to work at the counter, getting more cups out and ready, brewing tea, and making up a plate of treats for anyone who was hungry. Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Percy, and Gawain came into the kitchen next, and Harry looked up at them expectantly.

"Bill wants to know if there's any danger if he apparates with that bag to Gringotts," Mr. Weasley asked Hermione. "We've decided to lock it up in a high security vault until the Minister and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures can come up with a solution to the problem."

Hermione looked uncertain. "I don't know, Mr. Weasley. I've apparated with it lots of times, but never with anything alive inside of it – or whatever you'd call a Dementor. I don't know if they could get out because of the pressure or not," she admitted, and he nodded.

"That's alright, sweetheart," he assured her. "Bill can fly it there instead."

Harry nodded, and holding out his hand, willed his Firebolt to be there. "Give him this," he said, holding it out to Mr. Weasley. "It's going to be a very cold night for such a long flight, and he'll be able to get it over with faster with it."

"I can get mine if anyone is flying with him," Ginny offered.

"He won't be going alone," Percy told her. "Can you get it for me, Ginny?" She nodded, got up, and hurried up the stairs to her room.

"Thanks, honey," Mr. Weasley said as she came back into the room a minute later and handed her broom to her brother.

"You're welcome," she answered, hugging Percy. "Be careful, and tell Bill to do the same."

"We will be," he promised, hugging her back.

"I'll see them off," Mr. Weasley said, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder and following him outside again. Kingsley and Gawain were waved to go sit at the table, and Mrs. Weasley got drinks for them too.

"What's going on out there now?" Harry asked the two Wizards, and Gawain motioned for Kingsley to answer. He avoided meeting Harry's eyes, and looked very unsettled.

"Auror Williamson requested that we send for Healers to assess the injured before we attempt moving them," Kingsley answered. "He's concerned that some of the injuries are quite severe. Auror-trainee Longbottom has been sent for them, and we'll decide what to do with them from there. They've positively identified Lestrange, the Bulstrodes, and several others. The rest of the group will be identified as soon as possible." He looked at Harry critically. "You look somewhat the worse for wear. Are you injured?"

Harry shook his head. Ginny had returned to sitting beside him, and she squeezed his hand. "I'll be fine, sir," he assured Kingsley. "Holding so many Dementors with my Patronus, and the rest of the fight, has just worn me out."

"No wonder," Mrs. Weasley told him. "You must've held them like that for nearly an hour altogether by the time you had them rounded up and in that bag of Hermione's, and then you still managed to disarm all of our attackers."

"It didn't seem nearly so long to me," Harry said quietly, though he didn't doubt her.

"Arthur told us what happened from when he, Molly, Ron, and Hermione got outside," Kinsley told Harry. "What happened before that, and after he left? How did you and Ginny know to be outside when the attack came?"

"I was having a nightmare," Harry told him, meeting Kingsley's sharp, intense eyes. "Dementors had swooped into the Burrow, and I watched them take the souls of all of us, while a group of Witches and Wizards were watching and waiting from the orchard, ready to join in the attack if needed." He smiled and glanced at Ginny. "We'd fallen asleep on the sofa, and I think that I knocked Ginny off, since when I came awake, I was sitting up straight, and she was kneeling on the floor, holding my arms and telling me it was just a nightmare." He took a deep breath, and a sip of his hot chocolate.

"This isn't the first time that I've had – dreams," he continued. "Once I was fully awake, I knew what it meant, and Ginny and I ran outside. The Dementors were already out there, and just getting ready to attack, but I hit them first."

"Why didn't you just drive them off?" Kingsley asked.

"Honestly? Because I'd just dreamed that they'd destroyed the people I love the most, and I was fairly upset about that," Harry answered. "I probably would have killed them if I could have, but at least, if we do this right, those Dementors will never harm anyone again." His eyes were now blazing with fierce conviction as he looked from Kingsley to Gawain, who met his eyes for only a second before quickly looking away. "There's no place in the world for Dementors, and it is long past time that we put an end to them, or if that's not possible, put them somewhere they can never be a threat again." He took another breath to calm himself a bit.

"Anyway, after Mr. Weasley left, Hermione came up with the idea of using her undetectable expansion bag to hold the Dementors in, which was brilliant, and you all arrived shortly after we had that done."

"How many Dementors did you capture?" Kingsley asked.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Several dozen?"

"At least that many," Ginny agreed. "It may have been more than fifty."

Mr. Weasley came back inside, and Fleur was with him. "Neville's back with two Healers," he reported. "Auror Williamson is wondering if you're up to helping out, Ron."

Ron nodded, getting up immediately, and going to get his cloak before heading outside. "Bill and Percy are on the way to Gringotts now, and will return here when they've finished," Mr. Weasley added as he and Fleur were both handed drinks and told to sit down by Mrs. Weasley.

"Good," Kingsley said approvingly. "We've had another close call. I'm very glad that you are all safe."

"We're fairly happy about that too," Mr. Weasley joked. "Has there been any word of trouble elsewhere?"

"Not that I've heard," Kingsley told him. "I'm going from here to the Ministry next, and hopefully there hasn't been."

"If anything else had been planned, it would have hinged on this attack succeeding," Hermione suggested. "You might want to have the area around your own house checked, and alert the guards at Azkaban to be careful just in case, though," she told Kingsley. "Going after you again, or trying to get their buddies out of Azkaban would be two of the most likely targets."

"I agree," Gawain told the Minister, getting to his feet. "I'll get people to do both, sir, and when you're ready to go to the Ministry, we'll have an escort for you."

"Very well, Auror Robards," Kingsley agreed, though he didn't sound all that enthusiastic about having Auror security. Gawain left them, going outside, presumably to give out the additional orders. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talked with Kingsley, giving Harry a minute to just drink his hot chocolate, hold Ginny's hand, and listen.

"Your Patronus wasn't a stag," Hermione said quietly, though everyone at the table did hear, and turned to listen. "It was a stallion. Do you know why it changed?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes I do," he answered. "I've got a new and much bigger happy thought."

Hermione laughed. "Ginny's Patronus is a horse too, isn't it?"

"Why yes, I believe it is," Harry agreed. "That's quite a coincidence, don't you think?"

"No, I don't think it's a coincidence at all," Hermione answered. "In fact, I really think we should be thanking Ginny for saving us tonight."

"Let's just say it was a brilliant team effort, and leave it at that," Ginny suggested.

"Do we have anything else we need Harry for that can't wait until he's had some sleep?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking around the table at each person.

"I don't have anything else," Kingsley told her. "Arthur, why don't you walk me out, we'll find out if the Aurors and Healers have everything in hand, and then I've got to get on to the Ministry. Even at this hour, news this big will be out already."

Mr. Weasley nodded, and got up when Kingsley did. "Do you want me to leave anyone here to watch the place?" Kingsley asked, looking at Harry. "Ginny was right, and you're certainly in no shape to handle anything else tonight."

"I'll stay," Fleur told them, "and so will Bill when he gets back. That will be enough, don't you think, Mum?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded. "Yes it will," she agreed. "Thank-you, Minister, but I think we've got everything under control here."

"Very well," Kingsley said. "I'll say goodnight to you then, and though it's a bit out of place, considering the circumstances, Happy New Year too."

Mr. Weasley laughed. "Compared to what the alternative might have been, I'd say it's turned out very happy for us indeed."

When the two Wizards had left, Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry, and waved her hand as if shooing him away. "Off to bed with you, dear," she ordered. "We'll see you in the morning – and not too early, mind you. We'll all want to sleep in a bit when this business is done for the night."

Ginny stood up and held her hand out to him. "Come on, Harry," she said quietly. "I'll walk you up to your room."

"Your brothers and Dad don't stand a chance when you and your Mum both decide on something do they?" he joked, and Ginny smiled.

"No, they don't," she agreed, "but don't tell them that and give away one of our best-kept secrets."

Harry went around the table to hug Hermione, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley, and then went upstairs with Ginny. She waited in the hall for him to change again, and then came into the room with him, sitting on the bed next to him, and pulling the covers up around his shoulders. Leaning over him, her soft, lustrous hair brushing his face, she kissed him for a long minute before sitting up again.

"Am I really your best happy thought now?" she whispered, and saw the answer in his eyes as he nodded.

"I love you with all of my heart," he whispered back. "There isn't anything better or happier than that for me."

"I love you too, Harry," she assured him.

"Are you going to bed soon too?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"I'm okay for now. You're the only one who took it to the limit tonight. Why? Is there something you need?"

Harry smiled. "No, but if you get a minute with Hermione or Ron, ask them why, in that dream I had, they were asleep and snuggled together in her bedroom." His eyes sparkled in the dim light as Ginny grinned too. "I'm sure it was just symbolic. Maybe Hermione will understand what it means."

"I can do that," she promised. "We'll see which will be more entertaining – her answer, or Ron turning bright red." Leaning close again, she kissed him once more, and then stood and left the room, closing the door behind her. Harry listened to her walking downstairs, or at least he started to, but then he succumbed to exhaustion, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When Ginny got back to the kitchen, the other three Witches looked up at her from where they were sitting around the table, her Mum finally stopping to have a hot drink too.

"He's probably already out," she said, answering their unspoken questions. "Anything new while I was up there?"

"Not yet," Hermione answered. "It will take Bill and Percy quite a while to take care of locking up the Dementors, even flying to London on your Firebolts. Your Mum and I didn't take too close a look at our attackers, but two or three of them did look pretty badly off, and nobody's come in to let us know how that's going."

"Harry's going to feel awful about that tomorrow," Ginny predicted. "Since they were trying to kill my boyfriend, though, I'm probably not going to be sharing his sentiment about that any time soon."

"Or ever," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Now that he's off to sleep, how are you really doing? Any other injuries?"

"I'm fine, Mum – no other injuries," she answered. "Is anyone really expecting any more trouble tonight?"

"Bill and the others didn't think so when they were talking outside earlier," Fleur told her, "but then, we didn't expect this attack either."

"We won't take any chances, and keep a watch out for the rest of the night," Mrs. Weasley said. "Once we know what's going on, though, Let's take turns getting some sleep if we can manage to do that."

The four Witches sat at the table, talking quietly while they waited to hear about what was going on with the captives. None of them expected to hear from Bill and Percy for a couple of hours yet. Mr. Weasley came into the kitchen by himself about a half hour later, and sat down at the table next to Fleur while Mrs. Weasley got up long enough to get him another hot drink.

"Ron's gone with a group of the Aurors to St. Mungo's to help out with the three prisoners the Healers need to treat there," he informed the girls. "The other eight were treated here, and have been taken to Auror Headquarters to be processed. They suspect that some are under the Imperius Curse, but six of the eleven, including Lestrange and the Bulstrodes have the scars from the Death Marks on their arms."

"Then at least there are six fewer out there causing trouble now," Mrs. Weasley said with some satisfaction.

Mr. Weasley nodded his agreement. "Mrs. Bulstrode was among the three more seriously injured, and the other two were of the three Death Eaters they haven't identified yet."

"I guess we'll need to be even more careful when we go back to school," Ginny told Hermione. "Now we'll have Millicent as mad at us as Theodore Nott has been since his father was captured."

"What's this?" Mrs. Weasley demanded, and Ginny shrugged.

"Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode returned to Hogwarts," she explained. "Hermione and I have been watching our backs all year, and the rest of our friends are there if we need them. We can hope they get the message from what's happened to their parents, but I sort of doubt they have."

"We should speak to Minerva!" Mrs. Weasley told them. "How could they just let them come back to school like that?"

"What are they to do, Molly?" Mr. Weasley asked her. "Give up on all of the kids in Slytherin? There are certain to be other families who aided Voldemort we haven't yet discovered, and they likely have children at the school too. We're not going to start condemning them all just because of what their parents have done."

Mrs. Weasley stared at him for a long moment, and finally sighed. "No we're not," she conceded. "I don't think it's unfair to write to the Headmistress with our concerns and ask that the Professors be alerted to the potential for trouble, though."

"We can definitely do that," Mr. Weasley agreed. He looked at Hermione and Ginny next. "I think the excitement's over for now, so why don't the two of you go get some sleep, and Molly, Fleur, and I will keep an eye on things at least until Bill and Percy return."

"I want to keep an eye on Harry," Ginny protested. "We can sleep later, and I don't think I could sleep anyway."

Mrs. Weasley looked about to protest, but saw something in Ginny's eyes that had her changing her mind. "Get a pillow and blanket, conjure an extra bed, and leave the door open," she told her daughter. "Take it or leave it."

Ginny smiled and got up to hug her parents and Fleur. "I'll take it. Thanks, Mum." She looked at Hermione inquiringly, but she shook her head.

"Ron's out there still, so I'll be staying up until I know he's alright," she answered. "Go take care of your boyfriend, and I'll see you in the morning."

Ginny hugged her too, and then went upstairs. She changed into a nightgown, took a pillow and comforter from her bed, and then went up to Harry's room. Quietly opening the door, she went inside, conjured the bed as instructed, though it was right next to his, and then she climbed into it, laying down on the pillow, pulling the comforter around her, and reaching her hand out to hold his. He didn't wake, but his fingers did close around hers, and she lay there, watching him, as her mind replayed everything that had happened since just before the attack had started.

She hadn't wanted to fall asleep – had tried to make herself stay awake, but the next thing she was aware of was waking to a feather-soft, incredibly sweet kiss. Opening her eyes, she smiled at the look of love and happiness she saw in Harry's face.

"This is a brilliant surprise," he said quietly, brushing a hand through her hair. "Thank-you for watching over me."

Ginny laughed. "It seems I didn't do such a great job of that, since I fell asleep too. How are you?"

"I think you did an amazing job last night, and I'm fine now," he assured her. "You can sleep for a while longer if you'd like, but I'm going to go have a shower and then see what's going on in the kitchen. If nobody's started it yet, I'll work on making breakfast for everyone. I didn't want you to wake up and worry if I wasn't here or I'd have let you sleep."

Ginny reached out and pulled him close for another kiss. "I'll get up now too, and meet you downstairs after I've gotten ready too." They both got up; Ginny took her pillow and blanket, and with a wave of her wand, got rid of the extra bed before leaving Harry's room and going down to her own. He had made it to the kitchen first, and was already starting to cook while he talked with Bill and Fleur, who were sitting at the table, both of them looking tired out when Ginny walked into the room.

"You've been up all night?" she asked, hugging each of them.

"We sent Mum and Dad up to bed a few hours ago," Bill answered. "Harry's offered to cook breakfast, so we'll stay for that, but then Fleur and I are going home, and we're thinking seriously about sleeping until tomorrow."

"Did Ron get home yet?" she asked next, and Bill nodded.

"Mum said he got here a half hour before Percy and I did, and he and Hermione had both gone up to bed by then. Percy left for the Ministry, since everything was quiet here." He grinned at her. "I also heard that you and Harry slept in the same room last night. Mum never let Fleur and I do that."

Ginny laughed. "Fleur and I probably both would have liked it better if she had, instead of being crowded into my little room. I'm sure Mum also told you that the door had to be open, and I had to conjure a bed, not sleep in the same one with Harry."

Bill nodded. "She did tell us that, and also told us that she wasn't sure whether to laugh or be upset that you conjured that bed so close to Harry's that it might as well have been one bed."

"She said you looked cute sleeping in there, holding hands across the beds," Fleur told her. She smiled at Bill. "For us, your Mum probably just knew that we couldn't be trusted to keep our hands off each other."

"I'm sure if she'd really been upset about it, she would've just nudged the beds apart – to the opposite sides of the room," Ginny suggested, laughing again. "How'd it go at Gringotts?"

"The Goblins weren't sure they wanted to be in charge of securing a purse full of Dementors, but we worked it out, and Minister Shacklebolt will deal with the matter personally from this point."

"Is there any other news?" Ginny asked next. While they'd been talking, she'd made a cup of hot chocolate, and was just sitting down at the table.

"The three Death Eaters who were admitted to St. Mungo's are still there, from what Mum and Dad said. "They're being guarded, though it doesn't sound like any of them are going to be up for trying to escape for a while. The other eight, including Lestrange and Bulstrode, are in holding cells. They're not sure if four or five of them have been imperiused, and are holding them all for now until they can find out for sure."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Ron and Hermione might not have gotten much sleep, but as the smells from Harry's cooking wafted through the house, they all woke up, got ready, and made their way to the kitchen. The four couples had breakfast together, and then Bill and Fleur left for home and some well-deserved sleep.

Ron and Harry decided that going to Auror Headquarters and getting their reports done and out of the way then was preferable to leaving it until later in the day or on Saturday, so they left for the Ministry of Magic planning on spending a couple of hours doing that. When they were ordered to St. Mungo's to take a shift guarding the prisoners after finishing their reports, that plan hadn't seemed like such a great idea. They were stuck at St. Mungo's for ten hours before being relieved, and they both went back to the Burrow. Everyone was asleep there, so they made up a couple of sandwiches, ate them quickly, cleaned up, and went up to bed too.

"Please tell me you're not going in to work today," Ginny said as she hugged and kissed Harry good morning. He had already started making breakfast for everyone, and they were the first two in the kitchen.

"I'm not going into work again until after you leave on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow," he promised, and Ginny kissed him again.

"That's exactly the right answer," she said happily. "What would you like to do today?"

"Is snogging you from now until about a minute before we have to leave for King's Cross Station tomorrow an option?"

Ginny laughed. "Probably not, but we will definitely make some extra time for that," she assured him. "I'd like to get another Quidditch practice in, and need to go to Diagon Alley to pick up some back to school supplies. Since Ron and Hermione will be spending most of the day, and staying overnight, at her house, I thought maybe we could take Mum and Dad out to dinner tonight so we don't have to deal with a meal and cleanup."

"That all sounds good," he agreed.

"What sounds good?" Ron asked as he and Hermione joined them in the kitchen.

"Quidditch practice, supply shopping, and going out for dinner tonight," Ginny answered. She grinned at them. "Since this is the first time I've had you both around when we're alone, I was supposed to ask you about something." Harry turned back to his work so he could hide his own grin.

"Ask away," Ron said as he went to sit at the table.

"When Harry was having that nightmare that warned him of the attack, you weren't sleeping in your own bed," she told him, and watched as his face turned bright red. "We were just thinking that maybe Hermione would know what the symbolic significance was behind him dreaming that you were both asleep cuddled together in Hermione's room."

"Because his dream was accurately reflecting reality," Hermione answered, and she looked like she was having as much fun with watching Ron blush as Ginny was. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Breathe, Ron," she suggested. "What difference does it make if Harry and Ginny know – your mother does."

"Say what?" Ron exclaimed. His mouth dropped open, his eyes bugged out a bit, and Hermione and Ginny both laughed.

"It's kinda cute that the boys actually think they can pull anything over on their Mum," she told Ginny, who nodded her agreement.

"Even if Mum missed Ron not going up to his room, there's no way she missed the fact that the two of you were both out of the house just ahead of them when you joined the fight."

"Why am I not in St. Mungo's recovering then?" Ron asked them, and then jumped when he heard his mother laugh as she walked into the kitchen.

"Because while I've more than a few good reasons to be worried about you, Hermione has my complete confidence and trust," she answered, beginning a round of hugs with him before moving on to Hermione, Ginny, and Harry. "Have I missed anything else interesting so far?"

"Harry and I were discussing taking you and Dad out to dinner tonight so we can take a night off from cooking and cleaning, and I was about to talk with Ron and Hermione about a Quidditch practice and back-to-school supply shopping trip before I got sidetracked with teasing Ron."

"Going out to dinner works for me," she assured Ginny. "Your father probably wants to play with his new airplane project for a while, and I was just planning on a quiet day puttering around the house. What can I do to help, Harry?"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Sit down and take it easy, Mrs. Weasley. We've got breakfast covered today."

She did that, and Ginny made her a cup of tea before helping Harry with making breakfast for six. They had everything ready by the time Mr. Weasley joined them, and after eating, the three Quidditch players were sent off to have their practice, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were willing volunteers to stay inside where it was warm and take care of the cleanup duties.

While Ron wasn't especially strong at the Beater position, this time, after doing a flying warm-up, he played Beater against both Harry and Ginny to keep them dodging bludgers while they chased after the snitch for nearly an hour and a half. There were quite a few times where he just flew around watching his sister and best mate in amazement as they battled each other to catch the snitch.

"What do you call that move?" he called out. Harry had kept Ginny from making a catch, and then, as they both overshot the snitch, he'd done some kind of flip that had him going the other way, back toward the snitch, which he caught before Ginny had been able to circle around to give chase.

"I call it brilliant," Ginny told them, and her eyes were blazing with excitement. "Show me how, Harry."

Ron just buzzed around for fifteen minutes or so while Harry and Ginny worked on the move until she had it down, and then they played to best of five. Harry won the day with three of five catches. When they'd packed up the Quidditch set and gone inside again, Mrs. Weasley had a snack and hot drinks for them.

"I was watching you from the window," Hermione told them. "Why didn't you try that flip thing, Ron? It looked like Harry and Ginny were having fun with it."

Ron laughed. "Because that's a move you need to be a little crazy to try at those speeds," he answered. "I'm quite fond of my new broom, and would rather not lose it by smashing into a tree or the ground."

"Then I'm glad you didn't try, since I'm rather fond of the Wizard who flies your broom, and wouldn't want to see him getting smashed up on a tree or into the ground either," Hermione told him. "When you're warmed up again, we should get going to Diagon Alley to get those supplies, and then Ron and I have to get over to my place."

They did that, and spent a couple of hours together doing that running around, including a stop at the wheezes store so the girls could say goodbye to George, since they wouldn't see him again before going back to school. After returning to the Burrow, Ron grabbed his overnight bag, and after a round of hugs, left for the Granger home and the plans they had for Hermione's last day at home with them.

With nothing really planned for the afternoon, Ginny suggested spending part of the afternoon stopping by to see Teddy, so after checking with Andromeda to see if they could do that, they apparated over to the Tonks' house and played with Teddy for nearly two hours before going back to the Burrow to get ready for their dinner date. Harry and Mr. Weasley were both in the sitting room when Ginny and her mother joined them there, and they both stood to welcome their girls with hugs and kisses.

"You look fantastic," Harry told Ginny quietly. "Maybe we should have sent your parents out on the date, and I could have kept you here all to myself."

"Or not," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling at them. "This will be fun, and Arthur and I will make sure that we're conveniently tired out and ready to go up to bed early so you'll have lots of cuddle time later."

"That works for me," Ginny told her mother. "Don't go to bed too early, though. I'm really going to miss you and Dad when I go back tomorrow too."

"We're going to really miss you too," Mrs. Weasley said, hugging Ginny for a moment, and then laughing. "I'm going to miss Hermione a lot too – she's saved us a bundle on groceries having Ron at her place so much the last two weeks."

They went outside and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, spending the better part of two hours there, taking their time as they had a really great dinner, dessert, and after-dinner drinks before going home to the Burrow again. Settling into the sitting room, Harry and Ginny talked with her parents for another nearly two hours before they decided to go up to bed, and left the two teens to stretch out on the sofa and cuddle under a warm blanket. They all knew that Harry and Ginny would still be in the sitting room in the morning, and Mrs. Weasley had been a little teary-eyed as she hugged them each goodnight before taking her own sweetheart's hand and going upstairs with him.

"This next stretch seems impossibly long right now," Ginny whispered as they held each other close. "I'd like to come home for the Easter break, but Hermione's sure that we'd never be able to keep up with our NEWT workload if we did that."

"She's probably right," Harry said with a soft smile. "I'd want to be snogging you the entire time you were here."

Ginny laughed softly. "That would be one of my favorite reasons to want to come home for the week," she pointed out.

"True," he agreed, "but you'll stay regardless because you want to ace your NEWTs, and that'll be worth all of the work. Don't make too many plans for the first few days after you get home in June, though. We're going to have a lot of catching up to do."

"I won't," she said, and then kissed him. "In fact, why don't we spend a little time right now getting a head start on that?"

They'd both laughed, and over the next several hours, there had been kisses ranging from feather-soft and sweet to quietly desperate and hungry, caresses meant to comfort, and tears shared, as they got ready to be separated again for nearly six months. There would be at least some Hogsmeade weekend visits and Quidditch matches, but this was their last real chance to be alone and together, and neither of them wanted to fall asleep and miss any of the little bit of time they had left together.

Sleep did eventually come in the early hours of the morning, and though they only managed a few hours of rest, they were still the first awake, and they shared some more soft, lingering kisses before going upstairs and getting ready for the trip to King's Cross Station. Harry and Mrs. Weasley cooked breakfast while Ginny finished the last bit of packing she had left to take care of, and then they ate quickly, cleaned up, and took Ginny's things outside when the Ministry car arrived to take them to London.

Ron, Hermione, and her parents were already on the platform when they got there, and there was a round of hugs with all of the parents before Ron went over by the Prefect car with Hermione, and Harry helped Ginny load her things into one of the cars farther down the line where they'd met up with Luna and Susan. The other two girls boarded the train to go look for a compartment, and to give Ginny another moment to say goodbye to Harry.

"I am not going to lose it again this morning," she told him, and Harry smiled.

"We've fought Dementors and Death Eaters and held it together. We can get through this too."

"Yes we will," Ginny agreed, and then hugged him fiercely. She kissed him, and then just put her head on his shoulder for a minute. "I love you," she breathed, and while there weren't any tears, her voice was definitely husky with emotion.

"I love you too, Ginny," he assured her, pouring his heart out into those words as he held her. "Have a safe trip back, and I'll talk to you tonight."

There was one more last kiss, but then Ginny boarded the train, took her trunk and cages in tow, and went in search of Luna, Susan, and whoever else they'd be sitting with for the trip back to Hogwarts. Harry rejoined Ron, his parents, and the Grangers, and they all watched as the doors were closed, and the train began pulling away precisely on time at eleven o'clock.

"I'm going to get back to work, if you'd like to come play too," Harry told Ron, who nodded that he was with him on that plan. "If you'd all like, though, why don't we go out for lunch, since we've all got to eat anyway."

Both sets of parents had agreed to do that, so after having a quick lunch with them, Harry and Ron went to Auror Headquarters, where they decided to spend the rest of the day running down some of the paper trail leads they'd picked up before New Year's through their stakeout, including identifying the two Witches who Ron had tracked. They worked until late afternoon, and then went back to the Burrow to have dinner with Ron's Mum and Dad before Harry grabbed his overnight bag and went back to his own home.

He spent some time with Snowstorm, but then sent him off toward Hogwarts with a welcome back to school gift and letter for Ginny. There was laundry, and a little house cleaning to keep him busy until it was time to get ready for bed and his first nightly chat of the New Year with Ginny. He was ready, smiling, and really glad to see her face when his mirror finally vibrated with her call to him.

"That was fast," she said brightly, and watched Harry nod.

"I miss you a lot already," he answered. "You have no idea how tempted I was today to forget about all of this Auror work, apparate to the school, and spend the next six months being your new pet."

Ginny laughed. "I really wish you could do that, but then again, the other girls might get suspicious when every time any of us went to get changed you were laying on my bed with your paws over your eyes."

"I suppose," he agreed. "How was your trip back? Anything interesting going on?"

"Not really," she answered with a shake of her head. "I mostly spent the trip catching up with everyone, though half of them only wanted to hear all about our little New Year's adventure. Millicent was definitely not looking happy with Hermione or I tonight at the feast, so she and Terrance were quite the pair of dark, glowering bookends."

"That situation there makes me nervous," Harry admitted. "I know that you and Hermione can take care of yourselves, but I can't keep from worrying about you anyway."

Ginny smiled knowingly at him. "Welcome to our every day when it comes to dealing with having Auror-trainees for boyfriends. We'll keep being careful, and hopefully we won't have any problems worse that a few glares during classes and at meals. Hermione and I can't even hope for anything that simple for you and Ron."

"We get lots of glares from our fugitives," Harry protested, and Ginny laughed.

"Yeah, but they're all post-capture by the time you see them, and the danger, at least with them, is over with," she countered. "Let's change the subject, though, and you can tell me about your day instead."

Harry did that, and they talked for the better part of an hour before they wrapped up their chat for the night, Ginny having a big day back at school, and Harry needing to get a good night's sleep to be ready to pick up the stakeout again in the morning. That first night apart, like the one on September first, was probably the hardest for both of them. The New Year was just a few days old, and if the start of it was any indication, they were all in for an adventurous, unpredictable year.


	11. Cold, Hard Lessons Learned

Chapter Eleven – Cold, Hard Lessons Learned

"Hi Storm," Ginny said, running a hand fondly across the top of his head before untying the package he'd brought for her. "I didn't send Snowflake out last night, so you can go hang out with her until tonight, and I'll have some letters to send back with you for Harry and my Mum and Dad." Snowstorm nuzzled her hand, took the treat she had for him, and then flew off for the Owlery.

"At least your Owls get to spend time cuddling together even if you and Harry don't," Hermione said as she was untying the little package that Pigwidgeon had brought for her. She gave him an Owl treat, and he flew off to the Owlery too.

"They do seem to be quite taken with each other," Ginny agreed as she was opening her package. "What do you think?" she asked, holding up the small, stuffed Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Hermione laughed and hugged Ginny.

"That's cute, and the earrings are a nice touch too," she answered, then laughed again after seeing that Ginny hadn't noticed the pair of small gold hoops that Harry had tucked into the toy's collar.

"What did Ron send for you?"

Hermione finished opening her own package, and held up the sparkling pair of earrings she'd been given. "Could we take a guess that the boys were out shopping together when they decided to start our first day back like this?"

"That seems like a pretty safe conclusion," Ginny agreed. "We've both had our fair share of doubts about them over the years, but they are turning out to be pretty great."

"Yes they are," Hermione said happily as she read the letter Ron had sent along with the gift. While he would certainly never be a great romantic writer, she could read between the lines, and knew exactly what he was trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to put into words.

The two girls were quiet for a couple of minutes as they ate and read their respective letters. Ginny had been smiling too, though she alternately felt urges to cry, laugh, and jump with joy as she worked through the three pages of Harry's letter. There was no fumbling with words in his letters, and they spoke to Ginny's heart with simple, gentle honesty. In this first letter of the year, he'd written down everything that he'd loved most about their time together over the holidays. She was always left a bit amazed at just how vivid his memories were of the moments he found most important.

When she reached the part where he wrote about New Year's Eve, she could feel his pride in, and love for her through those words. Even though she had thought he'd been completely focused on his own battle with the Dementors, he'd actually seen everything going on around him. He'd seen her defending him with everything she had – defending both of them – and he had known that she'd taken that cut on her arm for him too, putting herself in the way of it, when she hadn't been able to stop every attack. The letter wrapped up with warm fuzzies that reminisced about their last night cuddling together in the sitting room, and when she finished reading it, Ginny folded it carefully, and tucked it into her robe pocket.

"Come on and finish up, or we'll be late for class," Hermione said, and Ginny did that before they grabbed their bags and headed off to their Transfiguration class.

Professor MacDonald only spent a few minutes having her students turn in their holiday assignments, and then she got right down to work, setting the trend for the day as she set a heavy study load for her class. By the time they'd finished with their afternoon double potions, even Hermione was looking a bit put upon, and while Ginny went off to have her first Quidditch practice of the New Year with the rest of her team, she went to the Heads' office, where she, Ernie, and Susan had all decided to get a start on their homework load.

"How'd practice go?" Hermione asked when Ginny joined them in the office.

"Other than being frozen solid, we had a really good first practice back," Ginny answered. "The self-warming Quidditch gloves I got for Christmas helped a bit, but it was still tough to stay motivated when we were all shaking from the cold. How far ahead did you get while we were busy?"

"We started with DADA, and pretty much have that report wrapped up," Hermione said as she began packing up to go with Ginny to the Great Hall for dinner. "That one will be easy for you, and we'll still be able to work on Potions, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy together with our study group after dinner."

Ginny nodded. "That works for me, though it looks like the late nights will be starting right away."

"We knew the Professors would have us loaded down right away," Hermione said with a sigh. "It would have been nice to have a week or two to get back into full study mode, but at least we won't be playing catch up on missed holiday assignments like some of the students." She looked over to where Ernie and Susan were packing up too. "Will you be studying with the group tonight or working in here instead?"

"We're with the group," Susan told her before Ernie could answer, and she smiled at him. "For some reason, when we're in here alone, we just don't get quite as much work done."

"I wonder why?" Ginny quipped, and they all laughed. "Let's go," she added. "I really want to get a nice hot drink and hopefully before dinner's over, I'll be able to feel my feet again."

Most of the Hogwarts students got right back into the normal daily routine of classes, study, and other activities like Quidditch. Since Ravenclaw and Slytherin had their match on the second Saturday they were back, Ginny was only having Gryffindor practice three times a week, and had given up the extra practice time to the other two teams. By the end of the first week back, holiday gossip had been replaced by Quidditch fever, and the excitement over the resumption of the Quidditch season had continued to build during the second week.

"Do we really have to go watch the game?" Hermione asked again as she and Ginny sat in the Heads' office after breakfast on Saturday.

"I really have to," Ginny answered patiently, though she wasn't much more excited about the prospect, since it was a brutally cold, windy, and snowy day. "We'll be playing Ravenclaw still, so I need to see how their players are coming along this year, and hopefully learn a few things that will help our team when we play them in May."

Hermione sighed again. "Well, I can't let you go sit out there and freeze all by yourself, and Harry probably wouldn't understand if you snuggled under a blanket with any other Wizard, so I guess we're both going."

Ginny laughed. "I'm sure Harry will really appreciate you doing this for him, and while it's not required or anything, it's a pretty nice gesture to the other Houses for the Head girl to come out to the game."

"Well, Ravenclaw might be happy, but I doubt Slytherin will be," Hermione told her. "I know Gryffindor is supposed to want Slytherin to win, since Ravenclaw already has a win, but I just can't bring myself to do that."

"Neither can I," Ginny said with a grin. "If we beat Hufflepuff in February, I don't have a problem with a winner-takes-all match against Ravenclaw to end the season, and even if we lose next month, we could still win the Quidditch Cup if we win that game, depending on the points."

They waited until the very last minute again before hurrying out through the blowing snow to the Quidditch stadium. There weren't many visitors there to watch the match, but most of the students and Professors had still come out to see the game and support the teams and players. Ginny spotted where their friends were sitting first, and led Hermione over to them. Once they were sitting down and had the big, heavy blanket around them, it was at least bearable, and they'd timed their arrival pretty well, since the two teams were called out into the stadium, and within a minute, Madam Hooch had the game underway.

"Bradley outraces Vaisey to the quaffle, and turns back toward the Ravenclaw goals," Rose Zeller announced. "He passes, and it's intercepted! Pritchard takes the shot, and the wind carries it wide past the left goal. Good try there!"

Both teams were playing hard, but the weather conditions were terrible, and when either team did score a goal, most of them looked more from luck than skill as the Chasers mostly just threw the quaffle toward the goals and the wind would either sweep it far from their target, or blow it unexpectedly through one of the goals. Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw's Seeker ended the match at the one hour and thirty-nine minute mark to win the game for Ravenclaw with a score of one hundred and ninety to forty.

"Congratulations to Ravenclaw and Slytherin for playing a good game," Hermione said as she stood up. "Now let's get inside and find hot drinks and a warm fire."

It seemed like everyone at the stadium had the same idea, though Hermione and Ginny did still stop on the pitch to congratulate the two teams, though since the Slytherin players had just flown straight to the locker rooms, they'd only been able to offer those congratulations to the Ravenclaw players.

"I guess our team's in second place, at least for now," Ginny said as she and Hermione walked back to the school. "It was more fun being in first place."

"Then you'll just have to go out there against Hufflepuff and take first place back next month," Hermione answered. "Right now, I'm really just glad that the game didn't go on all day. We can have lunch in the Great Hall, and then get back to our studies."

"That's a cheery thought," Ginny said, her tone definitely implying that she didn't think there was anything cheery about the thought at all.

Hermione laughed. "Don't look so down about it. The good news is that we won't need to be up late tonight and tomorrow night getting everything done. We'll both have a bit more time for our nightly chats with Harry and Ron."

Ginny's face brightened up at that, and she nodded. "That's a good point," she agreed.

Those nightly talks had been about the only really great part of the weekend for both girls and their boyfriends, since they all worked hard both days. As the third week of January rolled along, Ginny and Hermione were both busy, but looking forward to the Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday, and nervously hopeful that nothing would get in the way to keep Ron and Harry from spending the day with them there. That was still looking good by the end of classes on Friday, and while Ginny was busy with her Quidditch practice, Hermione was in the Heads' office doing a little studying. She was on her own today, with Ernie and Susan having found something else to do until dinnertime on a Friday afternoon.

"Hello?" Hermione looked up when the door opened and a little first year Slytherin girl she didn't know, but had seen around school stepped inside. Her eyes were wide and she looked afraid.

"Come in, sweetie," Hermione said. "Is something wrong?"

"Can you come and help me?" she asked in a rush. "My friend and I were playing, and she fell and hurt herself. She's not moving, and I couldn't wake her up." Hermione was on her feet immediately, and held her hand out to the little girl. "Show me where," she ordered, and the little girl took her hand and led her out of the office.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, but the little girl just impatiently repeated that she and her friend had been playing, and that her friend had fallen and she couldn't wake her up. "Where is she?" she tried next.

"In a classroom – it's not far," the little girl answered, but as they continued to walk, Hermione began getting suspicious, and a bit nervous. They'd already passed two Professor's offices and the Hospital Wing, and the young girl could have gone to any of those places and gotten help faster. She put her hand in her pocket, grabbed the mirror she always kept there, and whispered "Ginny" under her breath.

"What floor is the classroom on?" she asked, and the little girl continued to tug on her hand and pull her along, though they weren't exactly rushing.

"The sixth floor," the girl answered. "We were playing…"

"I get that," Hermione interrupted. "Why were you playing way up here? You don't even have any classes on the sixth floor."

"We were playing, and…"

"Okay, sweetheart, I'm getting the picture," Hermione said. She pulled her hand free, and smiled encouragingly when the girl looked up at her. "Keep going, and I'll follow. We should hurry."

"Are we here?" she asked when she was finally led to the door to one of the sixth floor classrooms. "You're sure this is the one – right across from the boy's washroom?"

"She's right in here," Hermione was assured, and the little girl opened the door for her and waved her in.

The door was slammed behind her when she stepped through, and she could hear a set of little feet running away down the hallway as she faced the Witch and Wizard who were at the other end of the room, wands drawn and pointed at her, each of them with expressions that were a mixture of cold hate and dark triumph. Hermione almost laughed when she felt the anti-apparition spell go up, knowing how utterly idiotic doing that was at Hogwarts. The door was sealed too, but she wasn't worried about that either.

"That was just too easy," Millicent said. "They're all alike – give them a little sob story, and they come running to help the poor defenseless little girls and boys."

Theodore laughed coarsely. "True, and she's supposed to be the brightest Witch of our age. More like the dimmest. She hasn't even figured out that she's dead yet."

Hermione smiled at him. "There's a big difference between getting me here and carrying out your plan, Theodore. We were really hoping that you and Millicent wouldn't make the same stupid mistakes that your father, and her parents did. How long have you been Death Eaters?"

"Since before the Dark Lord took over the Ministry the summer before last," Millicent answered, and Theodore practically hissed at her. "Oh shut it, Theodore. She's already dead, remember?"

"Whatever – let's get it over with," Theodore spat. "We've still got to get that blood traitor Weasley next before they find little miss mudblood here." His smile was as cold as his eyes as he looked at Hermione. "I'm really going to enjoy seeing what this does to your pathetic loser boyfriends. Goodbye, and good riddance, mudblood."

Theodore and Millicent both shouted "AVADA KEDAVRA!" at the same time, and the two killing curses shot right at Hermione. The pair of attackers looked stunned when Hermione threw up her shield, and sent two desks to intercept the curses, both of them blowing apart when the spells hit them, the wood and metal flying everywhere, while Hermione was safe behind her shield.

"You didn't actually expect me to stand here and let you just kill me did you?" she asked them conversationally, and her wand flicked and slashed as she began dueling the two Slytherins. "Why don't you surrender now, and maybe we can all walk out of here before someone gets hurt. You're already in enough trouble."

Millicent and Theodore both laughed. "Nobody knows you're here, and once we've killed you, there will be no witnesses," Millicent shouted shrilly at her. She and Theodore both sent a flurry of curses at Hermione, who met every attack with shield, counter-curse, or desks and chairs to meet the killing curses. She saw her reinforcements arriving out of the corner of her eye just before the windows along the side of the classroom blew in, and Ginny, Seamus, Dean, and Demelza flew through the openings, their wands in hand, and hitting Millicent and Theodore before they even knew what had happened to them. Both Slytherins were slammed into the wall behind them even as their wands were blasted out of their hands. Millicent and Theodore were both dazed, and looked to be in some pain, but Seamus and Dean placed them in body-binds anyway just to be sure that there wouldn't be any more trouble, and then they all turned to smile at Hermione.

"Good timing," she complimented them. "I'm really glad we set up our mirrors just in case something like this happened," she added, returning Ginny's smile.

"You're okay?" Seamus asked, and Hermione nodded as she walked over and hugged each of them.

"I'm fine," she assured them. "It might have been a close thing if they'd attacked as soon as I walked into the room, but they wanted to make sure I knew who was responsible first before trying to kill me."

They all heard quite a few running feet out in the hallway, and Hermione waved her wand to take down the shield on the door, and opened it with another flick just moments before Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and a number of students came running into the room.

"It seems that Ms. Frobisher was quite right that there was some trouble here," the Headmistress said as she looked around at the blown out windows and the damage all over the classroom. "What is going on here?"

"These Gryffindors lured Theodore and I here and attacked us!" Millicent said before anyone else could speak, and Professor McGonagall looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Really?" she asked. "That's interesting, since I personally saw these students out at the Quidditch Stadium at practice not long before Ms. Frobisher came looking for me."

"Granger was the one that brought us up here, and then the others smashed through the windows and attacked us." She put a dramatic look of pain on her face. "They threw us against the wall so hard that I'm sure they've broken my arm, and my ribs, shoulder, and head hurt a lot."

"Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall said, turning to Hermione.

"I was in the Heads' office, and a first year Slytherin girl came in, telling me that her friend was injured, and that she needed help. I don't know her name, but we can locate her when we're done here. By the time she led me here, I had a strong suspicion that she'd been Imperiused, since she was only able to repeat certain lines of her injured friend story, and from here, she could have more easily gotten help from one of the Professors or from Madam Pomfrey." She took a breath and glanced over at Millicent and Theodore, who were both looking at her with hate burning coldly in their eyes.

"Ginny and I have two-way mirrors that we can use to talk to each other, so I called her before coming in here, and was able to let her know where I was. She wouldn't have been able to see what was going on, since I kept my mirror in my pocket, but she would have been able to hear everything that Millicent, Theodore, and I said."

"We all could," Seamus told everyone. "I personally thought Millicent bragging about them being Death Eaters since before the Ministry fell a year ago last summer was particularly interesting," he added, and Millicent and Theodore both paled considerably at that.

Hermione nodded. "They told me they were going to kill me, and then kill Ginny before anyone had a chance to find my body," she told Professor McGonagall. "The desks and chairs were destroyed because I used them to intercept the killing curses they attacked me with, something that I'm sure can be verified by checking both my wand, and theirs. I'm not exactly sure how long we dueled before Ginny, Seamus, Dean, and Demelza came to my defense and put an end to it, but it must have taken a little while for them to figure out what was going on and get here."

Professor McGonagall's expression had become very stern, and she nodded as she turned back to Millicent and Theodore. "Well?" was all she asked, and Millicent glared back at her.

"I've already told you what happened," she answered. "It's obvious that you've decided to believe the lying mudblood and these blood-traitors, so I've got nothing else to say."

"Ms. Bulstrode," Professor McGonagall said coolly, "What I'll believe is the truth. If you'd paid a little more attention to your studies, you would know that it is easy enough to discover which wands have been used for spells after something like this, and while I'm quite certain that you and Mr. Nott will not choose to prove your assertions while under veritaserum or by showing us your memories of the events, Ms. Granger and the others, I'm quite sure, will be happy to do both." Millicent and Theodore both just continued to glower, and the Professor turned to look around the room again.

"Clear the room of all students who are not involved in this incident, please," she asked Professor Vector, who had been among the group of Professors who had followed the commotion to the classroom. "Professor Jones and Professor Flitwick, could you please take Ms. Bulstrode and Mr. Nott to the hospital wing for treatment and hold them there until I can send for Aurors to take them into custody and investigate this incident please?"

"I'd like the four of you to wait for me in my office," she told Ginny, Seamus, Dean, and Demelza before turning to Hermione. "You and I will go to Slytherin House and find this young Witch who led you here. If she has indeed been Imperiused, we should help her right away."

"Yes, Professor," Hermione agreed immediately.

The room was already being cleared of students, and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall out into the hallway after giving Ginny a reassuring hug. Professor Slughorn went with them, still panting from rushing all the way up to the sixth floor. They went straight to the Slytherin Common Room, which was full of students who went completely silent as they began catching the serious looks on the faces of the Headmistress and the Head of their House.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Hermione asked after she led the two Professors over to where the little girl who'd guided her into the trap was sitting with three other first year girls.

"My friend got hurt," she answered solemnly. "We were playing, and she fell, and I couldn't get her to wake up. I hope she's okay."

"What's wrong with her?" one of the other girls asked in a timid voice. "She's been acting like this since she got back here a little while ago. We're her best friends, and none of us got hurt, but she's been saying stuff like that over and over since she got here."

"She'll be fine," Hermione assured the scared trio of young Witches before turning back to the girl who she and the Professors were all sure had been Imperiused. "How about we go up to the hospital wing," she suggested, and the little girl jumped up and held out her hand to Hermione.

"Is my friend there now? She's okay, isn't she?"

"Let's go there and we'll find out," Hermione answered, taking the offered hand and then following the two Professors back out of the Common Room, while the other Slytherin students stared after them, and the whispers started as they speculated on what had just happened.

"What's going on Minerva?" Madam Pomfrey asked, hurrying over to the four new arrivals. "Those two have quite a number of injuries, and Professor Jones said they attacked another student."

"That appears to be what happened, Poppy," Professor McGonagall agreed. "It also appears that one of them placed an Imperius Curse on this young girl. Could you please take a look at her for us?"

"Oh dear!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "Yes, of course. Come with me, dear, and we'll see what we can do for you."

The girl was happy to take Madam Pomfrey's hand and be led away to another bed, asking about her friend as they left, and Professor Jones had Professor Flitwick stay with the two teens and came over to talk with them. "I've already sent for the Aurors," she told them. "They should be ready to come to your office by floo when you're ready for them, Headmistress."

"Thank-you," Professor McGonagall told her. "How are they?"

"They both have a number of broken bones and concussions. Theodore has a small skull fracture, and Millicent has a partially collapsed lung, but they'll both fully recover with treatment. Madam Pomfrey wants to keep them for the weekend, but under the circumstances, St. Mungo's might be best for them once it's safe to move them without risk of causing further injury."

"We'll let the Aurors decide that," McGonagall said. "Did you check them for Death Marks?"

Hestia nodded, her expression sad. "Yes, and they do both have the faded scars. It's a shame that even after all that's happened, they went down that path anyway."

"Yes it is," Professor McGonagall agreed. "Stay here, and don't underestimate those two for a moment, Hestia. They may be young, but it seems there's nothing they're not willing to do for their misguided cause. Ms. Granger and I will be in my office if you need anything." Professor Jones nodded, and McGonagall turned to Professor Slughorn.

"I expect to be busy for some time," she told him. "Could you inform our Head Boy of what's happened, and make at least a general announcement in the Great Hall at dinnertime? We don't need any students panicking or spreading wild rumors, though I don't think we need to tell them all of the details."

"Of course," Professor Slughorn answered.

They left the hospital wing, and Hermione walked with Professor McGonagall to the Headmistress' office, where Ginny and her three teammates were waiting for them. Ginny had another hug for Hermione, and then McGonagall waved them all into chairs, including three that she conjured as she walked around her desk and sat down. She looked at Hermione for a long minute before speaking.

"Before I have the Aurors come, I'd like to know why, Ms. Granger, if you were certain about being led into a trap, that you didn't just get help from one of your Professors instead of choosing to face them yourself, and endangering your friends."

"I considered that, Professor," Hermione answered, "but since Millicent and Theodore had chosen to attack me, if I'd gone for help, and nothing had happened, then there would have been no proof of anything, and there may have been nothing you could do about the incident. I was also worried that next time, whether they came against me or against Ginny, that the next attack might not be so clumsy and obvious. This way, there is no doubt about what they were trying to do, and we all know why they wanted to kill Ginny and I, even as we all hoped they would turn away from following their parents and the other Death Eaters."

Professor McGonagall nodded once. "Your logic, as always, is flawless. When the Aurors arrive, I'm sure they will want to question each of you, and since we will likely all miss dinner, I will arrange something for you to have later after we've finished." She smiled grimly then. "Oh, and before we get on with that, twenty-five points to each of you for Gryffindor."

With that, she called for the Aurors, who arrived moments later – a team of four led by Auror Robards himself. Ginny and Hermione were a bit disappointed, but not surprised, that Harry and Ron were not included for this assignment. Hermione led the recap of the attempted ambush and attack, and when they were done telling the Aurors what had happened, Gawain sent two of the Aurors to the Hospital Wing, while he and Auror Ogden ("Call me Emma," she'd told the teens.) collected the memories that the five teens freely offered, and then again quickly interviewed them using Veritaserum under the watchful eye of Professor McGonagall.

When they were finished all of that, Aurors Robards and Ogden left the office, going on to the Hospital Wing, with plans to take Millicent and Theodore on to St. Mungo's to continue their treatment, and from there, they would be facing enough charges that they would be spending an extended period of time with their parents and the other Death Eaters in Azkaban. After they'd left, Professor McGonagall poured five drinks and passed them around.

"What are these for?" Seamus asked, and Professor McGonagall smiled at him.

"The Veritaserum takes a while to wear off by itself, and those drinks will help clear out any residue right away. Honesty is a good thing, but too much of it can make for awkward situations."

Hermione had heard something in her voice, and looked at each of her friends even as she began drinking the potion. She'd seen the look in Dean's eyes and the way he was looking at Ginny as he gulped down his drink, and was very glad that the Professor had acted so quickly. She looked away as Dean's eyes cleared, and he quickly looked away from Ginny, suddenly finding anything and everything else in the room more interesting.

"I believe that the Aurors have everything they need from you," McGonagall told them next. "Why don't you all go to the Heads' office, and I'll have dinner delivered to you there. Since you don't have classes again until Monday, I expect that you will all still be able to get your weekend assignments completed on time, but if you do have any problems, I will advise your Professors to allow you a reasonable amount of extra time to complete your work."

That was their cue to leave, so Hermione thanked her for all of them, and then they left her office and went straight to the Heads' office. Susan and Ernie were there, and she offered to go invite Parvati and Lavender to join their boyfriends. They waited until the three girls returned before going over the whole story with their friends.

Two platters filled with sandwiches and a hot stew, along with a pitcher of hot chocolate, plates, cups, and bowls was delivered to them, and while it was a bit crowded there with everyone, they were all glad to have their friends close and safe, so nobody minded the occasional jostling, and Dean, Seamus, and Ernie seemed to be quite happy to have their girlfriends sitting on their laps. They were finished eating, and about to go and get their books and study in the library until curfew when Hermione and Ginny both felt their mirrors vibrating at the same time.

"Hi Harry," Ginny said brightly. "This is a nice surprise. I didn't expect to talk with you until later tonight. What's up?"

Harry laughed. "Like you have to guess," He answered. "Ron and I stopped in to do our reports, and find out that you and about half your team took a Quidditch match to a duel with a couple of student Death Eaters. Tell Dean, Seamus, and Demelza that Ron and I really appreciate them being there for our girlfriends."

"You're welcome, mate," Seamus called out, and Ginny moved her mirror around so that Harry could see that everyone was there with them. "You should have seen Ginny. She blasted out the classroom windows, and I'm pretty sure that Millicent would still be airborne if the wall hadn't stopped her."

"Not to mention doing all of that while on a broom," Dean added. "From what we've heard, Demelza did quite a number on Theodore too. All Seamus and I had to do was put them in body-binds by the time the girls were done with them."

"Well, if you're all interested," Harry said, "lunch at the Three Broomsticks is on me tomorrow."

"You're on," Demelza told him.

Hermione had been letting Ron watch too, and after a few more comments, the two girls were left to talk with their boyfriends while the others began filing out of the office to go get their books and head for the library.

"They told us that you were all okay," Harry said, "but I just really needed to see your face for myself. "I love you."

"I love you too," Ginny assured him. "I guess since you've promised everyone lunch that you'll be in Hogsmeade for sure in the morning?"

Harry nodded. "We wouldn't miss it for anything now. You can invite Luna and the rest of the gang to come too, if you'd like. Why don't I let you get on with your studies, and we can talk later at our usual time?"

"We can do that," she agreed. "I'll see you again in a few hours."

They wrapped up their chat, and then Ginny waited for Hermione and Ron to finish up too. Hermione had her books in the office still, but went to their dorm room with Ginny to get hers, each of them spending a minute with Arnold and Crookshanks respectively before moving on to the Library and a few hours of work.

"Harry, I hate to do this to you," Josh said as he walked into Harry's cubicle, "but you and Ron have been put on guard duty at St. Mungo's – for the night shift."

"To watch Millicent and Theodore?" Harry asked, and Josh nodded. "They were going to kill our girlfriends, Josh. Is it really such a good idea to put us in that position? We're not very happy with them right now. I've spent a lot of the last hour thinking about what I'd really like to do with them, and none of those ideas were going to be good for them."

Josh sat down across from Harry and leaned close. "You and I can both guess that this is intentional," he said only slightly above a whisper. "I know you won't take the bait. Do as ordered, get through the night, and Neville and I will be there in the morning to relieve you."

Both Wizards stood, and Harry nodded. "Fine. We'll see you in the morning." Harry went over to Ron's cubicle, and spent another couple of minutes talking quietly with him before they left Headquarters and the Ministry, and apparated to St. Mungo's. Millicent and Theodore were the only patients in their ward, and they both glared at Harry and Ron when they came into the room to relieve the two Aurors who'd been with them since bringing them over from Hogwarts.

"We demand to have other Aurors assigned!" Millicent told the two Aurors who were about to leave. "Potter and Weasley have done everything they can to destroy my family's good name, falsely accused my parents, and severely injured my mother in an unprovoked attack. Now you dare leave them here alone with us to finish the job?"

"You are in no position to demand anything," one of the Aurors told her, "and we saw what you did to that innocent child at your school, so save your breath." He turned to Harry and smiled. "They've been spouting off for hours, so I'll wish you good luck. You might want to think about ordering sleeping draughts for them if you want any peace."

"We'll see how it goes," Harry answered. "Thanks, and have a good night." Harry and Ron both watched the two Wizards leave, and then went to sit in the recently vacated chairs. Ron was happy to return the glares that Millicent and Theodore were directing at him.

"What's the matter, traitor?" Theodore asked, his voice dripping with malice and disdain. "Are you upset that your disgusting little mudblood girlfriend almost died this afternoon?"

Millicent laughed. "He should get used to the feeling. When our friends are done with them, they'll all be dead – like your big brother Freddie." She smiled when she saw Ron tense, and Harry put a hand on his arm. "I think Weasel's about to cry, Theodore."

"We don't mind admitting that we're a bit put out with the pair of you right now," Harry told them, "but we were never worried about Hermione and Ginny. They've been watching out for you since September. If your Mum and Dad couldn't take them out with everything they threw at us New Year's Day, what made you think the two of you could do any better?"

"You had a whole team of Aurors, the Minister of Magic, and half your family, and attacked them without provocation," Millicent spat, and Harry just smiled at her.

"We were there," he told her. "Save your absurdities for people who weren't. Some of them may even believe you that your parents, Lestrange, eight other Witches and Wizards, five of whom were Imperiused, and dozens of Dementors just happened to be passing by the Burrow sometime around two o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day when they were attacked without provocation and defeated by six Witches and Wizards. The Minister, Aurors, and three other family members didn't get there until after the fight was over."

"When you've lost everything you care about, and die screaming at the hands of the Death Eaters, I hope that they allow Theodore and I to be there to watch you die what will hopefully be a long, excruciating death."

"That's a cheery thought," Ron joked, and Harry shook his head sadly.

"Can't you see that the worst destruction Tom Riddle caused was to the pureblood families he professed to be helping?"

"That's preposterous," Theodore told him. "The Dark Lord gave up everything for us!"

"Did he?" Harry asked quietly. "Where is the Black family now? One of the oldest pureblood families, and Bellatrix killed the last Black family son, and her own sister's daughter. How about the Crouch family? Barty Junior killed his own father, and Tom Riddle ordered him to receive the Dementor's kiss – another pureblood line gone forever." He looked from Millicent to Theodore. "How about your own families? Will your family names die out now too while you and your parents sit in Azkaban? These wars have cost your families as much or more than they've cost ours, but you won't even see a lot of that for decades to come."

"We will not be sitting in Azkaban long," Millicent said confidently, her voice dripping with hate. Harry sighed inwardly. It had been worth a try. Maybe they'd figure out the truth some day before it was too late for them.

"You're wrong about that, like you've been wrong about everything else," he said quietly.

"Keep on deluding yourself;" Theodore told him. "You can't even imagine the extent of the power you're up against."

Harry and Ron both laughed. "Now that really is funny," Ron told him. "Are you saying now that the Dark Lord, Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolohov, and the rest of that lot weren't the most powerful you had? I really thought it took longer to re-write history than this."

Millicent looked ready to fire another retort, but a pair of Healers came into the room next, and they all remained quiet while they checked over their patients. Ron and Harry had both stood, and with wands ready, watched to make sure that their prisoners didn't try anything while they were being treated. They were both given sleeping draughts then, and by the time the Healers left the room, Theodore and Millicent were both drifting off to sleep.

"Now what do we do to entertain ourselves now that our verbal sparring partners are going off to sleep?" Ron asked.

"Well, we can spend some time talking about how incredible our girlfriends are, and what we're going to do in Hogsmeade with them tomorrow," Harry suggested. "If we get bored after that, I'm sure we can scrounge up a Wizards Chess set, and you can beat me at a few games."

Ron nodded. "Okay, but without any sleep tonight, I don't know how we're even going to be awake to do anything with the girls tomorrow."

"We can sleep after they go back to Hogwarts," Harry said with a shrug. "Once we're with them again after three weeks, I'm sure we won't have any problems staying awake."

They sat in the two chairs and talked quietly for hours, though they each took a few minutes for their mirror chats with Ginny and Hermione, and Ron made a couple of trips for coffee and snacks. An attempt to play Wizards Chess at around three o'clock didn't go over so well, since they were both getting tired by then, and Harry wasn't having much luck concentrating on the match. They both got up and did a lot of pacing around the room after that to keep awake and alert. Finally, Josh and Neville came into the room to relieve them and take the day shift.

"Any problems?" Josh asked them, and Harry and Ron both shook their heads tiredly.

"They've been awake for a bit over an hour," Ron reported, "but other than having a fun little chat for a while last night before they were given sleeping draughts, it's been quiet all night."

"Oh look, Theodore," Millicent said as she looked at Neville. "Now we've got Longbottom guarding us. Maybe he'll be able to go visit his dear old Mum and Dad on breaks while he's here."

"Seems I spoke too soon," Ron joked. "That's pretty tame compared to some of the comments last night."

"I can imagine," Neville said, ignoring Millicent's comment.

"Are we supposed to come back here for another shift tonight?" Harry asked Josh.

"The Healer we spoke with on the way in here told us that we'll be able to take them on to Auror Headquarters in a couple of hours," Josh answered. "Take the rest of the weekend off, and then let's get together on Monday morning to see where we're all at with our current cases."

"That definitely works for us," Ron told him. "Let's get out of here, Harry."

After leaving St. Mungo's, Ron went to the Burrow, and Harry went home so they could both grab showers, get cleaned up, and put on fresh clothes before meeting at the Three Broomsticks and ordering breakfast. They'd finished eating when the girls joined them after apparating from the school gates into town, and they shared long hugs and kisses with their respective girlfriends before sitting down and getting a round of hot drinks.

"Have you heard how that little girl they Imperiused is doing this morning?" Harry asked the girls, and Hermione nodded.

"We stopped in to see her – Kendall's her name, by the way - before breakfast. Madam Pomfrey says she'll eventually be okay, but that whichever one of them did the spell botched it, and really messed her mind up. It'll likely take some weeks before Kendall will be completely back to normal."

"Let's pick something up for her from all of us," Harry suggested. "I know we're not responsible for what happened to her, but it still happened because those two were trying to get back at us."

"Hearing that just makes me wish we'd helped those two have a few serious accidents while we were watching them," Ron said darkly. "You know – like falling out of bed in their sleep and landing on their heads, or sleep walking and falling down a flight of stairs, out a window, or off the rooftop."

"Which is exactly the kind of things whoever gave you that job last night was likely hoping would happen," Hermione told him. "Giving you that assignment was ridiculous, and even dumber if they actually thought you'd do anything inappropriate while watching them."

"That sort of thing won't continue much longer," Ginny predicted. "It'll still take time, but Kingsley is starting to move some really good Witches and Wizards that he can trust into the Ministry, and you'll all get that place cleaned up."

"Didn't you do pretty badly at Divination?" Ron joked, and Ginny laughed.

"Maybe, but at least I passed my OWL in it, which is more than you can say," she answered. "I don't need to read tea leaves to see that there are big changes coming at the Ministry, and in the Wizarding World too, even if we've still got some rough patches ahead before things really start getting better for everyone."

"Death Eaters and Dementors trying to kill us, and she calls that 'some rough patches'," Ron said, laughing too. "I wonder where you picked up that talent for massively understating reality from?" he added, looking meaningfully at Harry.

The conversation moved on to lighter topics while they finished their drinks, and then they went out into the cold and got started on the supply shopping. They picked up a large box of assorted chocolates for Hermione and Ginny to take back to school for Kendall while they were picking up other sweets for the girls, and they even had enough time to stop in at Gladrags, where Harry and Ron were able to talk their girlfriends into one new outfit each before it was time to go back to the Three Broomsticks and the luncheon Harry had promised to buy for their friends.

As they sat around the group of tables they'd shoved together, Harry was surprised to realize that this was the first time they'd all gotten together since before the war, and really, since they'd left Hogwarts after sixth year. There was a lot of laughter and fun, but he also saw real changes in all of his friends.

"We should make sure we get together more often after we all graduate," Ginny whispered, and Harry turned his head and smiled at her.

"You're reading my mind again," he whispered back. "I guess we were all tied up with our own lives last summer, but we really should have gotten together at least once or twice."

Ginny hugged him. "Leave that to Hermione and I to work out with the other girls," she told him. "We'll let you know when the party's at your place."

Harry grinned at her. "Can we make that one a sleepover?" he joked, and Ginny laughed, and then kissed him.

"We'll see," she answered without making any promises that they both knew her Mum wouldn't allow her to keep.

Seamus and Dean had teased Harry about ordering one of everything on the menu, and a couple of bottles of Firewhiskey to go, and while they didn't actually do that, Harry did have a pretty large bill after feeding the whole gang. They were all getting ready to go, and Harry was settling his bill with Madam Rosmerta. He had her add two bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, and handed them to Ron, who grinned at him.

"For me?" he asked, and Harry laughed.

"Actually I was thinking you could slip them to Seamus and Dean, and if you're careful, the Head Girl will never know."

Hermione and Ginny both laughed. "I guess this is the point where I'm supposed to look the other way," Hermione told Ginny. "Let's go do the goodbyes while our boyfriends are delivering contraband to our fellow students."

They split up after leaving the Three Broomsticks, and Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione wandered around for a while longer before starting the walk back toward the school. By the time they reached the gates, they were all shivering with cold, and the goodbye hugs and kisses didn't take very long before Hermione and Ginny started walking up to the school. Harry and Ron apparated to their respective homes after the girls were out of sight; both of them only interested in getting some sleep after being up for more than thirty hours.

Harry had only gotten up to have a bite to eat and his nightly call with Ginny on Saturday night, and on Sunday, he'd worked around the house, did some shopping, visited with Andromeda and Teddy for an hour in the afternoon, and had dinner at the Burrow before going back home, having his bedtime chat with Ginny, and getting a good night's sleep. He stopped in at the Burrow again in the morning to meet up with Ron before they went on to Auror Headquarters in time for their meeting with Josh and Neville.

"Where is everyone?" Ron asked as he and Harry sat down next to Neville, across the desk from Josh. "Did someone declare a three-day weekend and forget to let us in on the news?" He'd been smiling, but that faded as he saw the serious looks on both Josh's and Neville's faces.

"Aurors Robards and Dawlish are leading a raid this morning," Josh told them. "They left with ten other Aurors just after I got here about three-quarters of an hour ago."

"Who are they going after?" Ron asked next, his tone now completely serious.

"Thorfin Rowle," Josh answered. "I'm sure that you and Harry recognize that name."

Harry nodded, his face as serious-looking as the others. "Why didn't they ask us to help out?"

"That's what I asked Gawain on his way out, and he just told me they had enough help. Since I didn't even hear a peep about this until today, I'll take a guess that Dawlish for sure, and maybe some of the other Aurors were looking for a big win without us."

"Well, the four of us are just in it for the glory and media attention," Neville suggested. "I really hope they know what they're doing, but I can't shake the bad feeling I've had ever since you told me about this, Josh."

"I'm not getting good feelings about it either, but since we're out of the loop, let's just get on with our own work, and hope they'll be fine."

They started out with going over where Josh and Neville were on their case for the Flints – Marcus' parents, and then had done the same with the Selwyn case that Ron and Harry were continuing to plug away at, though they still hadn't gotten any really good leads yet. There was a commotion in the hallway outside of Headquarters, and Auror Rivers came rushing into the room, followed by a pair of guards who then turned around, and blocked the entrance from what seemed to be quite a few other Witches and Wizards who'd followed them. Auror Rivers was limping badly, and his face and side were covered in blood.

"I need everyone here to come with me immediately," he said loudly. Josh and his trainees were already on their feet, as were the rest of the Aurors who were still at Headquarters, or had come in since Harry and Ron had arrived.

"What's going on?" one of them asked.

"The raid," Rivers answered. "It was a major hideout, and we were outnumbered four or five to one." He was looking both pale, and a bit wild. "We need to hurry."

Harry, Ron, and Neville were right with Josh as he immediately followed Rivers, and the other Aurors weren't far behind. There were stares from a couple of dozen Witches and Wizards in the hallway, but the two guards helped them push past the crowd, and then helped them again to do the same in the Atrium. When they were outside, the only complication they had was that they needed to do several side-along apparation trips before everyone could be brought to the country estate where the raid had been going on. By the time they all arrived, the fight was over, and the house and grounds were littered with bodies, injured, and the house looked like it had been bombed.

"Neville, go for Healers," Josh ordered, and Neville apparated out of sight immediately. Auror Ogden came out of the house and hurried over to meet up with them.

"Except for the injured and dead, most of the Witches and Wizards who were here escaped," she told them. "We've got eight injured Aurors, Aurors Aubrey and Perkins were killed, and Savage and I were the only two unhurt – or at least not seriously hurt. There are six other fatalities, and fourteen more injured."

"What happened Emma?" Josh asked, and she shook her head, looking a bit angry.

"That's something we can discuss later, but where we expected to have between six and eight people here, there were likely more than sixty, and they all joined in the fight. We need to care for the injured and our dead."

Josh nodded. "Where's Gawain?"

"He's inside, in the main hall," Emma told him. "One leg's broken for sure, and he's a bit out of it, so I'm not sure what other injuries he may have."

"Okay. I've already sent Neville to bring Healers, but it's far too cold out here to leave the injured outside. Let's get them moved into the house where we can keep them warmer until we can get them looked at and then moved."

Harry and Ron moved out around the yard with four other Aurors taking care of doing that, while Josh went into the house with Emma. They carefully moved four of the injured, including one Auror before all of the injured had been taken inside, and then they were the only two who went back outside and moved the three dead inside too. They'd just finished doing that, and had moved out into the main hallway again when Harry saw Gawain wave him over.

"How are you, sir?" Harry asked, sitting down on the floor next to him while Ron moved on to see what Josh needed next.

"I've had better days, Auror-trainee Potter," he answered in a thin, pained voice. His face was pinched with the pain too, though his eyes also looked a bit unfocused, and he wasn't looking right at Harry, but just off to the side a bit.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No thank-you," Gawain said, shaking his head just a fraction, and wincing with the pain that small movement caused him. "We were so sure we knew what we were doing – John and I," he continued. "Found out about this hideout before Christmas, and thought we had it all covered. We were going to finally bring in one of the big guns, and do it without needing your help." He closed his eyes for a moment as if to block the memory out.

"I'm sorry, Potter," he practically whispered next, still not looking at Harry.

"Sir? I don't understand," Harry said quietly so he wouldn't be overheard either.

"I had information – from this case – that there might be an attack against the Weasley's on New Year's Eve," he explained, his whisper almost too soft for Harry to hear. "Dawlish said the source was unreliable, and that the Death Eaters wouldn't waste their efforts attacking them." He sighed bitterly. "It never even occurred to us that you'd be there too."

"We managed to deal with them, and none of us were seriously hurt," Harry told him gently. He now understood why Gawain had acted strangely that night, but the man did seem to genuinely regret his actions – or in this case, his inaction. "Do not let that bother you."

Gawain shook his head slightly again. "You weren't hurt," he agreed, "but after that, I insisted that Dawlish take the source he'd gotten that information from seriously. Like I said before, we'd found out about this place before Christmas. We planned this raid based on the information we got from that same source, and we ended up with this mess. It seems he was right after all about his source being unreliable, and two Aurors are dead now because of it."

Harry couldn't think of anything to say to that, but was mercifully rescued from the awkward moment by a Healer who waved him away and began working on Gawain. For the next two hours, Harry didn't have time to think about any of that as he, Ron, and Neville all worked to move the twenty-two injured to St. Mungo's, and then transporting the eight dead after that. When they got back to Auror Headquarters, after running the Atrium gauntlet of reporters and the large group of curious onlookers, they had reports to do, and then Josh and Emma sent all three of the trainees home to get some sleep, since they were all going to be on guard duty starting that night at eight o'clock.

The three friends went for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron after leaving the Ministry of Magic, and Harry stopped in at the Burrow with Ron so that Mrs. Weasley knew he was okay, and that they hadn't been involved in the raid, but just dealing with the mess after it was over. He got about four hours of sleep, and after getting cleaned up, dressed, and fed, he got his mirror out and called Ginny.

"We've heard," Ginny said immediately after her smiling face appeared in his mirror. "I'm torn between being glad you weren't there and thinking that maybe if you had been, things would have turned out better for everyone."

"I've been having the same problem," he agreed. "Ron, Neville, and I are on guard duty all night, so I thought I'd call now in case we can't talk later. Where are you?"

"Heads' office," she answered. "Hermione's grabbing her books for our study session in the Library."

"Anyone else there?" he asked, and watched her shake her head.

"Just us. What's up?" Harry told them all about his conversation with Gawain, and when he was finished, it was Hermione who spoke next.

"This was a terrible way for him to finally learn the lessons you tried to teach him after the warehouse raid and the ambush on Minister Shacklebolt."

"Yes it is," Ginny agreed. "What might even be worse is that Rowle and the others are likely going to be emboldened by what's definitely been a victory for them, not to mention how much the Aurors have been weakened by their losses."

"We'll see what happens. You may find that we'll be stronger because of this," Harry suggested.

They talked for another ten minutes, and then Ginny and Hermione had to get to the study session they were now late for, and Harry had to get over to St. Mungo's for his guard duty. It was starkly obvious just how short of staff the Aurors were when he found out that it would just be the three trainees watching the fourteen injured captives, and that there had only been three Aurors watching them from the time they'd been moved to the ward they were now all sharing. Josh had been one of those three Aurors, so Harry went over to meet with him first.

"How are the injured Aurors doing?" he asked first.

"Three have been treated and released, and three more, including Auror Robards, are being kept overnight for observation, but should be able to leave tomorrow. Auror Dawlish and Auror Horton had the most serious injuries, and will be here for extended stays. Did you get any sleep?"

"Four hours or so," Harry answered. "I'm good to go. Any other news?"

Josh shook his head. "Not that I've heard since coming here, but Minister Shacklebolt is meeting with some of us at nine o'clock, so I expect to get a full report about what happened soon. I'll keep you all posted on what's going on when I can."

"Thanks, Josh. Anything else?"

"I know we're going light on the guard duty right now, but none of this lot were Death Eaters, and most were Imperiused, while the rest were servants. I don't think you'll have any problems with them tonight. Expect to be doing this for a few nights, since some of them will be here for a while before they'll be well enough to be moved."

"Alright," Harry agreed. "If you need anything else, let us know." He looked around the room, from bed to bed, where more than half of the patients were asleep, while others were watching him with wide eyes and nervous looks. "You can all get out of here if you want. Ron and Neville will be here any time now, and I can handle things here for a few minutes until they do."

"Thanks Harry," Josh said, and he and the other two Aurors left the ward, presumably all of them going on to Auror Headquarters for the meeting or other duties.

Harry was just finishing a first walk up and down the rows of beds when Neville joined him, and Ron got there a couple of minutes after that. He was just getting his two friends up to date on what Josh had told him before leaving when a Healer came in and wanted to go over the fourteen cases with them to make sure they knew what special care needed to be taken with each of her patients. That had been a sobering twenty minutes as the three young Wizards were given a clinical lesson in what some of the spells Aurors had in their arsenal could do to Witches and Wizards, though to be fair, some of the injuries were likely caused by being caught in the crossfire or from rebounding spells from Rowle and whoever else had been involved in the fight.

"We've got quite a number of Witches and Wizards wanting to see their family members in here," she finally said after going over all of the cases, and directing her comment to Harry. "The Aurors who were here before wouldn't allow them to come in and visit, but I think it would be helpful to all of them if they could, and would certainly make the night shift easier for our staff."

Harry looked around at the patients again, and after getting shrugs from both Ron and Neville, turned back to face the Healer. "No wands come in the room with any of the visitors, and we'll allow family members only. No more than two visitors per patient, except if they have children, and no more than – six?" he asked, pausing to get nods from Neville and Ron "-visitors in the room at a time. If there's even a hint of any trouble, though, that'll be the end of it."

"We'll make sure they all know that, and thank-you," she said gratefully before hurrying out of the room.

"Josh probably won't like this much," Neville suggested.

"Probably not," Harry agreed, "but it's still the right thing to do for them, and especially for their families."

That decision turned out to be the right thing to do for the three Auror-trainees too. Watching teary-eyed little girls and boys getting to spend some time with their Mums or Dads, and parents, brothers, sisters, and spouses with their loved ones had been, for the most part, moving and rewarding. With only allowing six visitors in the room at a time, it had taken until after midnight to get all of the visitors in and out at least once, but even that went surprisingly smoothly.

Once they'd cut off the visitors for the night, Ron and Neville had gone to get something to eat, and brought a sandwich and coffee back for Harry before settling into a couple of chairs to play Wizards Chess. Harry had watched them and chatted while he ate, taken a washroom break, and then stopped in to the visitor lounge, where he found a young father and his about three-year old daughter who he had met earlier when they had been in to visit the youngest of the Witches he was guarding. She was sitting in her father's lap, and he was rocking her as she cried into his chest, and Harry went over and sat next to them.

"Your Mommy wasn't sleeping either when I left the room a few minutes ago," he told the sweet little girl quietly. "Maybe if you came back in with me, and she could cuddle with your for a while, she would be able to do that, and she really does need to get some sleep so that she can get better." He smiled when he saw her face light up as she looked hopefully at her father. "Your Daddy can come in too, but he'll have to sit in a chair, 'cause I think those beds are just a bit too small for you all to cuddle together in."

She giggled even as she was wiping away the tears. "Thank-you," she said in a soft, musical voice, and Harry reached out and gently squeezed her hand.

"You're very welcome," he assured her.

The two men stood, and Harry was officially introduced to Scott and Candice while they walked over to the ward where Candice's mother, Madeline, was definitely still awake, and in tears when her daughter was tucked in next to her while Harry brought a chair over next to the bed for her husband.

"I'll need to hold your wand while you're in the room," he told Scott quietly, and the man nodded and handed it over. "Let's draw the privacy curtains, and maybe they'll both be able to get some sleep. If you need anything, just let me know." Scott and Madeline both thanked him, and after closing the screens, he went back to sit down with Neville and Ron.

"You're such a softie," Ron accused. "If word of that gets out, you'll have ruined the reputation of the Aurors forever."

"Or started improving it," Neville countered. "I think it was a really nice thing to do."

With most of the patients in the room asleep by then, it was pretty quiet, and they talked in whispers as Ron and Neville continued playing Wizards Chess. A really tired-looking Josh stopped in just before two-thirty, and he had them all step out into the hall for a few minutes. He wanted a report from them first, and Harry gave him the rundown, including what they'd done for allowing visitors, including the two who were still in the room.

"I wouldn't have done that, but it seems that it worked out for the best," he told them. He looked around to make sure they were alone before continuing. "When you're done here in the morning, go back to Auror Headquarters. Auror Robards resigned yesterday when Minister Shacklebolt came here to see him. Auror Ogden has been named interim Head of the Aurors, and wants to meet with you there. You'll get copies of the preliminary report on the raid, and if I make it back there before you all go home to get some sleep, we'll sit down and talk about everything."

"Were you surprised that Emma was picked?" Neville asked, and Josh shook his head.

"I think she's a good choice, and Kingsley picked her himself, which didn't exactly thrill a few of the more senior Aurors. He has definitely sent all of us a message, and it wasn't just his pick to replace Gawain. That meeting wasn't pleasant, and he is not happy with us right now."

"There shouldn't be anyone happy about a total of thirty injuries and fatalities," Harry said solemnly, "though Rowle and the other Death Eaters will be."

"For now," Josh agreed. "Hopefully they won't be staying happy for long. I'm going to get out of here. Your replacements should be here by eight, so Auror Ogden is expecting you by around eight-thirty."

"We'll be there," Harry promised.

He and Neville went back into the ward, while Ron made a coffee and snack run. The rest of the night went fairly quietly. Madeline and Candice had both gone to sleep, and other than taking one short break to get a drink, Scott watched over his wife and daughter all night. A few patients needed help getting to and from the washroom, so Neville, Harry, or one of the hospital staffers assisted them.

The last job Harry had before they were relieved of duty was to see Scott and Candice out, and promise the little girl that she could come back that night to see her mother. Harry knew from the Healer's report that Madeline would likely be in the hospital for at least several days, and possibly longer. It was about a quarter past eight before the three trainees actually got away from St. Mungo's, so they had just made it to Auror Headquarters by eight-thirty. The new interim Head of the Aurors was waiting for them, talking with a few other Aurors outside of her cubicle, and she waved them in, leading the way, and sitting down at her desk.

"I've been here all night, and have a lot to do, so we'll keep this short," she told them. There were a stack of files on her desk, and she took three from the top and handed one to each of them. "Before you go home, read over those reports from the raid. By the end of the day on Friday, I'm asking all Aurors to submit recommendations on what we can do to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Minister Shacklebolt wants my recommendations on his desk by next Monday." She fixed her eyes on Harry's before continuing.

"The Minister and I are serious about this, so don't be worried about giving it to us straight. The days of sucking up and pandering, at least in Auror Headquarters, are over with. Now, how did the night shift go at St. Mungo's?"

Ron and Harry motioned for Neville to do this report, and he spent ten minutes doing that, with their new boss asking pointed, concise questions as he went along. They all liked the fact that she thought they'd made the right decisions, and seemed quite pleased.

"I'm going to stop in there later this morning. Letting them see their families may help a lot with how willing they'll be to talk with us. I'm counting on them having information on Rowle and the others that we can use to track them down again, or at least help us identify everyone who was hiding there," she told them, looking at the notes she'd been making. "I think I'll start with this Madeline. From what I read in the report on her, she wasn't Imperiused, but was just a servant there who got caught in the crossfire."

"I'm not sure any of them will talk unless we can convince them they'll be safe," Harry said, and Emma nodded her agreement.

"They have likely all been threatened, and knowing the Death Eaters, it'd be their families that were used in those threats, but I can be very persuasive, so we'll see what happens. You've all got to work tonight again, though, so go read over those reports and then get out of here and get some sleep."

"Yes ma'am," Ron answered, and he, Neville, and Harry stood and left her cubicle. They all went to Neville's cubicle and sat down to read the report together.

"If Emma's looking for honesty, she's certainly started off with a lot of it in here," Ron said after they'd all finished reading and discussing different parts as they went along.

Neville nodded. "I can't believe they went ahead with that raid, and hadn't even actually done a single stakeout. How can you base your entire raid on what little they actually had to go on? I thought the last raid Dawlish led us on had been bad, but they didn't even have that much this time."

"There basically wasn't anything that went right yesterday," Harry told them. "By the looks of this, they were lucky to have anyone even able to come for help. If the Death Eaters hadn't been so bent on escape, they might have all been killed, and who knows how long it would have been before we found them, or walked into an ambush when we did."

Ron leaned back in his chair, stretching and yawning. "Let's see if Josh made it in, but if he hasn't, I'm ready to get some breakfast and some sleep."

They'd all gotten up, and Josh had just come in, so they had a short meeting with him, but then they went on to their respective homes after that. Harry had something to eat, but then went straight up to bed and was off to sleep within minutes of crawling into bed. The next few days and nights were more of the same, though the number of patients they were watching dropped, and by Thursday night, Neville had been reassigned while Ron and Harry watched the last four Witches and Wizards, including Madeline. While they were still technically in custody, by then this last group knew that the Aurors would not be charging them with any crimes. Of the fourteen injured, only two were still being held at the Ministry as evidence brought their true involvement during the raid into question, and during her interviews with each on the other twelve, Emma had gotten more than half of them to cooperate with her on the investigation.

Harry had allowed Candice to stay with her mother again on Tuesday night, and she came to visit on Wednesday and Thursday, but her parents had managed to convince her to go home to bed both of those last two nights. He'd gotten quite fond of Candice and her Mum and Dad, and while he hadn't figured out how he was going to be able to help them out and get past this trouble, by the time he'd been on the receiving end of a few of Candice's hugs, he knew that he would be helping them out somehow.

After working through the night on Thursday, they went on to Headquarters, where Harry put the finishing touches on his recommendations for Emma, and Ron pretty much got started writing his report. They worked in the office until mid-afternoon, and then headed for their homes, planning on taking the weekend off, catching a Canons' game on Saturday, and resting up after a very long week before getting back to their own case on Monday.

With January coming to an end, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had a lot to look forward to. They'd see each other two weekends in a row, the first in Hogsmeade, and the second at the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. The girls were excited about their first Valentine's Day with Harry and Ron, even though they couldn't actually be together for it, and lastly, the end of the month had them one month closer to being done school.

As they moved into February, the shadow cast by the events of the past week had been as sobering for them as it had been for many others. Even though they were moving through the deepest part of winter, and there were sure to be new challenges ahead, the anticipation and excitement that came with the best things happening in their lives would return, and sharing those times of joy and happiness was, after all, the reason why Harry, Ron, and so many others were working so hard – to make those moments possible.


	12. First Comes Love, Then Comes Quidditch

Chapter Twelve – First Comes Love, Then Comes Quidditch

Harry and Ron were back on their stakeout on Monday morning, after having a pretty good weekend off. At least Harry had thought so. Ron had not been happy with his team, since the Cannons had been blown out on Saturday by Puddlemere United four hundred and seventy to just sixty for the Cannons. Since it had been cold out, windy, and there'd been a freezing rain and snow mix coming down during most of the game, Harry hadn't minded that the game had been fairly short, even if it had been a lopsided loss for the Cannons. He supported his friend, not the team anyway.

On Sunday, Harry had worked around the house, taken Andromeda and Teddy out for lunch, gone back to their house for a visit, did a little late afternoon shopping that included getting a present for Mr. Weasley's upcoming birthday, and then spent a quiet evening at home. He'd written a letter to Ginny, sent Storm off with that and the little gift he'd picked up for her, and then settled into the sitting room to listen to the WWN and work on some lessons from his Auror training book.

"Have you picked up anything for your Dad's birthday yet?" he asked Ron. They'd both been waiting for someone to follow for over an hour since Harry had returned from the last short tracking run that had only gone three blocks before the Wizard had apparated away.

"You did know it's this Saturday, right?" Harry asked when he saw the look of blank incomprehension on Ron's face.

"Um, no," Ron answered. "I suppose Ginny told you, and you've already done your shopping too."

Harry nodded. "Yes, and I picked up what she suggested yesterday. If it makes you feel better, though, I haven't gone shopping for Valentine's Day presents for Ginny yet."

Ron groaned quietly. "Great. I've got to get birthday and Valentine gifts, and have no ideas for either."

"You could give your Dad dinner for two on Valentine's Day somewhere," Harry suggested with a laugh, and Ron grinned at him.

"That's actually a pretty good idea," he said enthusiastically. "Do you know what you're getting Ginny?"

"I'm probably going with some kind of jewelry for her main present, and we get to see them in Hogsmeade on the thirteenth, so I'm thinking about giving her that present then, but I was also going to send flowers and chocolates by Owl Post for Sunday too. I'll pop up to Hogsmeade sometime this week to order those, since the flowers would probably freeze if I sent them from here with Storm."

"Flowers, Chocolates, and maybe jewelry," Ron said, ticking them off on his fingers. "That should work. Anything else?"

"Other than lunch in Hogsmeade, and maybe some Valentine clothes shopping at Gladrags, that's all I've been thinking about doing."

"That works for me too," Ron agreed. Two fairly young, attractive Witches came out of the building they were watching and he grinned. "It's a gift," he joked before going to follow them, and Harry laughed quietly, then relaxed and continued their stakeout alone.

That was pretty much the way the whole week went for them, except for their Wednesday training session. While they were putting in long days on their stakeout, at Hogwarts, Hermione and Ginny were busy too. Most of the girls at school were keeping occupied with the gossip and speculation that always preceded Valentine's Day, and while they did mostly stay updated on the latest news about the good, bad, and ugly romance stories going on, they were also loaded down with work.

Like all of the students, whether they were keeping up or not, they were loaded down with assignments in every class. Hermione and Ernie both seemed to be dealing with more problems with their duties as Head Girl and Boy, ranging from broken hearts to broken bones and other maladies. Ginny was as excited as any other Witch about Valentine's Day, but with less than three weeks to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch game, she had her team working out five times a week now to get ready for the game. All of that made for early morning starts and late nights pretty much every day.

They did manage to have a little fun mixed in. Ginny loved starting her Monday with Storm's delivery of the gift and long letter from Harry, and while the NEWT work was hard, it was also often brilliant as they successfully learned to do some of the most advanced, and coolest, magic. Quidditch practices were always a challenge in the winter, but the Gryffindor team was also playing as well or better than any other Gryffindor team Ginny had watched or played on, so they all were able to stay motivated and happy. There were other fun moments nearly every day, but for Ginny and Hermione, the bedtime chats with their boyfriends continued to be the best part of their days.

"I really wish I could be there with all of you tomorrow," Ginny told Harry after they'd given each other their daily recap on Friday night as she cuddled in bed with Arnold. She was laying on her side facing Hermione's bed, and saw that she was having her chat with Ron while snuggled close with Crookshanks. "Until you and Ron were out of school, I'd never really thought about how much we miss here at Hogwarts – like birthdays and family dinners and stuff."

Harry nodded. "I really wish you could be here for your Dad's birthday dinner too. If you want, I can take my mirror, and you can at least wish him a happy birthday using that tomorrow."

"Thanks, Harry. I'd really like that. Who all is going to be there?"

"All of your brothers, Fleur, Julianne, and Audrey are coming, along with some of your Dad's friends from the Ministry, a few members of the Order, and Andromeda and Teddy."

"Has Teddy learned any new words?" she asked. Getting to hear him say 'Gama' and 'Ginee' over the holidays still gave her the warm fuzzies to think about.

"There seems to be a couple of new words every time I see him now," Harry answered. "He's got some consonant issues that make some of his words pretty funny, but since Andromeda looks mortified every time one of those words slip out, I really have to try hard not to laugh. His problem with the letter 'T' is the one that Andromeda's really trying to get fixed right now."

Ginny had been laughing at his comments, and was smiling now. "Hopefully Ron's not going with you for very many of those visits. He'd be egging Teddy on."

"He doesn't come with me over there, but he's not helping much whenever he's home when your Mum's watching Teddy. She said that Andromeda was really mad the one day when Ron apparently got Teddy working on 'stuck', 'Tucker', and a few other choice words."

"He didn't!" Ginny exclaimed, laughing again as Harry nodded.

"Yes he did, and when George heard about it, he thought it was so funny, he's started working on a baby talk wheeze."

"Why am I not surprised at that? He'll probably have a whole line of baby wheezes out by summer."

They talked for quite a while after that, and as sometimes happened; Ginny fell asleep with her mirror still in hand. Harry lay awake and just watched her sleep for a while before ending the connection by putting his mirror on the night table, and going off to sleep too.

On Saturday, Harry was helping out around the Burrow to get ready for the birthday party. He and Ron de-gnomed the garden, then spent the rest of the morning helping Mrs. Weasley clean the house pretty much from top to bottom. Ron did a fair bit of grumbling about the whole deal, but now that Harry had been taking care of his own house for a while, he had a whole different perspective on cleaning, and was happy to lend a hand. Mr. Weasley had been given a birthday reprieve for the day, and had spent the morning working on his model plane, which was coming along slowly, but he'd insisted on building the same way any Muggle would have built it, though he could have done it in about ten minutes with magic. They'd had lunch together, and by the time Harry had finished helping Mrs. Weasley with the cleanup, their guests had begun arriving for the party.

The Wizards were mostly sent off to the sitting room as they arrived, while the Witches gathered in the kitchen for some girl talk time while Mrs. Weasley worked on her cooking and baking for dinner with some help here and there from Fleur, Julianne, and Audrey. Teddy was sent in with the boys when he arrived with Andromeda, though she firmly warned Ron, George, and the rest of the boys not to try teaching her grandson any more inappropriate word pronunciations – or else.

"Your Grandma doesn't seem to trust us," Ron told Teddy, who was happily bouncing on Harry's lap and babbling away at his Godfather.

"Gama!" he said happily.

"Like she doesn't have reason to worry," Harry told Ron. "When George gets those baby talk wheezes perfected, I really hope she never finds out that they were inspired by her grandson."

"Hey Teddy," Bill said, coming over and bringing Harry and Ron drinks. "Are you having fun entertaining your Uncle Harry?"

"Unca Airwy!" Teddy exclaimed, and all three Wizards laughed. Harry hugged Teddy, who giggled and squirmed, wanting to go back to bouncing.

"Uncle?" Harry asked Bill, and watched as he shrugged.

"Uncle Harry works better than having him call you Godfather, don't you think?"

"Unca Airwy! Unca Airwy!" Teddy mimicked, giving his little stamp of approval to Bill's suggestion.

"That's cute," George said, coming over to join them. "Can you say Uncle Ron Ron?" he asked Teddy.

"Unca Won Won!" Teddy said proudly, looking up at George and smiling at him.

"That's perfect, Teddy!" he said enthusiastically. "I can hardly wait for Hermione to hear you call him that." Harry and Bill laughed along with George, and Teddy giggled too.

"Unca Won Won! Unca Won Won," Teddy repeated, giggling some more as he watched Harry laugh. Ron looked horrified.

"That is so wrong," he told George, who just laughed harder.

"Like some of the words you've tried teaching him were so sweet and innocent," he countered. "By the time Hermione and Ginny get home, he'll likely be past getting those sounds mixed up anyway, so don't get all worked up about it."

While that was probably true, neither George or Ron had taken into account that their father had heard the conversation, or that Hermione and Ginny would both be talking with him using Harry's two-way mirror less than an hour later. Both girls had talked to him for a while, and Harry had grinned when Mr. Weasley had asked him to bring Teddy over, having a pretty good idea what he had in mind.

"Hey Teddy," he said as Harry set him down in his lap. "Want to say 'Hi' to Ginny?"

"Ginee!" Teddy practically squealed when he saw her in the mirror, reaching out for it. "Hi Ginee!"

"Hi Teddy," she answered, smiling brightly at him. "How are you, sweetie? Are you having fun today?"

"Fun!" Teddy mimicked.

"Teddy's been learning some new words today," Mr. Weasley told her. "Would you and Hermione like to hear them?"

"Sure," Ginny agreed. "What have you learned today, Teddy?"

Mr. Weasley was grinning now, and his eyes were laughing. "Can you say Uncle Harry?" he asked.

"Unca Airwy!" Teddy answered immediately, looking up at Harry and giggling.

"That's great, Teddy!" Ginny told him, and Mr. Weasley laughed.

"We thought so, but this next one's really good. Say Uncle Ron Ron, Teddy."

"Unca Won Won!" he said excitedly. "Unca Won Won!" Everyone in the sitting room could hear Ginny and Hermione both laughing, and quite a few of them were laughing too, especially since Ron was turning beet red.

"Thanks, Dad," Ginny told him. "This has been the most fun we've had all day. Have a happy birthday. I love you."

"Love Ginee!" Teddy said, and Harry could see Ginny's eyes fill up as her smile brightened.

"I love you too, Teddy," she assured him. Mr. Weasley handed the mirror up to Harry and hugged Teddy while Harry went out into the hallway so he could have a minute to talk with Ginny alone.

"That was really amazing," she told him as she wiped a few tears away. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome," he said quietly. "If I had any doubts before where your brothers got the joke gene from, I don't have them anymore. That was brilliant timing, and Ron had no idea it was coming until right at the last minute."

"Who taught him that today?" she asked.

"Bill called me Uncle Harry earlier, and Teddy picked up on it. George taught him Uncle Ron Ron on purpose. The 'love Ginee' was a first."

"Thank George for us too," Ginny said, and Harry nodded.

"I will. I love you, Ginny. Tell Hermione I love her too, say 'Hi' to everyone else for me, and I'll talk to you again tonight."

"Hermione heard, we love you too, and I'll do that," Ginny answered.

They ended the chat, and when Harry got back to the sitting room, he found out that he'd missed Teddy's first 'Love Gama', and the tears and hugs that went along with it, but Teddy had been happy to repeat it for him and giggle while getting some more hugs and kisses from his grandmother. Mr. Weasley opened his presents in the sitting room, and then they all went into the kitchen to have dinner. Harry and Ron, George, and Bill were on the cleanup crew, sending everyone else back into the sitting room to relax and enjoy spending the evening together.

"How did Charlie get out of this?" Ron complained.

"By going to live in Romania," Bill answered. "He probably won't be back until at least sometime this summer, so I don't mind doing a little extra work so he and Julianne can spend the time with Mum and Dad."

"Maybe you should get out on your own for a while," George suggested. "I give you about a week of doing your own cooking, cleaning, and laundry before you decide that a little work like this here and there is way better than doing it all yourself."

"I think that you should stop trying to help me today," Ron told him. "I still can't believe that Dad got Teddy to do that Unca Won Won thing you taught him for Ginny and Hermione. I'm never going to live that one down."

"Probably not," George agreed. "You're welcome."

Harry had really loved spending another family day with the Weasleys, and his chat that night with Ginny had been great too as he gave her the recap of the highlights of the day. On Sunday, he and Ron got back to their stakeout, and the long days of watching the building and following the Wizards and Witches who frequented the place. Harry was alone again on Thursday morning as he watched the building, and was mostly spending the time thinking about seeing Ginny on the Hogsmeade weekend that was now just two days away when Ron rejoined him, his face lit up with triumph.

"We've got him," he said in a near-whisper. "I followed those two Witches, and he answered the door to the little cottage they eventually led me to after doing some shopping. Let's go. Hopefully he'll still be there, and we can figure out what we're going to do about him."

They left right away, and Ron side-along apparated Harry to a spot a few blocks away from the cottage. They'd done a walk-around the block, and then picked a spot across the street and down two houses where they could watch the place without being seen. Harry had waited until then to get any of the details.

"Did you see anyone else there?" he asked, and Ron shook his head.

"No, but the door was only open long enough for the two girls to go inside. The place looks small, but for all we know, he could have made it a lot bigger inside."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "Let's just watch the place for now, and see where it goes from here, even if this won't be as much fun for you as chasing pretty Witches all over the country."

Ron grinned at him. "Don't forget that I'm doing that for you and Ginny," he reminded Harry. "I'll take putting another Death Eater away over that any day, though."

They'd been there for a couple of hours when the two Witches left the cottage again, and Harry had been able to see Selwyn at the door as they were let out. They'd let the girls leave without following them, and spent most of the rest of the day watching the cottage with absolutely nothing else going on. It was nearly dinnertime when the door suddenly opened, and Selwyn stepped out, closing the door behind him, locking it, walking out to the sidewalk, and then turning and walking toward where Ron and Harry were hiding.

"See anyone else around?" Harry whispered, and Ron shook his head as they both continued to scan the area.

"No. Think we should go for it?" he whispered back.

"Yes," Harry answered, pulling out his wand. "I'll put up the anti-apparition, you can do the honors."

Ron flashed him a grin for a second, and then stepped away from their hiding spot out into the open as Harry's shield slammed into place around the entire block.

"Mr. Selwyn, I am Auror-trainee Weasley, and you are under arrest," Ron called out. Selwyn froze for a moment, and Ron didn't even get time to ask him to surrender his wand and come with him before the man had drawn his wand, hurled a killing curse at Ron, and turned to flee in the other direction.

Harry had a small bench that was in the front yard near them flying through the air to intercept the curse half way, and followed that with a disarming spell that had Selwyn spinning around again, stumbling as he watched his wand shoot through the air and land in Harry's hand. Ron blasted him off of his feet with the body-bind spell he'd fired, and Selwyn landed on his back with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of him and left him gasping for air.

"Well, Harry, the good news is, we've captured Selwyn," Ron said conversationally as they walked over to retrieve their captive. "The bad news is that we'll be at Headquarters late processing him and filling out reports."

"At least it'll be warm there," Harry pointed out, and Ron nodded.

"There is that," he agreed. "Let's see now. I guess I only got as far as the 'you're under arrest' part. Mr. Selwyn, among other things, you're under arrest as an accomplice in the murder of Alastor Moody and the attempted murder of Harry Potter, along with so many other crimes that we should go over them after we get to Headquarters, or we'll all freeze to death before I could finish the list."

"We wouldn't want that," Harry told him. "Let's get going, and maybe we'll still manage to get home sometime before midnight."

They did manage to get back to their homes quite a bit earlier than that, mostly because Emma told them to do their reports in the morning and sent them home after they'd gotten Selwyn into a holding cell. On Friday, she had a meeting with them when they'd finished their reports and handed them in.

"Since Josh is out in the field today, I'll go over your next assignment with you," she began after inviting them to sit down. "I've already let him know what you'll be working on." She handed them each a thick folder next before continuing.

"I'm giving you the Thorfin Rowle case. Since we now know that he was hiding out with a large group of fugitives, and they were using the Imperius Curse to boost their numbers, you're going to need to be extremely cautious. Since that tactic proved so effective for defending themselves last time, there is certainly no reason to believe they're not continuing to work together in whatever new hideout they've found."

"We'll be careful," Harry promised.

"All of the old information is in those files, along with everything we've learned since the raid," Emma told them next. "I've been told for sure that Auror Dawlish will not be fit for field duty again, and when he recovers as much as he will, Minister Shacklebolt is going to assign him to another department and job that he'll be able to do." She looked seriously from Ron to Harry.

"This case is now our number one priority. Minister Shacklebolt wants this group taken down to send a message to the other fugitives, and he'd really like to send that message before they get too emboldened by what happened. I've been ordered to make sure that you get anything you need to make that happen, so whatever you need to move this case along, just ask, and it'll be yours."

"Thank-you," Harry told her. "Do we continue to report to Josh, or do you want updates directly?"

"You'll continue to report to Josh," she answered. "He's to give me weekly reports, plus updates for any significant news on the case, so expect him to be keeping close tabs on you with this one. Any field work at all, and I want him to know where you are at all times."

Emma had a few other instructions for them, and then Ron and Harry spent the rest of the day on Friday getting a start on reading through the files. Harry took his copy home with him when they left for the day, planning on reading the entire file over the weekend, since they'd decided to take both days off, rest up, and be ready to get on their new case.

It was a cold, snowy morning when Harry and Ron apparated to the school gates on Saturday morning just before the Hogwarts students would be getting there on the way to Hogsmeade. They weren't the only Wizards there, and shook hands with Rolf, who'd decided to surprise Luna for Valentine's Day, even though he'd been on an expedition in South America, and had needed to get up early and take an International Portkey home to be there for the day. Since Luna was walking with Ginny, Hermione, and most of their other friends, they all got to watch how happy his surprise made her.

"That was fun," Ginny told them after hugging and kissing Harry, "but if it's all right with everyone, let's apparate to town and sit down with some hot drinks. It's way too cold out to walk all the way to town when we don't have to."

Her suggestion was approved unanimously – at least the apparating to town part, though it was just Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and their boyfriends who went into the Three Broomsticks to get drinks while the others went off to get started on their supply shopping.

"They're all going off to Madam Puddifoot's later," Luna informed them. "Ginny said you wouldn't like going there because of that thing with Cho a couple of years ago, and all of the snogging that goes on there," she told Harry, and Rolf and Ron both laughed. Harry grinned at her.

"It's not my favorite place in town," he agreed, then handed Ginny her present. "I am going to try to do better this Valentine's Day. Hermione told me that I'd really botched my last, and one and only previous attempt, but I think that went so badly because I hadn't been with the right Valentine."

Ginny laughed and hugged him before tearing into the wrapping paper. "I'd say you're finally catching on," Hermione joked, then had a hug and kiss for Ron when he handed her a present too.

"They both seem to be doing just fine so far," Luna told her two friends.

Rolf smiled, and handed her a present too. "Well, since the other guys are doing this now, I'll make it three for three," he said, and laughed when Luna hugged him happily. The three couples spent a couple of minutes paired up as the girls opened their gifts and shared some extra hugs and kisses with their boyfriends.

"Thank-you, Harry. They're beautiful," Ginny breathed into his ear as she hugged him.

"You're welcome," he assured her. She had him help her put the necklace on – a gold, open heart with a diamond in the center, and then she put the matching earrings in herself. They shared another hug and soft kiss, and then the girls were showing each other what their boyfriends had given them, and chatting for another half hour while they finished their drinks before going out into town to do their shopping.

They picked up the supplies first, and then made Gladrags their last stop before going back to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. There was a big Valentine's weekend sale on at Gladrags, so Harry was able to talk Ginny into two new blouses, a sweater, and a matching set of pants, skirt, and jacket from a new spring lineup that Harry thought she looked stunning in. Hermione and Luna each picked up several things too, and all three young Witches were pretty happy when they left the store. Since they'd showed their boyfriends how happy they were with generous hugs and kisses, Harry, Ron, and Rolf were pretty happy campers too.

The Three Broomsticks was packed for lunch, and they had about a twenty-minute wait before getting a table. Since that put them at the tail end of the lunch rush, it did mean that they could take their time eating and stay a bit longer before it was time to apparate with the three girls back to the school gates and say their goodbyes again.

"Have a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow," Harry said quietly as he and Ginny held each other close. "As long as nothing comes up with our new case, I'll see you at the game next weekend."

"You did say that you and Ron were taking the weekend off," she whispered, smiling at him. "Why don't you wait until Ron and Rolf are gone, and come spend the rest of today and tomorrow at school with me, Paddy?"

Harry laughed and kissed her. "I'd love to do that, but we both know that I can't," he whispered back. "Besides, if your curse breaker and dragon handler brothers found out I'd spent the weekend in your dorm room with you, I'd be in some serious trouble – not to even think about what your Mum would do to me."

Ginny hugged him tighter as she laughed quietly. "Wouldn't that be a great story for the Daily Prophet – the Chosen One is afraid of his girlfriend's Mommy."

"More like I never want to do anything to disappoint or hurt your Mum," Harry told her seriously. They both saw that Hermione and Luna were wrapping up their goodbyes, and shared another sweet kiss and hug before Ginny joined them, and they started the long walk up to the school while all three Wizards watched them until they were out of sight.

"Is it just me, or are these goodbyes getting harder?" Harry asked. "If you're not in any hurry to get back to South America, Rolf, I'm thinking that a drink at the Leaky before heading home is in order."

They did that, and then Harry went home, spending the rest of the day on Saturday working around the house, having dinner, and then spending the evening reading through the case file for Rowle and company. On Sunday, he went for a visit with Andromeda and Teddy, taking a little gift with him for Teddy to give his grandmother, and then he stopped in to the Burrow to wish Mrs. Weasley a Happy Valentine's Day, and drop off a box of chocolates for her. Ron went with him back to his house, and they were going to hang out for the afternoon and have dinner together, since Ron was on his own for that – the one downside of the Valentine's Day dinner for two he'd given Mr. Weasley for his birthday.

Valentine's Day at Hogwarts was mostly work for Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, though most of their study group were off in pairs and scattered around the school doing more snogging than studying for sure. All three girls had been sent Owl Posts in the morning, and Ginny had received three, with Snowstorm bringing her a Valentine's letter from Harry to go along with the flowers and chocolates. The rest of their day was all about getting ahead on their assignments except for the bedtime chats that Ginny and Hermione had with their boyfriends.

During the week leading up to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game, Ginny had worked her team hard every day, and they'd all been exhausted each night when they went to bed as they all struggled to keep up with the extra workload. On Thursday, as they wrapped up their practice, Ginny called her team together at center pitch for a post-practice meeting.

"Great practice," she told them happily, though her voice was hoarse from hours of shouting out instructions as they'd worked on their game plan. "I know you'll all be terribly disappointed, but we're taking tomorrow off from practicing, and the only order I have for you is a nine o'clock curfew. We all need to get a good night's sleep tomorrow night, but other than that, there isn't anything else we could do to be any more ready than we are right now."

"Too bad we couldn't make it a nine o'clock curfew tonight and sleep through until Saturday morning," Seamus joked. "We'll take what we can get, though, so thanks Captain."

"You're scaring me, Seamus," Dean told his best friend. "I never thought the day would come when you'd be happy about being told to go to bed by nine o'clock on a Friday night."

"My opinion on that varies depending on how pretty the Witch giving the order is," he answered.

"I'm telling Lavender you said that," Demelza told him.

Seamus laughed. "That's fine with me. She knows how I feel about her, and even if she didn't, every Witch and Wizard with eyes knows that our Captain is permanently off the market anyway."

"Why did you all have to grow up and get all mature?" Demelza complained. "That just takes so much of the fun out of life."

"We're really sorry about that," Ginny told her. "On Saturday, we'll see what we can do about helping to put some fun back into your life for you."

Ginny definitely felt like there was a lot of fun in her life on Saturday morning, starting with the Owl Post that Storm brought for her with a good luck present and letter from Harry, and then continuing on with a really great team warm-up and meeting. The best part of the morning so far, though had been the absolutely brilliant kiss she and Harry had shared before she had to get back to her team, and he had to go find Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their Gryffindor friends and get ready to watch the game.

All of that had her fired up for the game, and everyone else on the team couldn't help but get excited about the match too. Gryffindor was announced first, and she led the team out and around the stadium, landing next to Madam Hooch on the pitch while Hufflepuff then did their loop next. She shook hands with Cadwallander, the Hufflepuff Captain, and after getting the usual pre-game instructions, both teams got ready, and Madam Hooch sent the quaffle high into the air.

"Here we go, Quidditch fans!" Rose called out. "Smith and Robins race for the quaffle and – OH! – that was a close one! Smith barely dodges a hard bludger strike, and Robins reaches the quaffle first. She turns and passes, no, it's a fake! Robins rolls back and races toward the Hufflepuff goals. She fakes, shoots, and SCORES! Gryffindor is up ten to naught on their first shot!"

"Is she supposed to be that excited about her House team getting scored on?" Ron joked. "That was a pretty great play, though."

"Cadwallader picks up the quaffle, passes to Madley, who passes to Smith, and he misses the pass dodging another hard bludger hit! Finnigan grabs the loose quaffle and passes it to Thomas. He goes in on Whitby, and he tosses it up and backward to Robins who shoots and SCORES!"

The Gryffindor section had a lot to cheer about as the game continued. Their team's game plan was fairly simple – Ritchie and Jimmy keyed in on Zacharias Smith with their bludger attacks, which pretty much left Gryffindor with a three on two Chaser battle. Laura Madley managed to score two goals for Hufflepuff, but Gryffindor had sixty points in just under twenty minutes. That was when Ginny put the game away for Gryffindor.

She'd been running Hufflepuff's Seeker, Summerby, ragged just trying to keep up with her, and hold her off from ending the game even earlier. Harry was on his feet and shouting before she even caught the snitch, knowing what was coming when Summerby had again blocked her from the snitch, but then looked dumbstruck when she pulled off the flip she'd worked on with Harry and left him going the wrong way as she sped back and easily caught the snitch.

"Did you see that, folks?" Rose exclaimed. "However Weasley did that, it was a brilliant move! Gryffindor wins two hundred and ten to twenty!"

"Did I forget to tell her to drag the game out for eight or ten hours so I could cuddle with Hermione all day?" Ron asked. "I'm pretty sure I mentioned that a couple or six times right before the game."

"You didn't forget," Hermione assured him, "but it's probably a really good thing for Hufflepuff that she didn't do that to them. At the rate Demelza, Seamus, and Dean were scoring goals, that wouldn't have been very sportsmanlike."

"Why don't you two go take the long walk around to the gates," Harry suggested. "You could probably drag it out for a half hour or more if you try. I'll meet you back at the Burrow whenever you get there, Ron."

They had thought that was a very good idea, so while Ron and Hermione left the stadium, Harry went down to the pitch to meet up with Ginny. Her face was still flushed with that competitive fire, and her eyes sparkling with excitement as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"You were brilliant," he told her after she'd leaned back a bit so she could look at him. She loved seeing the pride and love for her that he had shining in his eyes as much as he loved how incredibly beautiful and alive she looked at times like this. "Your whole game plan was perfect too."

"It actually worked out even better than we'd hoped," Ginny answered as she hugged him again. "Smith probably hasn't even figured out that Ritchie and Jimmy were only going for near misses, not direct hits."

Harry laughed. "Which might explain why he dodged right into the one that did hit him."

"Yes it would," she agreed. "Did Hermione take Ron off somewhere to snog him before you have to leave?"

"That's probably in their plans for the walk back to the gates," Harry agreed. "Too bad we'll have to settle for me walking you back to the locker rooms, but your fellow Gryffindors will be expecting their Captain in the Common Room soon to celebrate with them."

"I suppose, though I'd really rather spend a little more time with you. At least it'll only be two weeks until the next Hogsmeade weekend."

The other players were already heading for the locker rooms, so Harry walked there with Ginny, and they shared a long hug and kiss goodbye before she went in to get cleaned up and ready for her party, while he left the grounds and apparated to the Burrow. He'd already finished a cup of hot chocolate and given Mr. and Mrs. Weasley the game recap by the time a grinning Ron joined them in the kitchen.

"Must've been some goodbye," Mr. Weasley joked. "He doesn't even look frozen solid like he should be after being outside that long."

"You and I always managed to find a way to stay warm when we went to the winter Quidditch games," Mrs. Weasley told him, and laughed at the look on Ron's face.

"Mum, that is seriously way too much information," he complained. "I'm still trying to get over catching the two of you snogging in the sitting room last weekend after I got back from Harry's place on Sunday night."

"You didn't tell me about that," Harry said, and Ron groaned.

"Me and my big mouth," he muttered. "I didn't tell you because I'm trying to pretend it was just a nightmare, and I'm sure you think it's great."

"Unless you're only expecting a decade or so of romance in your own life, I'd think you should think it was great too," Harry told him. "When were you planning on being too old for snogging?"

"I'd love to know your answer to that question," Mrs. Weasley told Ron with a bright smile. "We can write it down on some parchment and get you to sign it for future reference."

Ron glared at Harry for a long moment. "You are supposed to be my best mate, remember? This is so not funny."

"Only from your point of view," Harry told him. "We're finding the whole thing very entertaining."

Harry stayed and visited for a couple of hours, and then he went out to visit Teddy and Andromeda, do some supply shopping, and then spend the rest of the day at home, since he and Ron were going to be back at work on Sunday. They'd started running down the leads they had from the new information that had been gathered since the disastrous raid on the Monday after Valentine's Day, and it took all of the last week of February to finish doing that, each lead taking them to another dead end.

Since Ron's birthday was on Monday, and they were going to be working, Harry was taking him to see the Cannons play the Arrows on Saturday. They met up at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, and then went on to the Ellis Moor Stadium. They picked up drinks and snacks at the concessions, but other than getting the game program, Ron didn't add anything to his now extensive Cannons souvenir collection.

They'd only been in their seats for a few minutes when the teams were introduced. As had been the case for every Cannons game Harry had attended so far, the Arrows fans far outnumbered the Cannons fans, and the stadium shook with their cheers when their team roared out and flew around high above the pitch. The pre-game didn't take long, and then the referee threw the quaffle into the air, and the match got underway.

"I think Rose Zeller's doing a better job announcing the Hogwarts games that this guy is doing today," Harry told Ron as they watched the action. "You'd think he was commentating a Wizards Chess match."

Ron laughed. "Too bad Lee didn't go into the business. He'd have been loads better too, but I guess he's happy working for that Wizarding Wireless station now."

"I don't get to catch his show very often, but the few times I have, it was great," Harry said, and Ron nodded.

"I've come home a few times and heard Mum and Dad laughing at some of the things he comes up with. Come on! My dear old Aunt Muriel coulda stopped that one!"

"Your dear old Aunt Muriel could scare a quaffle away with a glare and sharp word," Harry suggested, and Ron grinned at him.

"She is formidable," he agreed, "and I don't mind admitting that she still scares me a bit either. Why don't you just put on an Arrows uniform? You might as well be playing for them anyway!"

"The Cannons are only down thirty points, mate," Harry pointed out. "It's not like they're scoring on their own goals or anything."

"Might as well have, giving up a three on one break like that," Ron told him. "I know the Cannons are coming off back-to-back games, but it's not like the game last week was a marathon or anything, they played lousy, and lost the match. They ought to be trying a bit harder this week, not looking even worse."

Harry couldn't really argue that point, and the Arrows continued to slowly pull ahead as the game went on. They were up by a score of two hundred to sixty when the Arrows and Cannons Seekers both crashed as they fought to catch the snitch, and somehow, miraculously, Galvin Gudgeon came out of the two Wizard pile-up with the snitch in hand, giving the Cannons an improbable win, defeating the Arrows by a score of two hundred and ten to two hundred.

"Maybe the Quidditch powers that be decided to give their loyal Cannons fan an early birthday present," Harry suggested as Ron stood and cheered for his team.

"More like we just got handed one of those 'anything can happen in Quidditch' moments, but I'll take a Cannons win any way they come," Ron answered with a laugh.

"I'm sure that the Cannons will too," Harry said.

They stayed to watch a bit of the post-game activity, and then left for their respective homes. Ron was going to spend the evening and have dinner with George, and Harry had work to do around the house, and some reading he wanted to do on the Rowle case, since they needed to work up new leads now that none of the leads so far had given them anything useful. He'd worked straight through until it was time for his chat with Ginny, and then they'd ended the night with another of those talks where they stayed connected until quite a while after Ginny had fallen asleep while Harry just lay quietly in his bed and watched her.

Ron and Harry were back to work on Sunday, and they spent the last day of February chasing down the few new leads that Harry had found in the stack of Ministry reports he'd taken home on the weekend, though they again had come up empty by the time they'd called it a day and gone home for the night.

Sometimes, as they were working through the days and weeks apart from each other, Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione all felt like time was practically standing still, but the end of February marked yet another month down, and they now had less than four months left to go until the end of school for the girls. There were five weeks until Easter, and while there wasn't any Quidditch at Hogwarts until May, there were two Hogsmeade weekends during March, the first one just days away. As March began on Monday, those two days were like a pair of bright oasis in what was looking to be some very tough weeks of work for all of them, either with NEWT studies, or out in the field trying to crack the biggest case the Aurors had on the go.

As the two couples ended the month and night with their usual bedtime chats, none of them were looking down the road toward anything except maybe the next Hogsmeade weekend, but were continuing to do what they'd been doing most of the past two months – taking each day one at a time, doing their very best, and then doing that all over again the next day. That seemed to be working well for them so far, and while NEWT studies at Hogwarts was fairly predictable, and Harry and Ron's job was not, they were all sure that they were going to need to continue doing their very best for them to have continued success in their studies and work.


	13. Auror Redemption

Chapter Thirteen – Auror Redemption

"Happy nineteenth mate," Harry said as he walked into the kitchen at the Burrow on Monday morning to meet up with Ron before going to work. He tossed an envelope on the table, and it slid across to where his friend was sitting down and still working on what was probably his second plate full of his favorite breakfast foods. "Good morning, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley," he added, going over to hug Ron's Mum before sitting down across the table from him.

"Thanks, Harry," Ron said around a mouthful of food. He scooped up the envelope, opened it up, pulled the card out, and then nearly choked on his food when he opened the card and saw what was inside. Mr. Weasley thumped him on the back, and once he'd finished coughing, Ron let out a whoop of excitement. "Two seasons tickets for the Cannons next season, and really great seats too!" he exclaimed, showing them to his parents. "This is really brilliant!"

"I'm glad you like them," Harry said, happy that Ron liked the gift as much as he'd hoped he would. "I don't know if you'll be able to make every game, but you can always lend the tickets to someone else to use for games you can't get to."

"How come that was a 'you' and not a 'we'?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"Hermione and Ginny will be done school, mate, and while, if it works out that I can get to a few games with you that'd be great, you may want that second ticket for your girlfriend, and I'm not going to commit to anything until I know what Ginny's going to do out here in the real world. If I have to pick between Quidditch matches with you and the Cannons, and spending a day off with Ginny, you and the Cannons are going to lose that choice every time."

"I'm crushed," Ron joked.

"If Hermione doesn't want to go with you to all of the games, you could always take your father or one of your brothers too," Mrs. Weasley pointed out.

"With seats that great, he'll have no problem finding someone to go to games with him," Mr. Weasley predicted.

"Will you boys all be able to get home in time for dinner?" Mrs. Weasley asked Ron and Harry.

"We're going to do research at the Ministry all day so we can be," Ron told her. "Harry's making us go back out in the field again tomorrow, though."

"I'd be happy to cancel that if the bad guys would just come to Auror Headquarters and turn themselves in, but they're just not cooperating," Harry told him. "While you're still eating, why don't you tell me what else you got for your birthday? Did Hermione send you something in the Owl Post?"

She had, and there had been gifts from his parents, Charlie and Julianne, Percy and Audrey, and Bill and Fleur. George had given him a gift when they'd gone out to dinner on Saturday. When Ron had finished eating, the three Wizards had all had hugs for Mrs. Weasley, and then they went to the Ministry of Magic together, only splitting up when Ron and Harry turned down the hallway to Auror Headquarters while Mr. Weasley went on to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts offices.

Josh and Neville both stopped in to Headquarters shortly after Harry and Ron got there, so they had an impromptu meeting, and Emma Ogden joined them for it to get an update on the Rowle case. Ron gave her the latest news, including the leads they'd followed on Sunday.

"What are you planning to do next?" she asked.

"We're going to go through the last few weeks of reports around the Ministry looking for anything unusual," Harry answered. "Since they haven't used any of the places we had as possible new hideouts, then they must have picked a new location. We're going to look for anything unusual that would give us new leads."

"Like what?" Josh asked.

"Missing persons, extended sick leaves, strange behavior, any reports of Muggle attacks or incidents, and that sort of thing," he explained. "If they've forced their way into a new hideout, there's probably a clue or two out there somewhere."

"That sounds good to me," Emma told them. "Do you want extra hands to help with searching those records?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure if we want to be that obvious with what we're looking for, but maybe we could have everyone just keep their eyes and ears open for anything they come across that does match what we're looking for, and pass those leads on to us to check out."

"We can do that," Emma agreed. She stood up and smiled at them. "I've got a meeting now. Keep me posted, Josh, and good luck with your cases."

They continued their meeting after Emma had left for another twenty minutes or so, and then Ron and Harry had gotten to work, digging through the mounds of reports that were created at the Ministry of Magic every day. While Harry had really hoped to get out into the field on Tuesday again, by the time they were ready to go over to the Burrow for dinner, he and Ron hadn't gotten through all of those reports they'd targeted, so they decided to get that done before moving on to start checking out the leads they were putting together.

There was just Harry, Ron, and his parents at the Burrow for dinner on Monday, and since Ron had already opened his birthday presents at breakfast, other than having a cake and ice cream for dessert, and doing a little Ron-roasting while they ate, it was mostly just a normal, quiet dinner for four. Harry had stayed to help Mrs. Weasley with the cleanup and stayed to visit for another hour or so before going home for the night, but that was pretty much the last break that he and Ron took before the Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday.

Tuesday had been a marathon work session at Headquarters, but they had finished going through everything from employee status reports like sick leaves to Muggle incident filings, and come up with dozens of new leads to track down. They'd done their Wednesday morning training with Josh and Neville, had the usual lunch at the Leaky with Neville, and then started to run down the new leads. When they'd knocked off for the day on Friday, they had managed to clear about a quarter of those leads, though they had passed on a couple of pieces of information to the hit squad for petty crimes they'd uncovered following those leads.

"Miss me?" Harry asked a bit dazed and breathless from the kiss and hug Ginny had just leveled him with at the school gates while most of their friends had waited, and other passing students had offered commentary on their technique, catcalls, and more than a little laughter.

"Just as much as you've missed me," she agreed. "I guess we've entertained the troops enough, so we can head into town now if you're ready to go."

"We can do that," Harry answered, "though if you did want to stay here and snog until they all come back from town, I'd be good with that plan too."

Ginny laughed, and hugged and kissed him again. "Maybe we can do that on a Hogsmeade weekend in the spring when it's not snowing and below freezing," she suggested.

"Hurry up spring," Harry joked, and Ginny kissed him one more time before they went to catch up with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their friends, who had decided to head toward town without them.

"Is Rolf still in South America this week?" Harry asked Luna once they'd caught up with her.

"It's hard to say for sure," she answered, her eyes soft and a bit distant, as if she were trying to see where he was now. "There's a bit of a lag by the time his letters get here, and sometimes he gets caught up in his work and forgets to write at all for a week or two. He did say in his last Post that he wanted to make a couple of side trips to check out one place somewhere in Central America, and an island that he heard was home to jobberknolls that supposedly have green speckles instead of blue ones."

"That sounds fascinating," Harry said, trying his best to sound enthusiastic while Ginny tried not to laugh at his only marginally successful attempt, but Luna nodded her agreement.

"Oh I'm sure it is," she agreed. "Rolf's grandfather thinks that the different color could change the properties of the ingredients that come from their feathers that we use for memory potions." She smiled dreamily. "I can hardly wait to start going on the expeditions with Rolf this summer. It's going to be brilliant."

"I'm sure it will be for you and Rolf," Harry told her. "Since a lot of my experiences with Magical Creatures have been of the 'let's have Harry for dinner' variety, you're welcome to your expeditions, but that line of work is definitely not ever going to be a future career for me."

Ginny and Luna both laughed, and Luna patted his arm. "I suppose you did have some bad moments, Harry, but they weren't all bad. You did alright with Hippogriffs and Thestrals, for instance."

"That's true," he conceded, "but those experiences are way more than offset by the Dementors, acromantulas, dragons, giants, boggarts, and basilisks, to name a few of my least favorite magical creature moments."

"That last one's high on my list of worst moments too," Ginny told them, then smiled at Harry. "Of course, since you did save my life then too, it's kind of a worst and best memory all in one."

"Harry loved you back then you know," Luna told Ginny.

"Did he?" Ginny asked, and Luna nodded.

"Oh yes," she assured her friend. "He hadn't figured that out yet – boys can be terribly dense about things like that, but he definitely loved you."

"You're definitely right about that 'boys can be terribly dense' part," Hermione told Luna, giving Ron a meaningful look and nudge.

"What?" Ron asked. "How'd we get from talking about Harry to me getting that look from you?"

Hermione laughed and hugged him. "Never mind. It's just a girl thing."

"Aren't you going to say anything in your own defense?" Ginny asked Harry, and he smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Why? I'd say Luna has it just about exactly right. I must have been as dense as she suggests, because it seems pretty obvious now."

"Can we change the subject to anything other than discussing when my best mate was in love with my sister?" Ron practically begged.

While having a little fun with Ron would have been entertaining for the girls, they did let him off the hook and began chatting about what was going on at school and out in the real world. They started right in on their supply shopping when they got to town, and spent a few happy hours wandering through the stores picking up everything from potions ingredients, inks, and parchment to sweets and new clothes. Lunch was at the Three Broomsticks, as always, and then Harry and Ron found themselves back at the school gates, having to say goodbye to Ginny and Hermione long before they were ready to do that.

"Another three weeks before we'll see each other again," Ginny said quietly as she and Harry held on to each other. "That just seems impossibly far away right now."

"The good news is that when we get to that one, we'll have less than three months left until you'll be done school," Harry reminded her. "Maybe we'll even get an early break in the weather by then and we can do that all day spring snogging you suggested this morning."

Ginny laughed and kissed him. "It probably won't be, but that's a really great thought." Neither of them felt much like talking right then, so they held each other and shared a few soft, sweet kisses until it was time for the girls to go back to the school.

Harry finished up his day off with a visit to see Teddy and Andromeda, dinner for one, and a quiet night at home that was mostly just waiting around for his bedtime chat with Ginny. He and Ron both threw themselves into their work again on Sunday, like they normally did to help keep themselves busy and their minds off of missing their girlfriends.

They'd been continuing to run down the leads they'd put together, and on Monday, they hit the thousand-galleon jackpot. One of the Muggle incident reports had led them to the estate of a prosperous Muggle family. Neighbors of the family had been interviewed after the Ministry had heard about their reports to Muggle authorities of strange lights and noises from the estate. The Ministry officials hadn't found anything out of order, though Obliviators had modified the neighbors' memories, since they had definitely seen some use of magic in the area, even if they found no traces of any problems at the time of the investigation.

When Harry and Ron did a walk around and started a stakeout on Monday afternoon, though, they quickly discovered that there were a lot of people coming and going to the house and always at least a few people walking around the property now - far more people than would be working and living there even for a wealthy Muggle family.

"I'm not sensing any use of magic at all," Ron said quietly from where they had set up their stakeout in a copse of trees about twenty-five metres away, and across the road from the estate they were watching. "No defenses either."

Harry nodded. "True, but look at the way most of them are dressed, and quite a few of them keep putting their hands in pockets like they're holding on to something, or patting the outside of their jacket pockets. I'm sure they're holding on to their wands." He pointed out a pair of men walking across the snow-covered lawns. "They look like they're on patrol, not just wandering around."

"What do you want to do?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him. "You scare me when you get that look in your eyes, mate."

"Well, they might think that the place would be overlooked because there are no wards or shields up, but the bad news for them is that they've also left the place open for someone to just walk right in, haven't they?"

Ron looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "You're going to walk right in there and take a look around?" he asked incredulously, and Harry nodded, pulling his invisibility cloak out. "Are you completely mental?"

"Possibly," Harry agreed amicably. "I'll be careful, Ron, and they're not likely to expect something like this." He grinned again. "If I'm wrong about that, don't worry – we shouldn't have a problem if it's twenty or thirty to one, should we?"

"If you manage to get in and out of there without getting us killed, I'm going to ask Josh to switch partners with me, though I'm not sure if either he or Neville would take a lunatic like you on."

"Which means you're likely stuck with me," Harry said, still grinning. "I'll probably be a while, so don't worry if this takes a few hours."

Ron nodded his agreement, and Harry put his cloak on, then began making his way around to the estate. He stayed out next to the road for quite a while, plotting out his path up to the estate house, and then, taking a deep, silent breath, crossed onto the estate grounds and began making his way up to the house. The route he'd chosen kept him well away from the others who were outdoors too, and he moved along well-trampled snow and ground so that his passage shouldn't be noticed.

It had taken him nearly an hour after leaving Ron to get to the house, and then he had another twenty minute wait before he was able to follow a Witch carrying a large box inside after watching a pair of Wizards go in and getting a look at the entrance hall for the place. Once inside, his progress had been even slower. The house was large enough that it wasn't crowded, but there were quite a few Witches and Wizards there, and he had to be very careful with every move he made to keep from being heard, noticed, or bumped into.

Just seeing the two Wizards and the Witch up close had been enough to confirm to Harry that they indeed weren't Muggles. There were six Wizards and two Witches in the sitting room, which was easily large enough to be a small reception hall, and hold fifty comfortably, though there wasn't seating for nearly that many. That worked out well for him, since he was able to move along one wall that was out of the way of where they were sitting near a large fireplace, and listen in on their conversation while he also looked around, taking in every detail.

Through the conversations going on in the room over the next hour or so, Harry was able to pick up a fair bit of information, especially from the occasional grumbled complaint from a few of the Wizards. When they, and quite a few other Witches and Wizards, gathered in the dining room for dinner, Harry went with them, again choosing an out of the way spot, and just sitting back and taking it all in.

With so many at the large table, he couldn't keep up with all of the conversations, but then, he didn't try to, but just kept his eyes and ears open. He'd be able to spend as much time as he needed reviewing every detail and listening to every word of each conversation later in a pensieve, and he didn't want to get caught up in anything that would have him missing anything else.

That didn't mean that the adrenaline wasn't sky-high when he saw Thorfin Rowle sit at one end of the table, coming into the room with one other Wizard and three Witches who sat next to him at the table. The Wizard, and one of the Witches seemed to be a couple, while one of the remaining two Witches looked at Rowle in a way that was nearly identical to how Bellatrix had always looked at Tom Riddle.

Harry counted twenty-two at the table, and four servants moving to and from the kitchen bringing trays of drinks and food, and clearing up as one course was replaced by the next. They might be on the run from the Ministry, but Rowle and his gang were definitely living well enough, if that meal was any indication of the norm around there. They'd spent more than an hour eating, and then Harry got a much clearer idea of just how many were in the group when the dining room was pretty much cleared, and the servants set up for a second dinner sitting.

He stayed through that as well, watching the sixteen Wizards and Witches have essentially an identical meal, and it was well after dark before he was then able to get out of the house and start making his way back to Ron, who'd looked very agitated and worried until Harry had shown himself.

"We've got a lot to go over," Harry whispered. "Let's get out of here and go over to Auror Headquarters."

"Okay, but you owe me a hot meal first for all of this if we're going to be working half the night too," Ron told him.

After sitting through two major dinners, Harry didn't have a problem with making a detour to the Leaky and having dinner first before going on to the Ministry, but then he grabbed a pensieve, led Ron to his cubicle, and put up an Imperturbable charm before sitting down to go over everything with him.

"That is Rowle's new hideout," Harry said quietly, even though they couldn't be overheard. "I've counted forty-two Witches and Wizards so far."

Ron whistled. "Thanks for not deciding to just bring them all in by ourselves tonight," he joked and Harry laughed.

"I don't mind admitting I've got a bit of an adventure streak in me, mate, but now that I've actually got a life that I'm looking forward to living, I'm not in a rush to get it over with anytime soon."

Ron laughed too. "I'd say you're more like a thrill junkie, but point taken, and I appreciate that you're not looking to become a martyr and take me along for company."

"It's going to take us hours to go through all of the memories I've got from in the house, so why don't we take a minute and call the girls for an early chat with them, and then we'll get started."

"They're going to know something's up," Ron pointed out. "What are you going to tell Ginny?"

Harry shrugged. "If she's somewhere we can talk, I'll tell her the truth. If not, she'll understand that I can't talk about it in public."

Ginny and Hermione were studying in the Library, and couldn't talk, though Harry was sure that Ginny knew they'd had a break in the case. It was just like that with them with things like this. Since their chats hadn't taken long, Ron and Harry were soon both in the pensieve, going through Harry's memories and discussing everything they heard as they went along.

"I don't think that Emma would find that Witch's comments about her nearly as funny as Rowle did," Ron suggested.

"She's trying to impress him," Harry answered. "If she actually believes that drivel, then she either doesn't know Emma at all, or just isn't very bright." They both stopped to listen to the next part of the conversation.

"Once we've got everything set up again here at our new base, we'll deal with her, and pick off a few more of the Aurors while we're at it," Rowle told his followers. "She'll have one of the shortest stints as Head of the Aurors in the history of the Ministry of Magic."

"I think that your plan is brilliant," Cynastia said. She was the Witch who fawned over Rowle, and Harry and Ron had learned her name earlier from one of the other Witches. "Leaving the Aurors with egg on their collective faces again, especially for Easter, is quite amusing too," she added with a tinkling laugh.

Rowle and a few others close by laughed too. "When we've finished with them at Easter, the others will know for certain that I was right, and begin to join us instead of hiding and waiting to be picked off one by one. I told them we should have all stayed together back then. If we had, those pathetic Aurors would have been unable to do anything to us."

"They should have had enough proof after that raid," another Wizard suggested, "but even that victory wasn't enough to convince any of them."

"I don't see anything wrong with dissent among our enemies," Ron told Harry conversationally.

"If this lot actually think that the other big guns would come and allow Rowle to be their leader, then they obviously don't know enough about the top Death Eaters at all. Guys like Rowle and Goyle were the thugs for Riddle and his early gang. Mulciber and Rosier are still out there somewhere, and they'd certainly never follow Rowle."

"Delusion of grandeur does seem to be a rampant trait with their lot, starting from the top," Ron pointed out. "Rowle may talk big, but he's probably quite happy to be king of his little fiefdom, and not under the thumb of one of the other Death Eaters."

"I'm sure that you're right about that," Harry agreed.

They picked up a lot of information about what Rowle and his followers were up to, though they didn't get any specifics about what they were planning against the Aurors for Easter, or presumably sometime on the Easter weekend. It was after two in the morning when they finished in the pensieve, and then Harry told Ron to go home and get some sleep while he wrote up a preliminary report, made copies for Josh, Emma, and Neville, and then went to get a couple of hours of sleep before getting up, ready and back into work early.

"If I'd known anyone else would be in this early, I'd have brought another cup of coffee with me," he told Emma when she stood up to see who had come into Headquarters so early.

"I've got a tea on the go," she answered. "Come on over. I'm just reading your report now." Harry went to her cubicle and sat down in one of the chairs across the desk from her. "You and Ron had quite the day yesterday. It was nice of them not to use any wards or shields so you could have a nice visit with them, though I've still to decide whether going in there alone is brilliant and gutsy, or just incredibly stupid."

Harry laughed. "Ron would vote for the incredibly stupid. He and I are going to be back out there watching the place, but I'd like to get help so we can start watching the place day and night."

"Have you already decided what you want to do next?" Emma asked, and Harry nodded.

"I want to go back in, and may need to go in several times. Before we do anything, we need to know everything about the inside of that house, and I want to make sure every member of Rowle's group, plus however many servants and other innocents are all identified. That's as far as I've gone with it so far, other than that it might be a really good idea to shut them down before they can launch whatever they're planning for Easter."

"Since that plan seems to include ending my Auror career in a permanent sort of way, I can agree with that," Emma told him. "When Josh gets here, let's sit down, talk this out, and put together everything you need. I want to keep this very quiet for now. Shacklebolt is working on cleaning up the Ministry, but there are still far too many unfriendly ears around this place for my liking."

When Ron, Josh, and Neville were all at Headquarters, Harry and Emma got together with them, and spent nearly an hour setting up the surveillance of the estate house. Ron and Neville were going to work together on the night shift, while Josh was going to take days with Auror Rick Savage. Harry wasn't sure yet what times might be best for going into the house and watching the Witches and Wizards, as well as working up a layout of the place, and where everyone in the place might be at any given time, so he was left free to do whatever he needed to get the job done.

"Great," Ron told Harry after they were done the meeting and they were getting ready to split up. "Neville and I get stuck with nights, while you get to make your own cushy little schedule. How did you manage to work that one out?"

"Knowing Harry, his cushy schedule will probably mean that he'll work twenty hours a day instead of twelve or fourteen," Neville told him. "He gets that job because he's the only one of us nuts enough to walk right into the den of the Death Eaters alone, and with backup that would likely get their in time to pick up what was left of him if things go badly."

Ron grinned at Neville. "Good point there, mate. Night shifts suddenly sound brilliant."

"Sure, but now I'm wondering what I was thinking," Harry told them. "If the guy who led the fight against a whole school full of Death Eaters for something like eight months thinks I'm nuts, that says a lot right there."

"Yeah, that your two best mates are a couple of nutters too," Ron joked. "We didn't take those Auror aptitude tests. I wonder if Shacklebolt didn't have us do them because he knew we'd fail miserably."

Harry and Neville both laughed. "Maybe we'll ask him some day," Harry suggested. "I'm good with not knowing the answer to that for right now, though."

Ron was taking Josh and Auror Savage to do a tour of the estate, and show them the place he and Harry had picked for their stakeout of the house. Neville was off for the rest of the day to try and get some rest before starting the night shift, and Harry made a couple of stops to pick up some food and water for his field kit, and then headed for the estate too, going in under cover of his invisibility cloak again.

Neville had ended up being a bit off on the twenty-hour days he'd thought Harry would put in. On Tuesday, Harry ended up staying a bit too late into the evening, and wound up being stuck in the house all night when nobody came in or left the place after about eleven o'clock. That had allowed him to prowl the place, and even mark the rooms that many of the members of the group were using for bedrooms. There weren't nearly enough actual bedrooms for each member of Rowle's group to have their own room; and quite a few other rooms had been converted into bedrooms to accommodate everyone too. Rowle had his own room, of course, though he did usually have overnight company, and the couples had their own rooms too, but the rest of the Witches and Wizards shared what were essentially small dorm rooms.

While they did seem to be mostly working together, there were problems around the house too. One of the biggest was the no magic use rule that Rowle imposed on everyone. Harry had learned that none of them were to use magic at all within a mile of the estate. That had explained why the Ministry investigation had come up with nothing before, but telling a group like this to essentially live like Muggles was not a popular choice. If they didn't have the servants at their beck and call day and night, Harry thought that Rowle probably would have been facing a revolt within the ranks of his little kingdom.

Since he'd been there in the morning still anyway, Harry had watched through two sittings of breakfast, and then he'd taken the next opportunity to leave the house, heading straight for home to get a few hours of sleep. He'd been back again by late Wednesday afternoon, his only stop on the way back to the estate being Auror Headquarters for a quick update meeting with Emma Ogden. He made it back into the house in time to watch both dinners again, and then spent a second night there after getting to sit through a meeting in the Library with Rowle and fourteen other members of the group that went on until nearly two o'clock in the morning.

He'd found out about more than a few more crimes that these Witches and Wizards had committed over the past weeks and months, one of the more unpleasant being the fate of the Muggle family who had owned this estate, but were now dead. Any appearances in public now were done by a group of Imperiused Witches and Wizards who took Polyjuice Potion when needed, though they'd also killed one hapless hiker who'd made the mistake of coming to that estate to ask for a little help.

Since he hadn't actually spent an entire morning there yet, he did that on Thursday, staying there through breakfast, sitting in on a series of meetings that Rowle held in the Library until lunchtime, and then leaving for the day after watching through the two lunch sittings. After again heading home from the estate, he allowed himself a two-hour nap, and then got cleaned up and ready to go again. He had something to eat, and then went in to Auror Headquarters to write up his report to date for Josh and Emma, including floor plans for each level of the house, how many Witches and Wizards stayed in each room at night, along with the names he'd been able to put together with about a third of the group. He stayed at Auror Headquarters and worked until Josh and Rick returned after being relieved by Ron and Neville, and then Emma sat down with the three Wizards to go over everything they'd learned in the past two and a half days.

"You're all making good progress on gathering information," she told them. "From what you're reporting about how they're guarding the place, the routines aren't being changed, but we should keep watching, since a bit over two days isn't really long enough to know that for sure."

"Since they even had the same people watching the place at the same times, and walking the same routes around the property both days, Rick and I are thinking those guards may be Imperiused, and the others are just too lazy to give them new instructions," Josh told her. "The night security outside seems to wrap up around eleven o'clock, but I don't see how we could know for sure whether anyone is watching from inside the house without having Harry spend a night in every single room to see what was going on."

"There's too many rooms to do that," Harry said, shaking his head. "Not to mention the fact that I have no intention of getting myself in a position where I have to spend the entire night in any of the couple's rooms. Even when it comes to tracking Death Eaters there is such a thing as too much information."

Emma, Josh, and Rick all laughed at their now slightly blushing Auror-trainee. "Okay, since that's out, we'll have to take the possibility that the grounds are being watched into account when we do finally decide what we're going to do when we're ready to act," Emma said. "How much longer do you expect to need on the inside?" she asked Harry.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "Would you all agree that if we don't get any new residents there by next Monday that we've probably got all of them accounted for, even if we don't have them all identified?"

"If any of them are out running errands, I doubt they'd be away for more than a week, so I'd agree with that," Rick told him. "We've got forty-eight now, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. There were four more added over the last two nights, and a total of six servants."

"We definitely have our work cut out for us if we're going to pull this one off," Josh suggested. "Would it be okay if I call in sick that day, Emma?"

"No it wouldn't," she answered. "We're not going to be doing anything unless we're sure we can get the job done right, so let's just see what happens. It's a novel concept, but I'm going to shoot to have zero fatalities for as long as Minister Shacklebolt leaves me stuck with this new job."

Josh laughed. "Do that, and he'll leave you stuck with it permanently," he predicted.

"Now I'm scared," she joked. "Okay. We continue the surveillance as is through Monday. Let's meet Tuesday morning and see where we stand, but I want all of you to start thinking about how we can round up this group, and do it with the least risk to us, them, and especially those servants and however many of them who've been Imperiused."

"Aren't you looking in the wrong department for that?" Rick asked her. "We're the shoot from the hip wandslingers, not the brilliant plan geniuses." Harry laughed, and the others turned to see what he'd thought was so funny.

"How would you all feel about bringing a genius friend of mine into the loop to take a look and see what she can come up with for us?" he suggested. "You could definitely say that Hermione was the brains behind us being able to defeat the Dark Lord, and I'm sure she could help us out with this."

"I'll take all the help we can get," Emma told him. "Maybe Ms. Granger will even like helping so much that we'll be able to get her to join the Aurors when she's done at Hogwarts."

"She'll probably like doing this for us, but I really doubt that her future is going to be with the Aurors," Harry answered.

"That's too bad," Emma said with a sigh. "We really need to get some more Witches in here to even things up a bit."

They talked for a while longer, and then Harry put together a copy of the case file and headed home to have a chat with Ginny and Hermione, send Snowstorm up to them with the file, and then get a decent night of sleep for the first time since Sunday night. He'd sent Storm on the way after first writing Ginny a letter, and sending a gift for her along with the file for Hermione. When he finished doing that, he made a light dinner for one, cleaned up, and had then gotten ready for bed before putting in the call to Ginny.

"How are you?" she asked when she answered after a minute or so. "I didn't think you'd be able to talk again tonight."

"I needed some down time," he answered. Not getting to see her face and have their nightly chats for the last three nights had been the only thing he'd really disliked about the surveillance. "Is Hermione close by? I'd like to talk to both of you for a few minutes if you can arrange some privacy there."

Ginny nodded. "We're just getting ready for bed now," she told him. "Give us five minutes, and I'll get right back to you when we're able to talk."

They ended that chat, leaving Harry with too much time to think about Ginny getting changed and ready for bed, but he was able to get his focus back on his case by the time his mirror vibrated again, and he could see both Ginny and Hermione. They were sitting on Ginny's bed, and while he couldn't see Crookshanks, he could hear purring close to the mirror that suggested the Kneazle was in Hermione's lap.

"Okay, we've got all the privacy you need," Ginny told him. "What's up, other than our curiosity as to why you want to have a bedtime chat with both of us?"

"We've got our hands full with this case," he answered. "I'm sending the file with everything we have on it so far with Storm, so you'll have it in the morning. There are going to be at least forty-eight Witches and Wizards that we'll be up against, and Emma is looking for a plan to capture all of them with the least number of injuries possible, and definitely no fatalities. I suggested that you might be able to help us out with putting that plan together."

"Well, that certainly wasn't one of our top ten guesses," Ginny teased, and Hermione and Harry both laughed. "Can I play too, or is this all for Hermione?"

"You can definitely play too," Harry assured her. "We'll all be working on it here too, and hopefully together we can come up with something that'll work."

"How soon?" Hermione asked.

"Emma's not going forward with any plan unless she's confident it'll work," Harry told her. "We'll be continuing surveillance through Monday, and assessing where we stand then. The only possible problem is that this group is planning an attack on Emma and the Aurors for sometime on the Easter weekend. I'm still trying to get the details, but we may have to act ahead of that whether we're ready or not."

"We'll go through the file and see what we can come up with," Hermione promised. "Will you be able to get together with us to discuss it at all?"

Harry shook his head. "I doubt it. I'm going back in the morning again, and expect to be in the field through until Monday night or Tuesday morning except for trying to fit in a few hours of sleep here and there. Why don't you keep Storm and send Posts with him and Snowflake with any questions you have, or suggestions you're working up, and I'll at least be able to do mail back and forth with you every day even if my hours are messed up."

"That'll work, and when Ron and I chat in the mornings before he goes to sleep, he can give us any updates too," Hermione agreed. "Anything else for me tonight, or can I let you and Ginny carry on without me?"

Harry smiled. "Nothing else except Thanks, and I love you, Hermione."

He watched as both girls laughed, and Hermione gave Ginny a one-armed hug. "You're welcome, and I love you too, Harry. Take care of yourself, and Ron and Neville."

"I will," he promised.

"You're getting quite good at telling Witches that you love them," Ginny said after Hermione had gone over to her own bed with Crookshanks. "I'm not completely sure how I feel about that."

"Well, I hope you'll be okay with it," he said seriously. "I've got a lot of reasons to want to make sure that the people I love most know that I do. Of course," he added with a soft smile, "you are the Witch I love the very most, so hopefully that will count for something too."

Ginny laughed. "It definitely does, and I love you too. I've really missed our chats these last few nights. Why don't you start with telling me what you've been doing since Monday?"

They both laid back in their beds, and Harry told her about pretty much everything that he'd been doing, and then she'd told him about what was new and interesting at Hogwarts, or at least she did until he fell asleep, and then she watched him do that for a while until she dozed off too. At some point in time, one or both of them let go of their mirrors, ending the connection.

That was the last chat Harry was able to have with Ginny for the next four nights. He was at the estate house for nearly twenty-seven hours from Friday morning until Saturday morning, got a few hours of sleep at home after reading and answering a Post that was waiting for him from Ginny and Hermione that they'd sent with Snowflake, and then getting back there an hour before the dinners started at the estate. He did the same thing on Saturday night and Sunday night, then stayed on Monday morning to catch a bunch of meetings that Rowle had again kept busy with all morning. After staying through the two lunch sittings, he'd gone home and had slept until late evening, and then had returned to the estate in time to go inside when the last two outdoor guards came in for the night shortly after eleven o'clock, wanting to do one more night shift before the meeting at Auror Headquarters on Tuesday.

He left the house with the first grounds patrol of the morning, went home to get cleaned up and changed, and had another Owl Post waiting for him from Hermione and Ginny with a completed preliminary capture plan that he thought was so brilliant, he used his mirror to tell the girls that while they were at breakfast in the Great Hall before he left for Auror Headquarters. Their meeting was in a small conference room this time, and Emma had expanded the group of Aurors who were now in on the case. Harry was the last to get to Headquarters, and Ron met him at his cubicle, and then led him to the conference room.

"So nice of you to decide to join us, Auror-trainee Potter," Emma joked, and Harry smiled as several of the Aurors laughed.

"My apologies, Auror Ogden, but I'm sure you'll all appreciate that I stopped for a shower and clean clothes before coming over here."

"A worthy reason for the delay," she approved. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get started." She began handing out the case files, and everyone except Josh, Rick, Ron, Neville, and Harry began looking through it. They'd already been told that Rowle and his group had been located again, and they were all interested in finding out what they'd discovered so far. "Just read the top summary for now," Emma told them. "You can all get up to speed on the rest of the information after the meeting."

"While they're doing that," Harry said quietly, "I was sent this in the Owl Post. I think you'll find it very interesting." He handed her the preliminary plan that Hermione and Ginny had worked up, and Emma laughed when she had Josh and Rick both looking over her shoulders as she opened the envelope, took out the sheets of parchment, and began reading them.

"Wow!" Emma said after she finished reading. "That girl is scary brilliant."

Ron laughed. "I've noticed that on occasion."

"I think it's brilliant too," Josh said, "but it's also really gutsy. We'd definitely have to get all of it exactly right, or a lot could go very wrong."

"No doubt about that," Emma agreed. "We'll get copies and have everyone take a look at it as we go along. I'd say it's definitely got potential." They talked quietly while they waited for the others to finish reading the fairly lengthy summary report, and then Emma got everyone's attention again.

"This is going to be a very big operation, and we'll all be working closely together, but right from the start, I want to be clear that Josh and Harry, along with Rick, Ron, and Neville, are the lead on this case, and they will lead the raid when we go in. Rank is not going to matter for any of us, me included. If any of them give us an order, we will follow those orders without question. Am I clear on this?" She waited until she had nods from everyone before continuing.

"Now, as you've just read, we've been running a stakeout for the past week on the estate house that Rowle and his pals are using for their new base of operations. When you get into the details of those files, you'll find floor plans, locations of bedrooms for all of the Witches and Wizards, and every detail from meal rotations to which members of the group need to use the washroom in the middle of the night."

"Have we got someone on the inside?" one of the Wizards asked, and Emma smiled.

"You could say that," she agreed. "Harry's been spending most of the past week in the house with Rowle and company. Feel free to join with those of us who think he's a bit nuts to do that, leave it there, and we'll keep the meeting moving along."

For the next hour, Emma, Josh, and Harry talked with everyone about the stakeout, and they were given quite a few suggestions on other information that might be good to know before doing the raid. After taking a break, during which Emma copied Hermione and Ginny's plan, they spent another nearly two hours taking a look at it from top to bottom. By the time they were done the meeting, Harry had a list of things to watch for at the house, some feedback to send up to Hogwarts, and a deep desire to get a few hours of sleep before going back to the estate for another long night.

He'd gotten that few hours of rest, sent the Owl Post to Hermione and Ginny, and then spent most of his time from late Tuesday afternoon until Thursday morning at the estate house. He went to Auror Headquarters after leaving the estate, and had a little private meeting with Emma when he got there, the two of them using the pensieve to go into the memory he now had of a meeting that Rowle had led with the fourteen members of his group that Harry was all but certain had all been Death Eaters, or so involved with them that they might as well have been. She looked both pale and angry when they were both again sitting in chairs across her desk from each other after they were done.

"The scary thing is that their plan might have worked," she finally said, and Harry nodded.

"You can't really fault them for not coming up with plans which do have some merit in that regard," he agreed. "They have tried to go after us when they think we'll be at our weakest, just like their timing for going after Kingsley or when they attacked the Burrow on New Year's Eve. This plan makes me sick that they don't care at all about the children who would be in the line of fire, or worse, that they would actually use those kids to wreak even more havoc."

"Since some of those kids are fairly important to me, I've got a real problem with that," Emma told him. "Short of going around and canceling all of the Easter fun, which would completely give away that we're on to them, we'd never be able to properly protect everyone in each place, either."

"Then I vote for moving ahead with our raid plans, and taking them out so they don't get the chance to act," Harry said, his voice a bit grim, and full of determination.

"If I decide to agree with you on that, when?" she asked.

"Hermione and Ginny gave us a number of different options, but the one I think they, and most of us, liked the best was the dawn raid on Saturday or Sunday morning. The servants are in the kitchen or dining room, the first guards go outside then, and if we time it right, we'll be able to keep most of the innocents out of the way of any fights that do happen."

"That will be the big if," Emma told him. "Timing it right."

Harry grinned at her. "Then I'll have to be sure to do that right, won't I?"

Emma laughed at the expression on his face. "Did I miss something?"

"Well, Hermione and Ginny didn't specifically suggest this, but the only way I see to be one hundred percent sure on the timing would be for me to be on the inside, and pick the best time to strike depending on what I see going on."

"I wonder why your girlfriend wouldn't recommend that you put yourself at forty-eight to one odds for however long it'll take the rest of us to get into the house," Emma said sardonically.

"It'll only be forty-four or forty-six to one," Harry countered. "Either two or four of them will be outside starting guard duty, and be your problem. I'll leave the servants to you too, which would bring it down to maybe thirty-six to one. That's not so bad."

"When all of this makes the history books sometime in the future, I'll be interested to see whether those stories will cover the fact that the real reason you were the Chosen One was because you really are the only one crazy enough to take on the job."

"Probably not, but then they'll not likely get much of the rest of the real story right either," Harry suggested, laughing at Emma's comment.

They had a few more things to cover before wrapping up their meeting, but then Harry went home to get some sleep while Emma got on with her day, planning on meeting with the team again that evening after Josh and Rick were relieved by Ron and Neville. At that meeting, the raid was given the green light, and set for that Saturday morning. Harry went from that meeting back home again, where he had a long chat with Ginny and Hermione to go over those plans, and then get some more sleep before going back to Auror Headquarters for the nearly all-day planning sessions Emma did with all of the Aurors, who were put together in small groups for those sessions to hopefully mask from anyone outside of Headquarters the fact that they were preparing for a major operation.

Harry was sent home by mid-afternoon to get some sleep, and from there, he went back to the estate house, getting inside by shortly after ten o'clock. The raid was still hours away, but the adrenaline was definitely pumping from that moment on for him as he watched Rowle and the others mostly just hang around in the sitting room, drinking and talking together in little groups until they started going up to bed between one and three o'clock in the morning.

That activity had kept him busy and focused, but the hours between three and dawn had been tougher for Harry, especially since that gave him a lot of time to consider the what if scenarios if everything didn't go as planned. While Emma had told everyone that he and Josh were leading the raid, since he was on the inside, it was actually up to Josh, Rick, Ron, and Neville to lead the teams that would be coming into the house from the outside, or containing the perimeter of the estate. If he ended up giving any direction to those teams of Aurors, that wouldn't be until they were well into the raid and working to round everyone up.

If all went as planned, there was actually a chance that he'd have very little involvement in any of the fighting, since his main jobs in the raid were to decide when to launch it, take care of the anti-apparition shielding, and then block as many of their targets in the rooms they were using on the top two levels of the house, and keep them from being able to band together and fight their way out like they'd done during the other raid.

The six servants were up first and moving around about an hour before dawn, and a half hour later, Harry was able to confirm that four Wizards were getting up and ready to go outside to start the daily patrols of the estate. He waited patiently as those two groups got ready for the day, then went to work either in the kitchen and dining room on the ground floor, or headed outdoors. He watched from a first floor window as the early morning sentries paired up and started their separate patrols. When they were all well away from the house, he took a silent, calming breath, even though his heart was now pounding with both fear and anticipation, and then slammed the anti-apparition shield over the estate, and probably close to a half mile in all directions beyond the boundaries. He then threw up shimmering blue barriers in front of every door on the first and second floors.

The shouts, crashes, and curses were all flying within moments of his anti-apparition shield going up, and it took all of his concentration to hold all of the shields and barriers in place while the other Aurors launched their raid. Outside, Rick was in charge of the team guarding the grounds and keeping any Witches or Wizards from escaping. They also took charge of the first four captives who were all taken down nearly immediately after Harry's shield went up and the teams going into the house disarmed and bound them on the way in before they'd even known what had hit them.

"We've got a flier!" Proudfoot shouted as they heard the crash of glass and a Wizard on a broom flew out of a first floor window.

Rick and Proudfoot both sent spells at the man, and so did two Aurors from one of the groups going into the house, and they all watched as the broom was blasted apart, the Wizard's wand was ripped from his hand, and he was bound in ropes even as he started falling to the ground. Someone used a cushioning charm to keep him from being seriously injured, and Rick waved two members of his team to go retrieve the new captive while he and the rest of his team continued to watch the house and cover them too.

Josh's team, including Emma, had the kitchen entrance, and the plan was for them to disarm and bind everyone they came across, try to avoid injuring the servants if possible, and sort out the servants and Imperiused Witches and Wizards later. The roundup of everyone on the ground floor was a two-pronged attack, and Neville's team was coming in from the front, while Ron's team hit the stairs and rushed right up to the first floor, where they expected the real fighting to begin happening.

"Ready, right door one!" Ron called out as he and his team got in position. He couldn't see where Harry was, but knew that his friend had heard him when the barrier for that door dropped. There were shouts of triumph from the other side of the door, at least until it was thrown open, and the first Wizard standing in the doorway was blasted backward into two of his roommates, so thoroughly surprising them that all three of them were bound and disarmed, and the other three Wizards in the room found themselves outnumbered four to one, and surrendered without a spell being fired.

"Stand guard on this lot," Ron ordered two of the Aurors on his team, and Harry nodded to himself as they immediately followed his friend's orders while Ron and the rest of his team moved on to the next door. He didn't need to say anything this time as Harry dropped the barrier there when it looked like they were ready.

The door was thrown open from the inside this time too, but the four Witches in the room had not simply stood in the doorway, and had been ready to attack when they saw Ron and his team in the hallway. They were fighting for keeps too as they sent killing curses toward the Aurors. One of the more brilliant ideas that Ginny and Hermione had come up with was to have all of the Aurors carry pockets full of small objects that they could toss at those killing curses and then use engorgement charms to enlarge them as they intercepted, and were destroyed by, the curses. Ron and several members of his team were doing exactly that while others counter-attacked. It took several minutes to subdue the four Witches in the confined space, but they did get the job done, and after posting two more to guard, Ron continued down the hall to the next door.

By then, Harry's attention was being divided. Neville had come upstairs with a little over half of his team now, which meant that the ground floor was secured, and they were ready to start at the first door on the left, so Harry was dealing with some serious multi-tasking as he held the other shields while letting go of the ones that Ron, Neville and their groups needed cleared.

When the first counter-attack against his shields came, it almost succeeded. Harry had never had anyone attempt to blast past one of his anti-apparition shields, and it had been unexpected, but it had barely held, and he was able to strengthen it again so that when whoever had launched the attack tried again, he'd been ready, and forcefully turned the second attack back. He'd find out later that two Witches and one Wizard were knocked out cold when that second attack rebounded back on them.

They'd all agreed during the planning session that it would be impossible to hold all of the Witches and Wizards indefinitely, and that proved out just as Neville and his team had captured the four Wizards in that first room on the left, and Ron and his Aurors had bound the young couple who'd been in the third room on the right. Harry wasn't surprised that it was Rowle and Cynastia who blasted out of their room first, going through the wall instead of the door of their room, which was the last room on the left.

Rowle barreled out of the opening first, firing curses in all directions as he turned to face Ron, Neville, and the rest of the Aurors. Unfortunately for him, that was the end of the hallway where Harry was hiding under his cloak.

"EXPELLIARMUS! INCARCEROUS!" he shouted, and Rowle was blasted off of his feet as his wand shot out of his hand and over his shoulder toward Harry, who deftly caught it even as he threw off his cloak and went on the defense to protect himself from a seriously irate Witch now bent on killing him.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" she screamed over and over, and Harry was busy tossing the little wood blocks he'd brought with him, sending them to intercept those curses even as he silently enlarged them with engorgement charms before they were blasted out of the air.

Harry nearly laughed when one of the Aurors hit Cynastia with a jelly-fingers curse, and she dropped her wand. Someone else hit her with a body-bind, and a moment later, Ron had her wand in his hand, and was grinning at his best friend.

"Thanks, mate," Harry said, smiling too. "We're not done yet, though, so let's get back to it."

To that point, they'd captured eighteen on that floor, and Rick joined them with eight more Aurors from his team, while Emma and the rest of the Aurors from his and Neville's team stayed on the ground floor with what had ended up being eight captives. The four guards, and the captured flier at that point had them with thirty-one of forty-eight captured. Even with leaving Aurors to guard the Witches and Wizards who'd been caught, the Aurors did now outnumber their remaining opponents, and while it took more than another half hour to get the last seventeen captured, that was mostly due to the close quarters nature of the rooms and because two of the couples had tried barricading themselves in their rooms, and it had taken time to get past those defenses.

"Can you take a minute and let the girls know we're alright?" Harry asked Ron quietly as they stood on the second floor and watched as Neville, Josh, and the other Aurors began moving their captives downstairs. Harry, Ron, and four others were there for backup if needed, but from the looks of shock on many of the faces of their prisoners, Harry was pretty sure that the fight had gone out of most of them. "Tell Ginny I love her, and will talk to her later when I can."

"You want me to give love to Ginny from you?" Ron asked in mock incredulity. "I can't do that – she's my sister!"

"What was I thinking?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Just go do that so they can stop worrying about us, and then get back here. We're going to be busy for a while, and I wouldn't want you to miss any of the fun."

Ron laughed. "Have I mentioned recently that you have a seriously warped sense of what fun is?"

"Yes you have," Harry confirmed. "You'd all best be careful, too. The way you're all smiling now, my sense of fun may be contagious."

"The smiles are just because we're all very happy to still be alive and standing," Ron answered. "What do they call it – survivor's euphoria or something?"

Harry didn't get a chance to comment, since they were interrupted with a message for him to go meet up with Emma, so he went downstairs, catching up with her in the kitchen while Ron went off to take a minute to chat with Hermione.

"How'd we do?" he asked, and Emma smiled at him. She had the same look of triumph and pride on her face that he'd seen on the faces of most of the other Aurors.

"Nothing worse than a broken wrist and minor cuts and bruises for us," she answered. "Eleven injured out of forty-eight, but only one of the servants, and two of the suspected Imperiused. All but three are minor injuries, and I'm waiting for the Healers to arrive and assess the others, though I don't think hospitalization will be necessary for any of those three either."

"That's about as good as we could have hoped for," Harry said, and Emma nodded.

"I'd say so, and about a best-ever for an operation this size. We're going to start moving everyone to Auror Headquarters shortly. Would you prefer the Headquarters end of the process, or do you want to stay here and come back with the last group?" Harry grinned at her, and Emma laughed. "Last group it is," she confirmed. "The media will be terribly disappointed.

"I can live with that just fine," Harry assured her. "Hopefully, by the time we get the last group to the Ministry, the circus will be over for the day."

"You can dream, but I wouldn't count on that," Emma told him. "Let Neville and Ron know that they will be with me when we take the first group of prisoners out. You're in charge here once Josh and Rick leave with Rowle after he's been tended to by the Healers."

"Okay," Harry agreed. "I'll send Ron and Neville down here, and get back to work."

Getting all of their prisoners moved took until mid-afternoon, since they had quite a backlog at the Ministry having so many Witches and Wizards to process. They'd needed to make trips to Azkaban with most of the first groups, since they didn't have enough holding cells for all of them at the Ministry. That hadn't discouraged the reporters and gawkers who loitered in the Atrium at the Ministry to watch the groups of Aurors arriving with their prisoners. The Atrium was still crowded when Harry, Rick, and four other Aurors brought the last group of four prisoners in, and Harry especially was peppered with questions from the reporters, though as he pretty much always did in these situations, he didn't answer any questions, and just concentrated on clearing security and getting their prisoners through the pack of Witches and Wizards without incident.

"Welcome back," Emma told them. "We've got a group ready to go up to Azkaban that includes Rowle and Cynastia. I'd like Harry and Rick to go with them, and the rest of you can process your prisoners. Josh and Neville are already getting them ready to go from the dungeon level, so you can catch up with them there."

Rick smiled at Harry. "I guess the hot meal and drinks will have to wait a while longer."

"True, but I won't mind getting to deliver Rowle to Azkaban personally, even if it is just temporary until his trial."

"At which time he'll be getting an all-expenses paid, lifetime membership there," Emma predicted. "If you really enjoy that part of the job, though, I'll be happy to set you up for guard duty to take him back there after the trial too."

"I'm sure every Auror here would be willing to take that job," Rick suggested. "Me included."

That trip had taken until dinnertime, and then Emma had gathered everyone for a meeting to go over the raid and give everyone instructions on what she wanted included in their reports, which were all to be on her desk by Monday morning. After the meeting, Ron and Harry had gone to the Burrow for dinner and some major hugs from Mrs. Weasley. She'd found out in the morning that they were both okay, but there'd still be some tears when she saw them both alive and well, if very tired.

"I was hoping to get tomorrow off," Ron said as they sat at the table, and his mother warmed up some leftovers for them, "but I guess that's out with those reports to get done for Monday morning."

"I'm thinking about going back and doing them tonight so I still can take tomorrow off," Harry told him.

Ron shook his head. "You've been going nearly a day already, mate, and I'm only a few hours behind you on that. Maybe you can manage to write a coherent report after all of that, but it's beyond me tonight, so you're on your own if you do head back."

Harry wasn't alone when he got back to Auror Headquarters an hour or so later, since there were still quite a few Aurors working in their cubicles. Since he was used to the place mostly being empty most nights and especially weekend nights, he was a bit surprised, though it was good to see too, as were the looks of renewed pride and confidence he saw on every face.

"This is what's been missing around here for a long time now."

Turning around, Harry smiled at Auror Christine Campbell. He hadn't worked with her at all before this raid, but his first impressions of her had been positive, and the fact that Josh and Emma had held her opinion in high regard helped too. She returned his smile, nodding in the direction he'd been looking.

"You, Josh, Ron, and Neville have had a lot of success since you joined up," she continued, "but for most of us, this is the first win we've had to be proud of in years. A lot of that's of our own doing, but if you give us a chance, I think you'll find that most of us really are here for the right reasons, even if we've sort of forgotten that for a long time."

Harry caught the knowing look in her eyes, and laughed at himself. "Have I been that obvious, Christine?"

"It's not easy watching a group of new trainees come in and show all of us veterans up, and come to grips with the fact that we really have been on the wrong side of things more often than not," she answered. "You haven't really made dealing with all of that very easy for those of us who haven't measured up to your standards yet. There isn't an Auror here who doesn't respect your abilities and what you want to do around here, but if you want to figure out what's missing with how things are between you and your fellow Aurors, take a closer look at your friend Neville."

"Should I look for anything in particular?" he asked. "I should probably know what I'm looking for in case he wants to know why I'm sitting around watching him. That's a guy thing, you understand, and if I don't have a good answer, things could get weird."

Christine laughed. "Neville's a lot like you – he wants the same things you want around here, but he's quietly earning more than just the respect of his fellow Aurors – he's earning their loyalty and, weird as it may be for guys, their love, or at least he's earning that from the Aurors who are liking what is happening around here."

Harry nodded. "So what's he doing to earn your loyalty?"

"The fact that he's taken the time to get to know me was a first big thing," she explained. "He's met my husband and one of my kids who hasn't started at Hogwarts yet, and he knows a fair bit about both my personal life and career. Neville's done that with nearly all of the other Aurors here, and he does that on top of working just as hard around Headquarters, and in the field, as you and Ron do. Then there's the fact that he's not judging us on what we collectively have or haven't done, but is taking the time to really find out what we're each capable of, and then he just encourages us to do the best we can." She looked around the office again.

"There's a lot more to it than that, but for instance, you could ask everyone here why they're feeling so great right now, and I'd bet that most of them would tell you that a big part of the reason is because Neville had a few words of thanks and praise for all of them. He's better at doing that sort of thing than anyone I've ever met before." Turning to face him, Christine smiled again. "To be blunt, you could use more than a little of that in the way you deal with us. We've worked in this same office for going on a year, Harry, and you didn't even know my name until this past week, did you?"

"If I start by thanking you for pointing out to me that I'm an idiot, would that be a good place to start?" he asked, and Christine laughed and squeezed his arm.

"I'd say that this entire conversation was a good start," she answered. "Stop by my cubicle once in a while and say 'Hi'. I've never seen this side of you, and I'd like to get to know what you're really like."

"Thanks, Christine. I'll do that," he promised.

She moved on then, going back to her own cubicle, while Harry went to his, sat down, and got parchment, quill, and ink out. He started working on his report, and was completely focused on it until he felt his mirror vibrate, and immediately pulled it out of his pocket, his smile immediate and bright as he saw Ginny's smiling face appear.

"You're still working?" she asked.

"We've all got reports due on Emma's desk by Monday morning, so I decided to come here and get mine done tonight instead of having to come into work tomorrow," he answered. "How was your day?"

"It was all work and no play," she told him. "I wish we could take tomorrow off, but that's not going to happen. Not only are we loaded down with assignments, but Hermione seems to think that we're running behind on getting ready for our exams, even though they're still about two and a half months away."

"You mean that she didn't have you starting on that right after Valentine's Day?" Harry joked. "She must be slipping."

Ginny laughed. "For all I know she was starting back then, but she's only just started getting on us about it for the past week or so. Like everything else we've been doing hasn't been more than enough. What are you going to be doing tomorrow with a day off?"

"Sleeping for a lot of it would be nice. I'd like to get over and see Teddy for a bit, and need to do some shopping if I plan to eat next week. Then I've got a lot of cleaning to catch up on around the house to get done too, so laying around and napping until Monday morning probably isn't going to work out."

"Well, at least try to sleep in a little," she suggested. "See what you can do about taking it easy this coming week too so that you're rested up for the Hogsmeade weekend next Saturday."

"I haven't even thought about what Ron and I will be doing next now that we're done with this case. Getting a little break to catch our breath would be nice, but we've got a pretty fired up group around here now, so I doubt there will be any time to do that."

"You've all had a good day. They should be happy with what you all did together - it was pretty amazing."

"Don't forget that you and Hermione had a lot to do with that success today," he reminded her. "I don't think things would have gone nearly so well without your help."

Ginny nodded and smiled at him. "Thank-you, and we won't. I'm sure that you want to get that report done and go get some sleep. Let's shoot for a longer chat tomorrow night."

He'd agreed, and they'd spent another few minutes on the goodnight verbal hugs and kisses before ending the chat. Harry ended up spending another two hours finishing his report, making copies, and putting one each on Josh and Emma's desks. He went home, changed, and managed to crawl into bed before dropping off to sleep, where he stayed until nearly noon before waking again.

After getting ready and having something to eat, he combined his shopping trip with giving Andromeda an unexpected break away from Teddy for a couple of hours, taking his Godson with him for the trip. They'd both had a lot of fun with that, though they'd gotten into a bit of trouble with Andromeda over spoiling Teddy's dinner when Harry hadn't quite managed to clean up all of the evidence on Teddy's face from the chocolate snack they'd had at one of the cafés in Diagon Alley.

"Too bad that your Grandma isn't an Auror too," he told Teddy, who'd gotten out of trouble fairly quickly by giving Andromeda a happy hug and kiss. "If we can't even get away with sneaking an afternoon snack past her, what chance would the bad guys have?"

"You and the other Aurors are doing well enough these days," Andromeda told him. "Nymphadora loved being an Auror, but I've never been interested in doing anything like that. Will we get to see you a bit more now that you're done this last case?"

"I really hope so," Harry told her. "When I find out what Ron and I are doing next, I'll check in with you, and if I can swing it, maybe I could even take Teddy for an overnight or something in the next week or two."

Andromeda laughed. "We'd both love that if you could," she assured him. "This little Wizard is definitely a morning person, and the thought of getting to sleep in even for one morning sounds really great to me."

Harry had gone home after talking with Andromeda for another ten or fifteen minutes, worked on catching up on the laundry and housework there, had dinner, and then took it easy for the rest of the evening. He wrote a letter to Ginny and sent it, and the gift he and Teddy had picked out for her, off with Snowstorm. When he was done that, he went up to bed early with a book he'd picked out of the library, listened to the WWN, and read until his two-way mirror vibrated to let him know that Ginny was ready for their chat.

They'd talked for well over an hour, and then both had been ready to get some sleep. On Monday morning, Harry met up with Ron, Josh, and Neville, where he found out that he and Ron would be joining another group of Aurors who had taken over the Mulciber case from Dawlish. He and Christine had both smiled when he and Ron had reported to her, Aurors Nathan Kirke, Reginald (Reggie) Rivers, and Dan Scott. Apparently Christine hadn't been the only one to think that Harry needed to put a little work into getting to know his fellow Aurors a bit better.

Auror Kirke was the lead on their case, and after inviting the new members of his little team to sit down, he handed them each a copy of Mulciber's file to date, and after the meeting, their first job was to read through the file and get up to speed on where the rest of their team was in their investigation. That took the rest of the day on Monday, and well into the evening before Harry went home for a late dinner, his nightly chat with Ginny, and another early bedtime.

Other than Wednesday's training session with Josh, and lunch at the Leaky with Neville, Harry and Ron spent the rest of the week getting to know a bit about Nathan, Christine, Reggie, and Dan, while working with them on searching through Ministry records, going out on short investigative day trips to check out different tips or leads, many of which had been pouring in from different sources since the success of the raid.

Late on Friday afternoon, they were finishing the day with a meeting, and while Harry was more than happy to find out that he and Ron did have the day off on Saturday, he'd expected to get back to work on Sunday, so when Nathan told everyone to take the weekend off, he hadn't been quite as happy about that. He'd been using those working days on Sunday to help keep busy after having to say goodbye to Ginny on the Hogsmeade weekends.

"Don't tell us that you can't find something to entertain yourself doing for two whole days," Christine said when she saw the look on his face.

"Okay, I won't tell you," Harry joked, and Ron, Christine, and the others laughed.

"Harry, it's easy with our jobs to go day and night, seven days a week, and never run out of more work to do," she told him seriously. "Sometimes, when we've got something going on like the raid last weekend, that's what we have to do, but if you're planning on having a long career as an Auror, you have got to start taking some regular down time and have a life, or you will burn out."

"We've all been there too," Nathan added. "Some of us never learn that lesson, and I've talked to more than a few old, retired Aurors who missed out on their entire lives while giving everything to the job." He laughed again. "Consider this weekend an Auror lesson, though you won't find it in any of the training manuals."

"If that doesn't work for him, maybe Emma would let the rest of us take his days off and split them up among us," Ron suggested. "We could all have three-day weekends once a month or something."

"Too bad you didn't suggest that before I opened my big mouth," Nathan joked. "Emma would never go for it, though, so I guess it really doesn't matter, but that was a very good idea, Ron. We're done here, so fly and be free, and enjoy your weekend. I'll see you here on Monday bright and early."

Harry went to his cubicle to straighten his desk and put everything away before leaving Headquarters, while Ron had pretty much been out the door as soon as the meeting was over. He was just finishing up when Neville stopped by, getting ready to go home for the weekend too.

"Was this weekend off mandated for everyone?" Harry asked, and Neville smiled at him, sitting down in one of the chairs across the desk from his friend.

"I think Emma did go around and strongly suggest that everyone was due for a couple of days away from work," he agreed. "Other than spending the day with Ginny in Hogsmeade tomorrow, what are you going to do with your days off?"

Harry laughed. "I really have no idea, though I did tell Andromeda that if I could get the time I'd take Teddy for an overnight stay to give her a break, so maybe I'll do that tomorrow night and Sunday. Are you in a hurry right now?"

Neville shook his head. "What can I help you with?"

"Christine told me last weekend that I could use a little work on my people skills, and that if I wanted to see how it's done right to take a look at how you do it. We've been friends for a long time now. Am I really so tough on people?"

"Let me ask you a question," Neville countered. "When did we really become true friends?"

Harry thought about that for a minute, thinking back over their years together at Hogwarts. "I guess that'd be our OWL year when we started Dumbledore's Army, and certainly after the fight here at the Ministry that year. Why?"

"I'd agree with that," Neville answered. "I'm asking because we'd been dorm mates and House mates for over four years by then, Harry. For the most part, we'd always gotten along just fine – at least when you, Hermione, and Ron weren't putting me in body-binds – but even back in first year, you didn't give out your trust, loyalty, or friendship very easily. You're just as careful about that now."

"Is that so wrong?" Harry asked. "A lot of the bad things that happened in my life can be traced back to misplaced trust – like my parents trusting Pettigrew, for just one major, disastrous example."

"True, but then a lot of good things come out of having faith and trust in people too," Neville answered. "You've got such a deep love for everyone that's truly amazing, Harry. When I see you with Ginny, her family, and our friends, the only thing I don't really understand is that since you've obviously figured it all out with us, why is it so hard for you to see that it could be that great with every other relationship you have – or could have if you'd just give more Witches and Wizards a chance?"

"You make it sound so easy," Harry said, and Neville laughed.

"It's as easy as opening the door and letting someone into your house. I can't promise you won't ever be disappointed by someone you put your trust in, Harry, but I am saying that you're missing out on a lot of great things by holding back." He grinned at Harry. "I was thinking a while back about you and Ron teasing me about not asking Hannah out for so many months last summer, and it occurred to me that you guys didn't have anything to talk about. It took you six years to figure out how you felt about Ginny, and it took Ron seven years and a life and death battle before he and Hermione finally got together."

Harry smiled and nodded. "We wouldn't argue that point, and in my case, I'm getting the pattern you're pointing out to me loud and clear. It doesn't really matter what my reasons are for being so closed off to people, does it? This may take me a while longer to come to grips with, mate, but I am going to work on this, and try to do a lot better." Neville nodded and stood up.

"Then you're already well on your way, Harry. Have a good weekend."

"You too, mate," Harry answered.

When he'd finished at Headquarters, Harry popped over to see Andromeda about taking Teddy from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, and she'd laughingly offered to get him ready to go right then and let Harry make it an all weekend deal. From there, he'd gone shopping to get groceries and supplies, including extra treats for when Teddy was with him. Then it was home again, where he did dinner for one, cleaned house and did laundry for two hours, and then went to bed early, where he read a book until having his bedtime chat with Ginny.

The last Saturday of March, at least up in Hogsmeade, was cold and rainy. Hermione and Ginny apparated from the school gates into town and met Ron and Harry at the Three Broomsticks instead of having them wait for them out in the pouring rain too. They had their usual hot drinks and sat close together while the girls warmed up, and then they did the shopping rounds to get all of the supplies the girls needed for the next two weeks. While the girls weren't coming home for the Easter break, there was going to be a Hogsmeade weekend on the Saturday after Easter for any third year and above students who were staying at the school. They'd done lunch back at the Three Broomsticks, and then had said their goodbyes there before the girls apparated to the gates and walked back up to the school, Ron went back to the Burrow, and Harry headed over to pick up Teddy for the night.

He and Teddy both had a lot of fun during the rest of the afternoon and evening, though dinner had gotten a bit messy and out of hand after Teddy had started a food fight that had left more than a little work for Harry to do before his kitchen table, floors, and even one wall were clean again. By the time Ginny was ready for their bedtime chat, Harry was in bed, and had an already sleeping Teddy cuddled next to him.

"You've got a cuddle buddy with you tonight?" Ginny asked when Harry moved the mirror so that she could see Teddy.

"I'll move him in a bit," Harry told her. "He fell asleep during story time. How was the rest of your day?"

"Hermione had us right back to studying as soon as we got back to school," she answered. "I'm about ready to tell her to stuff it all, and come home for Easter with or without her."

"How about you do that, don't tell your parents, I'll take the week off, and we'll hide out here and snog each other senseless the entire time?" he suggested.

Ginny's eyes flashed excitedly at the thought, and laughed. "Wouldn't that be brilliant if we could? Now I'm thinking that it's really too bad that I won't blow off the study time here and do that – not that you'd actually take a week off right now either."

"I suppose not," he agreed. "Maybe we could work on that plan for the first week you're home from school in June, though."

"Do you think Mum and Dad would believe I was being kept back an extra week?" Ginny asked.

"Not a chance," he answered. "I guess late night cuddling at your place will have to be enough for us."

"We'll definitely do that," she promised him.

They talked for over an hour, and Teddy woke up for a few minutes, had a happy smile and a 'love Ginee' for Ginny, and then drifted back off to sleep. After they'd ended the chat, Harry put Teddy to bed in the crib he'd moved into his room for the night from where it was normally kept in one of the other bedrooms, and then got back into his own bed and went off to sleep too.

With just a few days left in March, and a week until Easter, while he wasn't going to have Ginny home for the Easter holiday, April did always mean the start of spring, and as was often the case, warmer weather, and all of the other wonders that came with the new season had most Witches and Wizards feeling a lot better about everything after a long, often dreary winter. There was definitely a sense of renewed hope and an excitement and energy around Auror Headquarters that was exciting to be involved with.

Harry was just as committed as ever to chasing down the Death Eaters and the other fugitives, but he was also ready to start listening to what he'd come to see was some really good advice, and start making a difference by doing more than creating a population explosion at Azkaban. When he and Teddy wrapped up their weekend on Sunday by playing games in the morning, going for a visit and lunch at the Burrow, wandering around Diagon Alley with Ron in the afternoon, and ending the day by taking Grandma Andromeda out for dinner, Harry was pretty sure that if there'd been marks for his weekend Auror assignment, that he would've gotten an 'Outstanding'.


	14. Spring Cleaning

Chapter Fourteen – Spring Cleaning

Harry suspected that Emma, Josh, and a few other Aurors were working actively to get him more involved directly with the new team he and Ron had been put with. On Monday, they were advised that all six of them would be spending most of all of the next five days doing guard duty between Azkaban and the Ministry to run prisoners to and from their trials before the Wizengamot.

"It's really your own fault," Emma had told them.

"How do you figure that?" Nathan asked. "I thought we were responsible for catching Dark Wizards, not creating them."

Emma laughed. "Well, normally we've always had at least a few Aurors recovering from injuries to take care of jobs like this for us. Since you all decided not to get hurt this time, we don't have that option. Once we weeded out the Imperiused, there were thirty-seven Wizards and Witches who have now been charged with various crimes, so we'd have needed help anyway. You're getting this week's duty, and I'll assign another group for each of the next two or three weeks that the Wizengamot expects to need to get through all of these trials."

"Anything else we need to know?" Christine asked her.

"Nothing specific, but keep your eyes open and be alert," she answered. "We've had a few prisoners think this was their big chance to escape, and a couple of them actually got close to succeeding. Try not to look so down about this," she added with a smile. "The Wizengamot is definitely a nine to five kind of group, and they take lots of breaks, so you'll only have nine or ten hour days with one and a half to two hour lunch breaks in the middle of that. Enjoy your mini-vacation, because you'll all be back to the real work next Monday."

Whether planned or incidental, Harry did get to find out more about Christine, Nathan, Reggie, and Dan during the long hours of waiting they all had while their prisoners were on trial than he had during their first week working together doing research and field work. The four Aurors had been teamed up for a few years now, though Nathan and Christine were partners, and Nathan and Christine's husband were best friends. Nathan was a few years older than Christine, but his two kids were both younger than Christine's ten-year old baby girl. She also had a recently turned twelve years old boy and a thirteen-year old daughter who were in first and second year at Hogwarts. Reggie and Dan were partners and best friends. They were both married, and neither had children yet.

The whole week had been more about personal lives than work for Harry, and he had been thinking about that a lot on Friday. Thursday had been George's twenty-first birthday, and would have been Fred's too. George hadn't wanted a party, but had gone to the Burrow after closing the store to have dinner with Ron, Harry, and his parents. Harry was pretty sure that this had been the toughest day for Mrs. Weasley since going through her first Christmas without Fred, and none of them were surprised when she went up to bed very early, with Mr. Weasley going along to spend the rest of the night comforting her while George, Ron, and Harry all decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink or two before calling it a night too.

Friday was also the day that the Hogwarts Express was bringing the students who were going home for the Easter holiday to King's Cross Station, and that inevitably had Harry thinking about Ginny, and wishing that she was on that train instead of being in the Library at school working on assignments and studying for the NEWT exams which were still about two months away.

"Something on your mind?" Christine asked Harry. They were waiting for the last trial of the day and week to be over with so they could take their prisoners back to Azkaban – or at least they expected to be doing that, since their conviction rate had been one hundred percent all week, with the only variation being the length of the sentences.

"I'm surprised there isn't something on your mind," he countered. "The Hogwarts express should be getting to King's Cross Station soon. I just wish Ginny was going to be on it and home for the week instead of staying at Hogwarts to study instead."

"Why didn't you remind me?" Nathan asked Christine, looking at his watch. "Get out of here, catch up with Bryce and Kate, and surprise the kids. We can handle this last run without you."

"Are you sure?" she asked, and Nathan nodded.

"Get going," he ordered. "Eleanor, the kids, and I will see you tomorrow."

Christine turned and smiled at Harry. "I guess I'm out of here. Bryce and I are having a little welcome home and Easter party for the kids and some of our friends and family tomorrow afternoon. If you're looking for something to do to keep your mind off of missing Ginny, stop by for a while. You could even bring Teddy if you wanted. I'm sure that my girls and Nathan's daughter would love having a toddler to play with."

"Thanks, Christine. I'll check with Andromeda on that, and send you a Post in the morning if I can do that," he answered.

She put a hand on his arm, squeezing gently, and stood up. "You're welcome to come too, Ron," she told him, "if you can handle a house full of mostly younger kids."

Ron laughed. "I grew up in a house full of kids, and unless your kids want to grow up to be the next practical joke Wizards or Witches, then I seriously doubt they've got anything I haven't seen before from my brothers."

"They do all like your brother's wheezes, but no, none of them have expressed an interest in that sort of career," Christine answered. "If I don't see you tomorrow, have a good weekend, guys." With that, she hurried off to leave the Ministry and pop over to King's Cross Station.

"I'd say that made her day," Reggie told Nathan. "We should try and get her out of the office and home early as much as we can next week too."

"Already working on that," Nathan answered. "Of course, that will mean that the four of you can expect to be spending more time in the field while she and I mostly work the paper trail for leads."

"I'd rather be in the field than reading reports anyway," Ron told him. "Can we work like that all of the time?"

Nathan laughed. "No, we can't. Christine and I don't like the paperwork side of the job any more than you do, but she'll put up with it for a week if it means spending more time with her oldest two while they're home."

"She'll like it," Dan told Nathan, "but you don't necessarily need to work with her." He grinned at Ron. "Just assign one of our Auror-trainees to work with her next week, and you can do a little one-on-one field training with the other one."

"That's a really good suggestion," Nathan said, laughing again.

"Unless you're suggesting that Harry work on the paperwork with Christine, that's a very bad suggestion," Ron grumbled, "and Christine would not be thanking you for sticking her with me for that job."

"I guess we'll just stick with plan A then," Nathan told them. "No changing your mind about that if it ends up raining every day next week, though."

"Maybe I should have offered to stay at Headquarters and let you go out in the field with Reggie," Dan joked.

They had another half-hour to wait before they were called to take their prisoners back to Azkaban. The Wizengamot had managed to get through fourteen of the thirty-seven cases for the week, and they had two Wizards and one Witch to take up to the prison for that last trip on Friday. Once they had the prisoners safely tucked away in what was going to be their new home for, in these three cases, ten years, Ron was off to Diagon Alley to give George a hand in his store for a few hours to help out with the expected Easter wheezes rush, while Harry went over to Andromeda's house to see about borrowing Teddy for the afternoon on Saturday, having liked the idea of getting to meet Christine and Nathan's families, and having some fun with Teddy and the other kids. He was in for a surprise when he got there, and both Teddy and Andromeda were all smiles.

"Would you like to show Uncle Harry your new trick?" she asked Teddy.

"WOK!" Teddy said happily, and Andromeda put him down, and Harry watched as he wobbled the four or five steps it took him to get from his Grandmother to Harry, falling forward into his waiting arms, and giggling when Harry picked him up and hugged him.

"That is a very good trick," Harry told him. "When did you learn to do that?"

"He's been close for a while," Andromeda answered. "You know he's been standing and moving around the furniture for a while, but a few days ago, there was something he really wanted, and he just walked over and got it before realizing that he'd needed to let go of the sofa to get to it."

"Well, this is definitely brilliant Teddy," he assured the little boy, hugging him again. "Teddy and I have been invited to a party tomorrow afternoon that's kind of a welcome home from school for the holidays and Easter celebration," he added, smiling at Andromeda. "How do you feel about having an afternoon off?"

"Would you like to go to a party and play with some other kids?" Andromeda asked Teddy, who bounced in Harry's arms.

"Go Pway!" Teddy confirmed. "Now?"

"Tomorrow after lunch," Harry explained. "I'm not even sure how many kids will be there, but it should be fun."

"Fun!" Teddy agreed. He squirmed to be let down, and happily toddled back over to his Grandmother, who'd again needed to catch him.

"I'd say that's a yes," she told Harry, scooping Teddy up and hugging him, "and having an afternoon off sounds really great." Harry didn't stay long, since Andromeda was going to be busy all evening, and he went home, had dinner, and puttered around the house, doing a little housework, laundry, and then heading up to bed early.

"Now I'm really wishing I was home with you," Ginny said after Harry told her about the party he and Teddy were going to be at on Saturday during their bedtime chat on Friday night. "A party tomorrow, then a family dinner and unofficial birthday party for George on Sunday afternoon. You'll all be having a blast while Hermione will have us working all weekend."

"I still really wish you were here too, or that I was there," Harry told her. "All of this guard duty left me with way too much time on my hands to spend thinking about just how much I miss you."

"That's probably the only good thing about being so busy with our studies around here," Ginny answered, bobbing her head, "not that I don't still miss you just as much. Are you and Teddy doing another sleepover?"

Harry shook his head. "Not this time. Andromeda has plans on Sunday, so I'm supposed to have him back early enough so he can have a good night's sleep, and I'm definitely not supposed to have him all wound up when I drop him off like I did last weekend."

Ginny laughed. "Does Andromeda actually think that'll happen?"

"I think she'll settle for home in good time and some help getting him off to sleep," Harry answered. "If he's up and running all afternoon, it'll probably work out okay for her."

Since Ginny didn't have classes in the morning and a week off to study, and Harry didn't have to be anywhere early either, they talked until nearly one before Ginny fell asleep, and Harry stayed up a while longer to watch her sleep before drifting off too. He had some work to do on Saturday morning, including a little shopping and some Easter gifts to pick up for Ginny that he was going to send up to her with Snowstorm. Ron was working with George again at the store, which was packed when Harry stopped by to pick up several boxes of Easter wheezes for Ginny and to take with him to the party later. He made a side trip to a café to pick up some lunch for Ron and George, since it hadn't looked like they were going to get out of the store anytime soon, and dropped that off for them. Ron was still going to try and stop by Christine's party later if he could, though, so Harry did expect to see him later.

After going home, having lunch, and doing a little work around the house, he went to pick Teddy up, and then went on to Christine's house, which was a nice-looking place on the outskirts of Wimbourne. She'd been genuinely happy to have them there, and kept Harry busy for the first half hour or so with introductions to her family and friends.

This was all pretty much a first for him. He'd been to quite a few family gatherings at the Burrow, and to Bill and Fleur's wedding, though he'd been in disguise for that, but this was quite a bit different, and was new and he felt a bit awkward as he met and talked with the other Witches and Wizards at the party. The first impulse he'd felt when Christine had invited him to stop in had been to decline the offer. Just the thought of having to spend hours getting stared at, whispered about behind his back, and as far as he was concerned, worst of all, having Witches and Wizards sucking up to him had been all the motivation he'd needed to turn down every other invitation to public parties, like the Minister's Christmas Eve or New Year's bashes. Since he'd promised himself to try and work on fighting those instincts and opening up, though, he'd berated himself about that first impulse after Christine had left on Friday, realizing that her offer had been a timely opportunity for him.

"Other than having my oldest daughter crushing on you, it's not so bad, is it?" Christine said, coming over and sitting down on the sofa next to Harry.

"Do all Witches have the power to read minds?" he joked, and Christine laughed.

"No, but we all wish we could," she answered. "You're avoiding the question."

Harry smiled and nodded as he looked around the room. "Dawn's a sweetheart, and I have no idea how to deal with the crush. You have a really great family, and I'm not sure whether it's just that you have good taste in friends, or that my preconceptions of what to expect at a party like this were just wrong, but I've loved every minute so far. I'm really glad you invited us."

"I'd like to think that Bryce and I have done well enough choosing our friends, but the truth is probably some of both, Harry. You didn't get to grow up in the Wizarding World, and other than your friends at school and a very few others, your experience with adult Wizards and Witches has been skewed more than for most. If you weren't dealing with Death Eaters and their ilk, you were getting pushed and prodded by users and posers."

"That's pretty accurate," Harry agreed, "though since we all have to figure out who those users and posers are, I'm not sure it's a very good excuse to explain why I've gotten so closed off."

Christine nodded. "We do all have to deal with people like that, but you've been a magnet for them, which is quite a bit different. My point is that there really are a lot more good Witches and Wizards out here in the real world who aren't going to demand anything of you, or try to take from you. I'm not sure you'll ever have a time when the first reaction to meeting you isn't a bit overwhelming for us normal, regular folk, but most will get past that fairly quickly. I'd say that everyone here has already figured out that you're a fairly likable guy once they get a chance to see past that towering reputation."

Harry laughed. "I'm glad to hear that – it would've been even worse to find out that I was both unapproachable and a jerk that nobody would like too. Your husband is a seriously lucky Wizard."

"Yes he is," she agreed, "and if you were a jerk, I wouldn't have even had that first conversation with you that night after the raid."

"So, does he measure up?" Bryce asked, coming over and sitting next to his wife.

"Measure up?" she asked and he grinned at Harry.

"As future son-in-law material," he explained.

"Not a chance," Christine said with a laugh. "He's not bad, mind you, but our little girl is not going to marry a Wizard who's in love with another Witch."

"Are you going to break the news to Dawn, or have me do it? Sorry, Harry. I guess you're out of the running. I'm sure you understand – a mom's going to have high standards for her daughters."

Harry laughed too. "Well, for my sake, I really hope that Ginny's Mum has lower standards than Dawn's does."

"Since you're in love with her daughter, that affects your suitability status quite a bit," Christine pointed out.

Harry smiled when Dawn came up to them, carrying Teddy. "I think Teddy needs to be changed," she said shyly.

"Uh-oh. What do we do now?" Bryce asked, and Christine laughed as Harry stood up and took Teddy from Dawn.

"I'll have you know that I actually have managed to master diaper changes," he told them, and winked at Dawn. "Going through all of this baby and toddler stuff with you and your brother and sister probably explains why your Mom makes such a great Auror."

"Really?" Dawn asked, her eyes going wide at Harry's praise for her mother.

"Definitely," he assured her. "I think that diaper changes and feeding toddlers should be required in Auror training. If you can dodge a toddler throwing vegetables at you, dodging curses during a duel is nothing."

"I'll recommend that to Emma," Christine told him. "It may not make the training manuals, but she'll think it's hilarious."

Dawn led Harry to her room, staying with him while he changed Teddy, and then he went with her into the playroom where she, Teddy, and the other kids had been hanging around, and spent an entertaining hour playing with dragons, action figures, and dolls with the kids. Dawn had only been too grown up for dolls until she saw Harry playing dolls with her sister and the other younger girls.

"Jeremy says that Wizards do not play with dolls," Kate told him. "He says it's a rule or law or something."

"I hope not," Harry told her. "If it is, I'll have to arrest myself, or you Mom will have to take me in. Besides, if I can't play with dolls, then you'd either need to play something else with me, or I couldn't join in, and that wouldn't be any fun at all." He looked down at his doll and then smiled at Kate. "I do think that my doll would be having more fun if you hadn't put him in a dress, though."

"Oi, mate," Ron said, coming into the room and shaking his head in mock disbelief. "Don't you know that Wizards do not play with dollies? You're so busted, not to mention ruining your reputation."

"I've heard that," Harry answered, "but we're having fun, and it's a stupid rule. I'm thinking about asking the Minister of Magic to change it. Maybe if some of those bad guys we chase had been allowed to play with dolls when they were younger, they wouldn't have grown up to be such a bunch of meanies."

"Now there's a picture," Ron said with a laugh. "Maybe we should send a bunch of dolls up to Azkaban. Maybe it's not too late for them." The kids had all been laughing, and Harry had gotten a few hugs when the girls had found out that Ron had been coming to fetch Harry to go play with the grownups again.

"You made it just in time for the food, didn't you?" Harry asked Ron as they left the playroom, and Ron laughed and nodded.

"Absolutely," he agreed, "though George was swamped pretty much all day too. It finally started slowing down about a half-hour ago."

"You look pretty happy for working through the first half of your weekend off."

Ron nodded. "I like hanging out at the store with George, and we do have a lot of fun."

"So do you get a deal on wheezes for helping George out, like charging you regular price instead of double?" Harry asked, and Ron laughed.

"Were you there for that conversation? That's exactly what he suggested."

Most of the guests, and Christine and her family, all had plans on Easter, and with so many younger children, they had the meal fairly early so that parents could get tired kids home early too. That worked out pretty well for Harry, since he was able to take Teddy home, do the bath and bedtime routine that included a story and rocking Teddy to sleep before putting him into his crib for the night. He'd then had a cup of tea with Andromeda, catching up with what she'd been busy with for the past week, and then had left for home.

He'd written a letter for Ginny, and sent Snowstorm on his way with that and the box that he'd used to put all of her Easter gifts in, and then he'd gotten ready for bed and read through a few chapters of the sixth Auror training manual – Advanced Stealth Techniques - until he and Ginny had their bedtime chat. It had been a pretty good day, and going off to sleep while watching her beautiful sleeping face in his mirror had been as near to a perfect end to it as he could have short of falling asleep with her in his arms.

On Sunday, his morning started out with another mirror chat, and Ginny had loved the gifts he'd sent her, and also wanted to let him see some of the fun their friends were having with the Easter wheezes while they all had breakfast in the Great Hall. He'd already been up for a while and had finished breakfast by then, so after they'd ended their little chat, he went over to the Burrow, and helped Ron and his parents with getting ready for the family dinner. They weren't going to have everyone there, since Charlie and Julianne couldn't make it, and Ginny and Hermione were at school, but Aunt Muriel, George, Percy and Audrey, and Bill and Fleur were going to be over for most of the afternoon. By the time Aunt Muriel arrived at the Burrow, everyone else was already there. Having the extra support around for this dinner was nice, but certainly in no way diminished Aunt Muriel's domination of the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

"What's taking you so long?" she asked Bill and Fleur when they'd told her that Fleur wasn't pregnant in answer to her question. "You're coming up on two years married this summer. You were already walking around on your own by the time Molly and Arthur had been married two years. Maybe you should go get checked out by a Healer. You know - make sure everything's working the way it's supposed to."

"We did have a war to deal with for most of our first year of marriage, and there has been a lot of work to do at Gringotts with cleaning up since then, Aunt Muriel," Bill told her. "We'll get around to having children soon enough, but not until we're sure we can take care of them properly."

"Can't fault you for that," she conceded a bit grudgingly. "You boys and your hair, though, and that earring, William, is something else altogether. Percival and Harry are the only two of the lot of you who seem to know what a proper haircut is supposed to look like for a Wizard. By the way, Harry, is your hair always so unruly?"

"It's got a mind of it's own," he answered. "A talking mirror at the Leaky Cauldron once pretty much told me to give it up. It said something like 'You're fighting a losing battle there, dear'. I do still keep trying, even though I don't seem to have any success."

Aunt Muriel laughed, and then had to catch her breath. "You have some of the oddest stories, my boy, but you do make me laugh with them."

The rest of the afternoon, and their Easter dinner was a lot different than the party had been on Saturday, but the one thing that was exactly the same was that Harry really had a lot of fun. Everyone started heading home shortly after the kitchen cleanup was finished. Percy and Audrey had Aunt Muriel escort duty this time, while Bill, Fleur, George, and Harry stayed long enough after they'd left to have a proper goodbye with Ron and their parents.

On Monday, Nathan had Harry, Ron, Reggie, and Dan out in the field running down leads on their case while he and Christine stayed and worked out of Auror Headquarters. The plan for her to have short workdays so that she could spend extra time with Dawn and Jeremy while they were home ended up getting changed when on Monday afternoon, Emma assigned their group to help Josh and Neville with bringing in the Flints, along with two other couples who they'd discovered were all hiding out in Abergavenny.

That new assignment meant a late afternoon meeting with all of them on Monday, an all day raid preparation session on Tuesday that included Neville and Josh taking them in pairs to do walking tours around the neighborhood where the six Death Eaters were living, and going over every detail of the plan that Josh and Neville had put together. They were going in to make the arrests at mid-morning - a time that they'd decided minimized the risk to everyone in the area around the house they were raiding.

They were split up for the raid, covering the front and rear of the house. Harry, Ron, Reggie, and Dan had the back, and Dan would be staying outside to cover in case any of their targets managed to get outside past the other three. Nathan was doing the same job at the front, while Josh, Neville, and Christine would be going in from that side. When Nathan put up the anti-apparition and Muggle-repelling shields, they'd all been ready for some or all of the Witches and Wizards inside to attempt an escape, but that didn't happen, so they launched the raid, and were immediately in a firefight with their six targets.

The main floor of the house was fairly open, and the Flints and the other two couples had all hidden behind furniture in the sitting room and dining room as best they could when the shielding went up and they knew the raid was coming. Harry, Ron, and Reggie were all kept busy at first just trying to all get into the house through the back door, needing to shield and defend themselves from attacks that were coming from multiple directions. Josh, Neville, and Christine were having the same problem, but once all six of them were in the house, and able to begin counter-attacks, they began pushing back against the attack.

Harry blasted past the shield of one of the Witches, who had been behind the overturned dining room table with her husband, and disarmed her, though she remained momentarily free when her husband then shielded both of them before she could be bound. Doing that did make it more difficult for the Wizard to keep up with defending both of them, and that pretty much ended the attacks on the Aurors from that direction, so Harry left them to Ron and Reggie, while he turned to help Josh, Neville, and Christine with the other four Death Eaters, except he was only tracking attacks coming from three places. He looked around, sensing that something was wrong, and almost missed it – a wand poking out from behind the slightly opened door of a closet, being aimed at Christine's back.

"NO!" he shouted as an unbearable image of Christine's kids growing up without their mother flashed through his mind. "PROTEGO!" His shield blazed into place so close to Christine that it pushed against her even as he sent a vase to intercept the green flash of the killing curse. The explosion as they met was deafening in the closed quarters, and the vase had exploded into knife-sharp shards no more than an inch or two in front of his shield, and Christine's wide-eyed face as she'd whirled to see what Harry had shouted for.

"EXPELLIARMUS! REDUCTO!" Harry fairly bellowed, and the wand of the unseen attacker shot out of the closet and flashed across the room to his waiting, trembling hand. The closet door imploded, along with about a ten-foot section of that wall, and the Wizard they could now see was slammed against the back of the closet before he slid to the floor, unconscious.

Shaking with fear as much as with anger now, Harry hadn't even noticed the pain in his side from a long gash that scored his ribs on the left side. His wand flashed now as he continued to fight, disarming another of the Witches, and binding her before the fight was over, and the only break in the sudden silence was the moans from one of the Wizards who had been injured, Harry was pretty sure, by a spell from one of the other Death Eaters that had missed it's intended target and hit him instead.

"Harry, are you okay?" Christine asked, seeing the bloodstain that was blossoming along the left side of his cloak, and how pale his face was. Ron was there first, dragging a kitchen chair over and forcefully pushing Harry into it.

Now that the fight was over, he could feel the raw pain, but he smiled when he looked up at Christine as she reached him too. "I should be asking you that question," he told her. "That was a lot too close for my liking a minute ago."

"Ron, let Christine take care of Harry, and give us a hand. We've got two injured, and I think we need to get this one to St. Mungo's in a hurry," Josh called out. "Reggie, get Dan and Nathan. We need them too."

"I'm fine, Harry, and yes, that was too close for my liking either," Christine told him, pulling up another chair and sitting down to face him. "Let's have a look at you and see how bad it is." She helped him get his cloak off, and since his shirt was ruined now anyway, he took that off too, revealing the long, deep gash in his side.

"I can take care of this for you," she said, looking a bit pale now too, but her expression a mixture of determination and compassion. Harry nodded once, and then closed his eyes while she went to work. It didn't take more than a few moments, and he sighed in relief when she was finished.

"You might have done well as a Healer too," he suggested. "That didn't hurt a bit. Thank-you."

Christine sat back in her chair, sighed, and smiled at him. "Thank-you too," she said quietly. "I'm glad you had my back today."

"You're welcome, Christine." He closed his eyes again, fighting back the emotions as he remembered that instant of panic when he'd thought he was going to be too late.

"Harry, I'm okay," she whispered, leaning close again. "Caring about me, and about the other Aurors, makes you better and stronger, not weaker." She was smiling still when he opened his eyes to look at her.

"I do this job for the same reason you do, and if it's my time some day, I'm at peace with that, since what we're doing is worth anything to me to make things better for my kids, and everyone else I love." She laughed quietly. "I am fairly glad that it wasn't today. This is part of the reason you hold back on people, isn't it? You're afraid of losing the people you love."

"You've got that one right," he agreed. "I've already lost too many, and most of them died protecting me."

Christine nodded. "Of course they did, and for everyone else they loved too. There will be others in the future too, Harry. This isn't exactly the safest job in the world. Before you think about shutting yourself off again, though, spend a little time asking yourself how many of the people you love are still alive because you loved them enough to be there for them when they needed you. I'll count one from today, if that's okay with you, but I've heard enough other stories to know there are a lot of others still alive because of you too. The way Ron tells it, half of his family is still around thanks to you. If you hadn't loved them that much, I wonder if they would be, or even more, whether we'd have won the war."

"I don't think I'll ever be very good with handling losing people I care so much about, or stop worrying about losing them," Harry said, and Christine smiled, took his hand, and squeezed it gently.

"That's a good thing too, you know. Feeling like that makes us fight harder for what we believe in, and for everyone and everything that we hold dearest."

"How's Harry doing?" Josh called from the other room, and Christine smiled.

"We're just about done here," she answered. "Ready to get back to work?" she asked.

Harry nodded and stood up. Holding out a hand, he summoned a shirt and cloak from his closet at home, and grinned at Christine's look of surprise. "Just let me put these on, and I'll be ready to go." He laid the cloak over the chair and pulled the shirt on. "Thanks again for all of the advice, Christine. I'd like you to think about taking the rest of the week off and spend it with your kids while they're home. From a kid who lost his parents way too soon, I can tell you for sure that every moment you can spend with them is going to be something they'll treasure their whole lives if anything ever does happen to you."

Christine waited until he'd finished doing up his shirt, and then hugged him. "When we get this all wrapped up today, I think I'll do just that," she promised him.

Harry grabbed his clean cloak, and they went into the sitting room together. Ron and Neville had already taken the one Wizard to St. Mungo's, and Josh, Nathan, Reggie, and Dan were dealing with the remaining five Death Eaters. Someone had moved the Wizard out of the closet, and Reggie was taking a look at him.

"He's got some broken bones for sure," he reported to Josh, then smiled when he saw Christine there. "Maybe you should check him out," he suggested to her. "You're way better at this than I am, and I don't want to move him anymore if he's got any serious internal injuries."

"You look better," Josh told Harry as Christine went over to help Reggie with the injured Death Eater, who Harry could now see was Mr. Flint. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Harry answered. "I had a pretty deep gash along my ribs, but I was busy at the time, and have no idea how it happened."

"Reggie told me that she caught him with a cutting curse while he was defending Christine," Dan said, pointing to Mrs. Flint, who was glaring at them.

"I can live with that trade-off just fine," Harry told them, not even thinking about what that cutting curse might have sliced through had it been an inch or two further into his body and a hair higher up. "What do you want us to do next?" he asked Josh.

"Christine and Reggie can take care of Flint, and once they're gone to St. Mungo's, the four of us will seal the house, and take the last four prisoners to Auror Headquarters," he answered. "After we get there, I'll have you go to St. Mungo's, and you and Ron can stay there until we know what's going on with our two injured prisoners. I'll need Neville back at Auror Headquarters with me."

They all got to work, and within a half hour, Harry was on his way to St. Mungo's to relieve Neville and stay with Ron to guard the two prisoners, since Christine and Reggie had orders to return to Headquarters too. Since Ginny and Hermione did know that he and Ron were to be involved in a raid, he took a minute to check in with Ginny while the Healers worked on their patients and Ron watched over them.

"You're all okay?" Ginny asked the moment she saw that Harry was at the hospital.

"We've got a couple of injured prisoners," he answered. "I had a pretty nasty gash along my ribs, and ruined a shirt and cloak, but Christine fixed me up at the scene, and I'm fine. Nobody else was hurt."

Ginny looked at him critically. "And what else?" she asked. Harry smiled.

"I love you, Ginny," he answered. "We can talk about it later, but Christine just barely missed getting hit with a killing curse. I'm guessing you can tell how I felt about that."

"Yes I can," she agreed. "I'll keep my mirror with me, so you can reach me when you have time for that chat. Take care of yourself, and I love you too, Harry."

The Healers were able to heal Mr. Flint's injuries, and didn't need to admit him, so Ron went to get help to move him on to Auror Headquarters while he and Harry stayed with the other patient, who was being admitted, at least overnight. Josh and Nathan stopped by in the afternoon, and they decided that Ron and Harry would stay at the hospital until midnight, and Josh would get Emma to choose another pair of Aurors to come in for then to take over until morning.

That had made for a long day, and while Harry and Ron did each take turns to go have a short mirror chat with their girlfriends, Harry and Ginny didn't really get time for the long chat Ginny had been sure that Harry needed to have with her. He and Ron had been back to work on time Thursday morning, and got back to the fieldwork on their own case. Christine had kept her promise, and was spending the rest of the week with her family, so Nathan decided to just go out in the field and work with them instead of doing research at the Ministry on his own.

Harry did get to have that long heart-to-heart chat with Ginny on Thursday night, and for both him and Ron, by the time they got to Friday, it was just a day they needed to get through before Saturday and getting to spend a few hours with the girls in Hogsmeade again. They met in Hogsmeade for breakfast at the Three Broomsticks, and since they were early, had time to walk to the school gates, and still had about a ten minute wait before the first group of students came walking toward town from the castle.

"You should go on raids every week before a Hogsmeade day if you're going to welcome me like that every time," Ginny joked, and Harry laughed and hugged her again.

"How about we skip the raids, and I'll just work on making sure that I do welcome you like that every time anyway?" he suggested.

"That works too," she agreed, taking his hand, they started walking toward town. Hermione and Ron were still busy with their own reunion, but they'd catch up when they were ready. "It's nice to finally get some decent weather for a change."

"It is, and Ron and I are liking our field work more now that it's a bit warmer too," Harry told her. "Do you have a lot to pick up today?"

Ginny nodded. "Quite a bit, actually. While we might have rather been at home this week instead, we did get a lot of work done. I've used up most of my parchment and inks, wore out two more quills, and need to restock my potions supplies." She smiled at him. "It's a good thing you sent those chocolates to me for Easter, 'cause we ran out of sweets yesterday too. Without them, we probably would have run out on Tuesday or Wednesday."

"I wish we had run out sooner," Hermione said as she and Ron caught up with them. "Not all of us are doing Quidditch workouts or have a hyper-active metabolism to handle the chocolate overload."

"You're going sixteen to eighteen hours a day, and probably do between five and ten miles a day of walking around the castle keeping up with everything you have on the go," Ginny pointed out. "I don't think you've got anything to worry about from a few extra sweets for one week."

It really was a fairly nice day, and they enjoyed the walk to town. There were less than half the usual number of students in town, and not very many from the third, fourth, or sixth year classes, since most of those students had gone home for the holiday. Most, if not all, of the OWL and NEWT students had come to town, ready for a few hours off after a very long week of study.

Harry and Ron were happy to follow the girls around while they picked up their supplies, and they had lunch at the Three Broomsticks together, but then they split up, each couple going off to spend what little time they had left on their own before walking back to the school.

"It's going to really start getting busy from here to the end of the school year," Ginny said as she and Harry started out of town, holding hands and walking fairly slowly. "I wish I could be with you for things like Teddy's birthday, and I expect you and Ron will try to make at least one or two League playoff games in May, won't you?"

Harry nodded. "I've picked up tickets for Ron and I for a quarterfinal and semifinal match, and ten tickets for the League Championship game so Ron and I can go with your Mum, Dad, and hopefully most of your brothers, so hopefully that works out, depending on what happens with our case. I wish you could be there for those games, Teddy's birthday, and everything else that's going on too."

"Maybe you should show me how to be an Animagus, and I can sneak out to do those things with you," Ginny suggested, and Harry laughed. "What's so funny about that?"

"I love the idea," he answered, "but I can't help getting a mental picture of what that might be like, depending on what your Animagus was."

"And what mental picture popped into your head first?" she asked in a tone that told him that any answer could potentially be dangerous.

Harry grinned at her. "My first was a Gryffindor Lioness, which I'm sure would cause quite a stir at any Quidditch Stadium, though Teddy would probably love to play with the big kitty."

"That's a good answer," she complimented him. "An answer like hippopotamus or cow to a question like that could get a Wizard hexed."

"I should have asked you what kind of Animagus you'd picture me as before showing you mine," he suggested, and Ginny laughed.

"You're Animagus is adorable, but I'd have guessed some kind of bird, considering how much you love flying."

"That would have been pretty great, but it just didn't quite feel right when I was considering different birds," Harry told her. "I really thought I'd end up being a stag like my father, but that didn't end up feeling right for me either."

"I wasn't surprised about that. You are different than your father was in some important ways. I'm not actually serious about learning how to be one, though."

"That's probably just as well," Harry said with a laugh. "If your Animagus did turn out to be a lioness, you'd be looking at my Animagus as a potential dinner."

Ginny laughed too and stopped for a moment to hug and kiss him. "Thank-you. This has been one of those really good days."

"You are so welcome," he answered. "I think it's been brilliant too."

They reached the gates before Ron and Hermione did, and Harry held her close while they waited for their friends, shared a few soft kisses, and had fun with a few of the comments directed their way from some of their friends and other students as they passed by on their way up to the school. When Ron and Hermione did get there, and it was finally time for another goodbye, Ginny hugged him fiercely, and gave him a kiss meant for him to remember for the next three weeks they'd be apart again.

"I'm going in to work tomorrow," Harry told Ron as they watched the girls walking away. "You'll be hanging out with George at the store, and I've got to fill up all of that empty time with something."

"I hear that," Ron agreed. "What are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Teddy's birthday is getting close, and there's a toy Firebolt at Quality Quidditch with his name on it that Ginny and I are getting him, and then I thought I'd see what else I could find for him. Feel like tagging along?"

"Sure," Ron said with a laugh. "It's a hoot watching you play with all of the toy dragons and action figures in the stores, and I might even surprise Hermione and get our gift for him today too instead of leaving it until I'm on the way to the party like normal."

"You don't do that," Harry told him. "Lunchtime the day of the party, maybe, but not on the way."

They apparated to Diagon Alley, picked up the toy Firebolt, and then moved on to pick up a few more toys for Teddy, a couple of gifts for the girls, and a few other things that Harry wanted to get before going home. He'd spent the evening writing a long letter and sending the package he'd made up for Ginny with Snowstorm, and then kept busy with some house cleaning and laundry, working through until his bedtime chat with Ginny. Back up again by dawn, he got ready, and went into work, only stopping on the way in at a news stand to pick up some papers, and a café to get a coffee and bagel breakfast to go. He'd been at his desk for over an hour when Emma came into his cubicle and sat down in one of the chairs.

"What is all of this?" she asked in amusement when she saw all of the Muggle tabloid newspapers. Harry grinned at her.

"Well, I was thinking that it might be worth seeing if these tabloids might have any leads for us in finding our fugitives," he explained. "So far I've got three reports of aliens taking over some Muggles that could quite easily be people who've been Imperiused, two cases of strange occurrences, and one Muggle in hospital who'd been found wandering out in the middle of nowhere who shows every sign of having been given the kiss by a Dementor."

"What kind of strange occurrences?" she asked, the traces of amusement gone, and her manner all business now.

"One Muggle couple swear they saw what they called a changeling – a little boy change into an old man. The other was a group of young school kids who swear that they were chased out of what they thought was a creepy, old haunted house by everything from flying furniture to knives, pots, and pans. A few even had some cuts and bruises. Both stories have been discounted by the Muggle authorities."

"Those actually sound like leads worth tracking down," she agreed. "Do you think they have anything to do with your case?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably not, but I thought it would keep me busy today, and if any of these incidents are Wizard-related, then they could lead to one or more of our fugitives."

"You're going out in the field on your own today?"

"That was my plan, but I'll come for help if I do stumble over anything," he promised, and Emma nodded and stood up.

"Okay, but be careful, Harry," she told him.

He picked up two other leads before cleaning up his desk and going out to start chasing down his eight leads. He disguised himself and started out by interviewing the couple who'd claimed to see a changeling, but even though it seemed to be genuine, after the incident, the person they'd seen had disappeared, and Harry didn't really have anything there to track or do a stakeout on.

After leaving that couple, he went on to the hospital where the Muggle who'd been found wandering mindlessly out in the country was being held, and he was able to tell that he had indeed been given the Dementor's kiss. His chart had the general location for where he'd been found, but he'd had no identification on him, and nobody had come forward who knew him, so there was really nothing else for Harry to work with, though he did think it would be worthwhile taking a closer look at the area where he'd been found.

Two of the three possible Imperiused cases ended up being a lifestyle change for one, and a family feud for the other. The third one Harry backed off from, fairly sure that the Muggle was indeed under an Imperius Curse. That'd be a case needing to be investigated for sure, and a stakeout set up on the Muggle.

The last case he looked at for the day on Sunday was the haunted house. He'd checked the Ministry records, and confirmed that no Wizard or Witch was registered there. When he went to the house, there were wards and shields up around the place, and he immediately backed off again, glad that he'd apparated far enough away that he wouldn't have set off the wards with his arrival. After that, he went back to Auror Headquarters, wrote up a report, and left copies for Emma, Josh, and Nathan before going home to have dinner, and then popping over to play with Teddy for a while and do the bedtime routine with him.

While Harry had been busy running around out in the field most of the day, Ginny had been busy at school too. Her morning had started out great with Harry's Owl Post, though he had her seriously curious about the two gifts he'd sent for Christine's kids, Dawn and Jeremy, asking her to help deliver them when the two kids got back to school with the other students who'd been home for the holiday.

"Still wondering what Harry sent them?" Luna asked, as she watched Ginny idly give one of the packages a little shake. She'd gone over to Luna's table when the students had started arriving from Hogsmeade station so her friend could point out Dawn and Jeremy to her.

"Yes I am," she agreed, shaking the box again, and smiled when she heard Luna's musical laugh.

"You don't have to wait much longer," she answered, nodding toward the entrance. "That's Dawn there – shoulder length, curly, light brown hair on the left next to that taller blonde. Luna held out a hand and waved Dawn over when they'd gotten close, which seemed to surprise the younger girl.

"Hi Dawn," she said, smiling at her fellow Ravenclaw. "My best friend, Ginny Weasley wanted to meet you and your brother. I don't see him right now, but he'll be with the first years, won't he? Ginny, this is Dawn Campbell."

Ginny held out her hand and smiled at the now suddenly very shy girl. "Well, now I'm really wondering why my boyfriend is sending me presents in the Owl Post to give to other pretty Witches," she said, and Dawn's eyes went wide and she started to blush, while the friends who'd been walking with her giggled. Ginny handed her both presents, and the letter that Harry had sent. "It's nice to meet you, Dawn. Since I've been wondering all day what's in that box, do you think you could open it now? I'm sure you can get the other gift to Jeremy, and maybe introduce me to him another time."

Dawn had nodded, still blushing, and had opened the letter first.

Hi Dawn,

Welcome back to Hogwarts! I really loved getting to meet you and your family over the holidays, and I really appreciate all of your help with taking care of Teddy at the party. The only thing I really wished that I could have done was introduce you to Ginny. I expect that Luna or one of our other Ravenclaw friends have just done that, so that's taken care of now.

You're probably missing your parents quite a lot, and I thought a little gift would help brighten your day. Hope you like it.

Harry

P.S. Ginny's favorite team is the Harpies, and I'm going to tell you a secret that even she doesn't know (though you can tell her if she promises to keep my secret) – I like the Harpies the best too, but don't ever tell Ron that.

Dawn was smiling brightly, and she'd laughed a couple of times while she'd read the note. "I'm supposed to see if you can keep a secret," she told Ginny quietly.

"I think we can both do that," Ginny agreed, and then laughed a couple of times too when she read the note the other girl handed her. Dawn was opening her gift now, and she had tears in her eyes when she saw the gold Harpies pin Harry had sent her.

"You must have made quite an impression on him," Ginny told her, drawing Dawn's attention to the identical pin she was wearing. "Would you like a hand putting it on?"

Dawn had nodded mutely, wiping away the happy tears while her friends looked on, now with expressions of amazement. Ginny had just finished doing that when she looked up and saw that a pair of young boys had joined the growing group of kids around them. One of them was enough like his sister that she knew he must be Dawn's brother Jeremy. She smiled, and held out her hand to him.

"Hi, Jeremy. Harry wanted me to meet you and your sister," she told him, and watched him blush furiously as he shook her hand. "We seem to be creating a backlog, though, so I'd better get back to the Gryffindor table, and Dawn can give you the gift Harry sent for you." She turned back to Dawn and hugged her. "I'll see you around," she promised.

There was quite a buzz that started up among those kids as she left, and Ginny was laughing when she got back to her seat next to Hermione. "Have fun?" she asked Ginny.

"Harry sent them welcome back gifts – a Harpies pin like mine for Dawn, and I didn't stay to see what he sent Jeremy." She laughed again. "She's definitely got a serious crush on my boyfriend, so I'm wondering if he's hoping I can help her get over it without hurting her too much."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Hermione answered. "His training seems to be coming along quite nicely. A few years ago, and he wouldn't have had a clue what to say or do about something like a little girl's crush, if he'd even notice at all to start with."

"I can relate," Ginny joked.

The welcome back feast started shortly after that, and while most of the returning students spent the evening getting reacquainted with their friends, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and most of their study group got together again to continue working on their assignments and the exam preparation that Hermione was leading them through. It was nearly ten o'clock by the time that Ginny and Hermione were both in their beds and ready for their nightly chats with Harry and Ron.

"I'm really looking forward to your explanation as to why you thought that your girlfriend would be happy about finding out that not only were you giving jewelry to another, very pretty young Witch, but you actually had the audacity to have me deliver that present to the girl too," she said, her tone and expression a perfect mix of indignation and just-under-the-surface boiling anger. She gave that up when all Harry did was laugh in delight, his eyes flashing with amusement.

"You could have a brilliant career in acting," he said, and Ginny laughed too.

"Apparently not, since that didn't fool you for a second," she answered. "Dawn's a sweetie. Have Hermione and I guessed right about why you wanted to do the introduction? You could have just sent her an Owl Post instead."

"I'm sure you've guessed exactly right," he agreed. "I may have no clue how to handle something like this, but hopefully she'll just fall in love with you too, and it'll all work out."

"How'd you know she was a Harpies fan?"

"Her room was the change room while Teddy and I were at the party. The posters were pretty much the giveaway."

"Well, your little gift was a big hit, and we've agreed to keep your little secret for you. How was your day?" From that question, they went on to talk for over an hour, but then it was time for both of them to get some sleep so they'd be ready for long days back in the classroom and at work respectively.

Harry was in his cubicle at work early again on Monday morning, drinking a coffee, and having a muffin for breakfast after not feeling like cooking for himself again that morning. Ron flung himself into a chair and smiled at his friend.

"Mum says to tell you that you haven't been over enough and to stop by sometime soon, or she'll get cross with you. How'd your day go around here yesterday?"

"It was pretty interesting," Harry answered, handing Ron a copy of the report he'd written up. Ron was laughing before he got very far into reading the first page.

"You were reading the Muggle tabloids to get leads on our fugitive cases?" he asked incredulously. "Hermione says those rags are worse than the wild stories Luna's father comes up with in the Quibbler."

"Read on," was all Harry said, and watched as Ron continued to read through the report.

"For real?" he finally asked, and Harry nodded.

"I'd say the house and the Imperiused Muggle are the solid leads right now, but we should definitely be taking a look around the area where that Muggle who's been given the Dementor's kiss was found. It might be easy enough for Dementors to hide up there in the winter, but now that it's warming up, it'll be much harder for them to hide – especially if they're doing things like that again."

"Which one would you pick for us to work on?"

Harry grinned at him. "The haunted house, of course. We may not get to play with any of them, though, depending on what Nathan has for us with our own case."

What Nathan had for them was a decision from Emma that he, Christine, Ron, and Harry were getting the haunted house, Josh, Neville, Reggie, and Dan were getting the Imperiused Muggle, and two more Aurors and a team from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures were going on a field trip to check out the district where the Dementor attack may have taken place.

That was the good news. The bad was that low seniority still meant night shifts, so after doing a tour of the area with Nathan, Christine, and Ron, Harry and Ron were to take the rest of the day to relax, get a little sleep, and then take the night shifts for their new stakeout.

"You're the one who wanted the haunted house," Ron reminded him as they walked into the kitchen at the Burrow. "Everyone knows that the really scary stuff only happens late at night in places like that."

"Look who's here, Teddy," Mrs. Weasley said, walking into the kitchen too. "If I'd known Harry was going to be here, I'd have saved that diaper change for him. Why are you boys here at this time of day?"

"Ron gave me your message, and we were ordered straight over," Harry joked, and Mrs. Weasley laughed.

"You're going on nights," she countered, and Ron and Harry both nodded.

"Yes, but I was going to come visit after work anyway," Harry answered, going over to give her a hug before she handed Teddy to him. "How are you this morning?"

"Unca 'airwy pway?" he asked hopefully, and Harry hugged him too.

"I can for a little while," he agreed, "but then I'll have to go have my nap time after that."

"Are you on another big case?" Mrs. Weasley asked them, and Ron answered.

"It's a brand new lead, so we're not sure what we've got yet."

"Well, just be careful, dear," she told him. "If you're going to entertain Teddy for a while, I'm going to get some laundry started, and get a little cleaning done too. Will you stay for lunch, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "I'd like that, Mrs. Weasley. Thank-you."

They took Teddy into the sitting room and played with him until lunchtime, and after eating and helping with the cleanup, Harry hugged Teddy and Mrs. Weasley goodbye, and then went home to get a few hours of sleep. Since Nathan and Christine had been in to work fairly early too, Harry and Ron were ready and in place to take over the stakeout just before seven o'clock.

"How'd Hermione take the no bedtime chat news?" Harry asked after Nathan and Christine had left for the night.

"Probably about as well as Ginny," he answered with a shrug. "We'll just do the morning chats instead like we've done all of the other times you and I have been on nights."

Harry grinned at him. "Feel like having some fun?" he asked, holding up a lead and dog collar, and Ron started laughing.

"You want me to take you for a walk?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

"Sure. Let's see if my canine senses can come up with anything," he answered. "Just keep me away from any other dogs."

Ron looked confused for a moment. "Why?"

"Because I really don't want anyone sniffing my butt or have to reciprocate playing the part, if you really must know," he answered, and Ron had to choke back the roar of laughter to the point where Harry had to thump him on the back.

"I've honestly never considered some of the potential troubles that could come out of being an Animagus," Ron told him. He laughed again. "Why do I suddenly have this mental picture of you trying to explain to Ginny a litter of puppies you've had with some cute little floppy-eared temptress? Is that even possible for an Animagus?" His eyes got wide as he took that thought another direction. "If they can, do you think that McGonagall has ever – you know – had kittens?"

"Ron, please tell me that you're not going to start a new Mrs. Norris rumor," Harry joked, and Ron laughed again.

"You mean she's not Filch's old girlfriend, and an Animagus attempt gone wrong?" he asked. "That would be a funny rumor, but I guess it's probably not a good idea."

"Definitely not," Harry agreed. "Let's go play while it's still early enough that going for an evening walk will work as a cover."

Harry handed Ron the collar and leash. They were well hidden, so he made the change into his Animagus right there, and Ron leaned over to put the collar on him. He laughed again when he read the dog tag.

"Okay, Paddy. Let's go for our little walk, but if any of the guys laugh at me for having a dog like you, I'm just going to tell them that you belong to my sister, and I'm stuck taking care of you while she's away at school."

Ron had only been half joking about that, but as they took a walk around the neighborhood, he found out that a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was a magnet for pretty young girls, and he was soon having a lot of fun on several levels, not the least of which was watching those girls scratching and even occasionally kissing his best mate. He also didn't mind that quite a few of those girls seemed to like what they saw in him too. Harry wasn't sure whether he should tell Ron about some of the comments he was able to hear from those girls when they moved on – mostly because he really didn't think he wanted to discuss those comments. A couple of them, he really wished he hadn't overheard at all.

"So, what did we learn this evening, other than that I have got to get me a dog?" Ron asked. "Should I tell Ginny about all of those girls kissing you tonight?"

Harry laughed. "Depends, mate. If you want to tell her that, then I'll have to tell Hermione about that girl with the long black hair who told her friend that she wouldn't have minded scratching you behind the ears for a while too, and the blonde who whispered to herself that she wouldn't kick you out of bed for eating cookies."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" he asked, and Harry laughed again.

"Do you speak dog?" he countered, and it was Ron's turn to laugh.

"Maybe we should work out a signal," he suggested. "Like bark twice if she thinks I'm cute."

"Or maybe you should remember that you have an amazing girlfriend, and get a grip," Harry told him. "Now, for what we were actually out there to do, while you were flirting with the pretty girls, I heard a WWN playing inside the house, and could make out just one person moving around. I didn't get anything useful from the smells, mostly because the area around the house is such a mess. I didn't see anyone watching from any of the windows."

"Could you get closer to the house later tonight?" Ron asked. "The Hogwarts wards never stopped Sirius or Pettigrew."

"We should have tested that when were out there," Harry answered. "I don't want to chance it alone and mess up our stakeout if I would set the wards off. Let's do another walk tomorrow evening, and you can accidentally let me wander onto the property, and we'll see what happens."

With the fun part of their night over with, they settled in for the long night ahead, relaxing and talking quietly as they watched the house all night with nothing happening at all. Nathan and Christine took over at seven o'clock, and Harry went straight home, had something to eat, and then went up to bed. Before dropping off, he pulled out his mirror and called Ginny's name. They talked for a few minutes, and then Harry told her about his little Animagus adventure.

"So you were getting scratches and kisses from a bunch of pretty Muggle girls?" she asked archly, and Harry nodded.

"Yes, but it was just part of the job," he answered, and Ginny laughed. "If it makes you feel better, I learned way more than I needed to know about what quite a few of those girls thought of your brother."

"It doesn't," she answered. "I'm glad you tell me the truth about things like this, Harry, but I don't like this one bit. You're mine, and I'm not interested in sharing you with other girls. Figure out a way to keep doing your job without all of the puppy love, or I'm going to get very cross with you."

"I suddenly feel the urge to be the shyest dog in the world," he joked, and Ginny laughed again.

"That might be a winning plan," she agreed.

She had to get going to the Great Hall for breakfast, and after they ended their chat, Harry closed his eyes and went right to sleep, worn out after being up for all but about three and a half hours of the last day. He and Ron did another evening walk on Tuesday, with Harry wandering into the yard by the length of the lead without having any effect on the wards. With that determined, he went back to the house later, well after dark, and wandered the yard for more than two hours, listening to every sound, and even getting a look into some of the rooms. He still only heard the sounds from one person in the house, and got a look at the Wizard briefly as he went into the room Harry was watching, grabbed something, and left again.

"That's him," Harry confirmed, as Nathan pulled a picture off one of the walls of his cubicle. The two Wizards had gone back to Headquarters together while leaving Ron and Christine on the stakeout. He and Ron hadn't told Nathan or Christine how he'd been able to get close enough to get a look at the man, and they probably just assumed he'd finally stuck his head up long enough to be seen.

"Albert Runcorn," Nathan told him with a nod. "This guy was turning Muggle-borns in left and right. I remember he turned in Dirk Cresswell from Goblin Liason – he escaped from Dawlish on the way to Azkaban, but the Death Eaters caught him eventually and killed him."

"Wouldn't that make Runcorn an accessory to murder?" Harry suggested, and Nathan smiled grimly at him.

"Why yes, I do believe that it might," he agreed. "Fill out a quick report before you go home, and I'll go let Emma know what we've got before I go back to the stakeout, but let's get together for a little meeting back here at six o'clock. After you and Ron have watched the place again tonight, if it's still looking like he's there alone, Christine and I will bring Reggie and Dan along, and we'll do a garbage collection in that neighborhood tomorrow morning."

"That sounds like a great idea," Harry agreed. "I've got a real not-so-soft spot in my heart for guys like that."

Harry had written up his report, left copies for Emma, Nathan, and Josh, and gone home from Headquarters to get some sleep, while Nathan had gone back to their stakeout to relieve Ron. They had about an hour long meeting starting right at six, including with Reggie and Dan, and then Ron and Harry were back on the stakeout for the night. Ron took Harry for another evening walk, and later, Harry spent another couple of hours in close by the house, and still getting no sign of more than just Runcorn in the house.

Nathan, Christine, Reggie, and Dan were all there by eight in the morning, but they were going to wait just a little longer while Muggles in the neighborhood left for school and work. They didn't actually expect a fight this time, but there was a good chance that he'd try and run by any means possible. When they were ready to go, Harry blasted the wards and shields apart, while Nathan put up the anti-apparation shield. Harry and Ron went in the front, while Christine and Dan went in the back, and Nathan and Reggie took back-up positions front and back.

"Where'd he go?" Dan asked after they'd searched the house and come up empty. He, Christine, Ron, and Harry had met up by the wide doorway between the front hall and sitting room, and Harry was looking around, trying to get any clue as to where their fugitive was. He'd heard the man softly snoring hours earlier, so there was no reason to think he hadn't been there when they'd broken through his shields.

"Maybe this old place has secret passages," Ron suggested, "or a hidden room."

Harry had grinned at that, when the word 'hidden' had him thinking about the first time he'd met Horace Slughorn, and that led him to realize what he'd thought looked odd about the sitting room. He waved a hand to get the attention of the others, and pointed to a chair that was identical to the sofa and two other chairs, except it had apparently been re-upholstered.

"You could be right," he told Ron, making a kicking motion with his foot suggestively. "Why don't you and Christine start down here, and Dan and I will go upstairs, and let's tear this place apart."

Ron got the hint right away and stomped into the sitting room. "You know I really hate having to get dirty doing that, mate," he said, emphasizing his comment by giving the chair a good, hard kick.

"OUCH!" the chair exclaimed. Christine and the three Wizards were all smiling now, and Ron stepped back, his wand pointed at the chair.

"Albert Runcorn, you're under arrest for crimes against Muggle-borns, and as an accessory to the murder of Dirk Cresswell."

When the Wizard made no attempt to Transfigure, Ron looked over his shoulder. "Well?" he asked the others.

"Before Auror Ogden took over as Head of the Aurors, we'd have just used the chair for target practice until the Wizard or Witch changed back," Christine told him. "She's ordered an end to such things, though, so I guess that we'll just have to rope the chair up, and carry it back to the Ministry of Magic like that." She sighed regretfully. "It's really too bad, since that's really going to leave some painful rope burns on him later, since you really have to make them tight so he can't Transfigure and escape while we're moving him."

"How tightly do I need to do it?" Ron asked. "I've never used that spell on furniture before, and I'm still working on that spell. I nearly killed Dolohov when we captured him because I'd made the ropes too tight, and he couldn't breath."

"Maybe I should do it then," she suggested. "If you get it wrong, you'll just cut right through the chair, and it's really quite nasty putting a Transfigured Wizard back together after that. They're almost never quite the same again."

"But we're supposed to help our trainees learn new things like this," Dan pointed out, trying not to laugh. "I'm sure we can keep him from totally botching the job, and you never know, he might get it right the first time."

"Why don't I try on one of those other chairs first?" Ron suggested, pointing his wand at one. "INCARCEROUS!" he said loudly, and one thick coil of rope wrapped around the chair and promptly sliced through the top half of the back of it, which toppled over onto the floor. "Too tight?" he asked.

"A bit, yes," Christine agreed. "Would you like to try again on the other chair?"

"Nah," he answered, pointing his wand at Runcorn. "I think I've almost got it figured out. INCAR-"

"NO!" the chair wailed. "I'm changing back!" They watched as Runcorn Transfigured back to normal, and stood there, trembling, his eyes wide with fear as they darted from Ron to the chair he'd just cut in two.

"Good choice," Christine complimented him. "Would you like to hand over your wand, or is this going to get unpleasant?"

Albert only needed to look in her eyes for a moment before reversing his wand and holding it out to Ron, who took it and passed it on to Christine. "You're two for two," Christine complimented him. "Let's keep him close to us when we get to the Ministry," she told Harry, Ron, and Dan. "There are a lot of people there who would be happy to get a little time to thank Albert here for what he helped do to Dirk Cresswell, and so many other Witches and Wizards."

"There's one or two in that group right here," Dan told her. "Too bad that our new Head of the Aurors frowns on extra-curricular activity like that. It's terribly disappointing."

Christine smiled. "I wonder where she gets such radical ideas from?" she asked, looking pointedly at Harry.

"I don't know," Dan answered. "Mr. Runcorn here ought to be very grateful, though. It's way better than the fate he condemned those Witches and Wizards to when he turned them over to the Death Eaters."

They led their nervously twitching prisoner out of the house, and Nathan and Reggie joined them before they all apparated to the Ministry of Magic. The Atrium was crowded, and more than a few Ministry employees recognized Runcorn. A few applauded as he was led through security, and the noise level went up dramatically as word spread about whom the Aurors had captured.

"Christine, I'd like you to go see Dirk's wife before this hits the news," Emma said when they made it up to Auror Headquarters. She looked over at Harry and nodded toward him. "Take Auror-trainee Potter with you. He can help with the boys while you're taking care of Lenore. Nathan and the others can handle the paperwork."

Harry and Christine had both agreed, and left Headquarters again. When they got outside, Christine side-along apparated Harry to the Cresswell home, and then led him up to the door, where they were invited in by a pretty, smiling Witch who looked to be in her mid-thirties, and maybe a few years younger than Christine.

"Two Aurors stopping for a visit in the middle of the morning," she said in a soft, pleasant voice. "Am I going to like what you've come for?"

Christine smiled at her. "I expect the answer to that will be both a yes and a no. Where are the boys?"

"In the kitchen," she answered. "I do their schooling in the mornings, and they get to play after lunch."

"Harry, why don't you go keep them company, and Lenore and I can have a little talk," she suggested. "Unless they've changed a lot since I saw them last, the taller one will be Matthew, and he's seven, and the cute little blonde one is five-year old Franklin."

Harry had gone through the doorway that Lenore had indicated for him, while the two Witches went into the sitting room together, Christine taking Lenore's hand, leading her over to the sofa, and sitting down with her. He smiled when the two boys looked up at him, their eyes went wide with recognition, and their mouths dropped open in matching O's.

"Good morning, he said quietly, coming over and sitting down in the chair between them that their mother must have been using while teaching them whatever lessons they were working on. "Your Mum's just having a little chat with Auror Campbell in the sitting room, and they asked me to hang out here with you while they're busy. I guess you've already figured out who I am, and you must be Matthew," he told the older boy, "and that would mean that you're Franklin."

"How did you know that?" Franklin asked him. There was no trace of shyness with him, and he was getting over the shock of seeing Harry in his own house quickly.

"Auror Campbell described both of you to me a moment ago," he explained. "What are you working on this morning?"

"Math," Franklin answered, his tone suggesting that it was far from his favorite subject.

"At least you're just learning your numbers, and counting and stuff like that," Matthew told his brother. "Wait until you have to do adding and subtracting and all of the really hard stuff."

"Well, Arithmancy isn't my thing either," Harry told them, "but I can probably help you out with what you're working on, so why don't you keep working, and maybe we can get this part of your lessons done so you can move on to more fun subjects."

"There's no such thing as fun subjects," Matthew told him, and Harry laughed.

"When it comes to all of the assignments and studying, I might agree with you Matthew, but there really are some fun subjects – especially when you get to Hogwarts. My favorites were DADA, Charms, and Transfiguration."

Matthew had looked excited when Harry had mentioned Hogwarts, and he nodded. "One of our cousins says it's brilliant there," he told Harry. "I get to go in just three more years – I'll be eight soon."

The boys chatted away with Harry, his celebrity status soon irrelevant to the boys as they just enjoyed having a friendly young Wizard to talk with about things like Hogwarts, Quidditch, and anything and everything else that popped into their heads. They'd finished the math work and Matthew had told Harry that reading and writing came after that, so they had just gotten started on that when a red-eyed Lenore and Christine joined them in the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" Franklin asked, jumping out of his chair to go and hug her tightly. She looked at Harry, who shook his head slightly so she knew he hadn't explained why he and Christine were there.

"Nothing's really wrong, sweetie," she answered. "You boys remember Christine? She and Auror-trainee Potter came over to tell us that they've just arrested one of the Wizards responsible for what happened to your Daddy."

"Really?" Franklin asked, and she nodded and hugged him again.

"Yes, really," she confirmed. "Matthew?" she asked, and looked startled when he ran from the room, and they could all hear him running up the stairs. "Oh dear," she said, tears in her eyes and voice. "I thought they should know the truth."

Harry was looking at Franklin, catching a look in the little boy's eyes. "Do you know why Matthew's upset?" he asked, and Franklin nodded.

"He wanted to get them himself," he whispered. "The Wizards who killed our Daddy. When he grew up, he was going to find them and…" his eyes were big, and he didn't finish the sentence.

Harry nodded. "Can I try talking to him?" he asked Lenore, and she nodded, looking a bit sick about what Franklin had said.

"Second door on the right," she said, hugging Franklin even more tightly now as Christine put her arm around her.

Harry went upstairs and to the open door Lenore had indicated, knocking on the frame before stepping into the room. Matthew was lying on his bed, and there were tears in his eyes, but the expression on his face was all anger.

"You aren't looking very happy about the news," Harry said, going over and sitting on the bed next to the boy.

"Why should I be?" he said scornfully. "He won't get what he deserves for what he did to my Dad, or to us."

"And what do you think he deserves?" Harry asked. Matthew hadn't looked at him yet, but he did now, and his eyes were fierce with conviction.

"The same fate that the Wizard who killed your parents deserved," he answered. "You killed the Dark Lord to avenge your parents, and I wanted to get the Wizards who killed my father."

"Matthew, I've felt exactly like you do now more times than I can count, but I've also learned that letting that kind of hate eat you up, and wanting that kind of revenge is wrong. You should also know that I didn't kill the Dark Lord, he killed himself when the spell he tried to use on me rebounded on him," Harry told the boy, who shook his head in disbelief. "It's true," Harry assured him. "I would not have killed him – the spell I counter-attacked with would have only disarmed him."

"I don't understand," Matthew said, his face crumpling. "You defeated the Dark Lord – everyone says so."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "I did, but if he'd used nearly any other spell other than the killing curse, I would have defeated him, and he would have lived." He reached out and put a comforting hand on Matthew's arm. "I'm not like he was, and neither was your father, from everything I've heard about him. I hated what the Dark Lord did to hurt so many people, including everything he did to me and to the people I loved the most, but I felt sorry for him, Matthew. He made terrible choices all through his life, and those were all his own fault, but he also never had anyone, ever, who loved him, and he never loved anyone in return."

"He killed your parents," Matthew said stubbornly, and Harry nodded.

"Yes he did, and I still wish that I could have my Mum and Dad back – it was really hard growing up without them – but that's impossible. Your Dad, and my Mum and Dad, died trying to protect us, and fight against the Dark Lord and his followers. If we went around killing all of those Death Eaters and the other Dark Wizards, we'd be no better than they are, and that'd be a pretty poor way to thank our parents for what they gave up for us, don't you think?"

"So you just want to let them all off the hook for what they did?" Matthew demanded and Harry laughed.

"I didn't join the Aurors to let that happen," he answered. "There's a big difference between revenge and justice, though. Mostly I'm doing the job because, while I can't change what has happened, we can get the bad guys off the streets so they can't hurt anyone else ever again. You may have heard that we're making some progress with getting that done."

Matthew couldn't help himself, and laughed too. "Yes, I have heard that," he admitted. "Do you really believe all of that stuff?"

Harry locked eyes with the boy so he'd have no doubt. "I really believe all of that stuff, mate. It's not always easy, but there are a lot of Witches and Wizards who believe that too, and we're going to clean up our little corner of the Wizarding World. Maybe when you grow up, you'll come and help us do that, since it's going to be a tough job, and will take years to make happen."

"You think I could be an Auror?" Matthew asked.

"I think you should find out what you love to do, and if that's a job with the Aurors or the Ministry, then you should go for that," Harry answered. "Being an Auror is the right job for me, but it's not for everyone. Maybe you'd follow your Dad and become Head of Goblin Liason, or do something completely different. You've already got a big job to do right here – taking care of your mother and brother." He stood up and held out his hand. "Speaking of your mother, I'm guessing she could seriously use a hug from you right about now." Matthew took his hand, and they went back downstairs together. When they got to the kitchen, he gave his mother a long hug.

"Are you alright, honey?" she asked him, and he nodded.

"I'm sorry Mum," he said quietly. "I was just really mad, but I'm okay now."

"I was really mad too," she told him, and he looked up at her in surprise.

"You were?" he asked, and she nodded and smiled.

"I was, but Christine wouldn't let me go Transfigure her prisoner into a slug or a pig or something."

"It was tempting," Christine told them, "but changing a guy like that into a slug or pig would be an improvement for him, and an insult to slugs and pigs the world over."

The two little boys laughed at her comment, and Lenore smiled at Harry and Christine. "Thank-you for coming to let us know, and for catching him."

"You're welcome, Lenore," Christine assured her. "If you'd like to testify at the sentencing phase of the trial, I'm sure that Wizengamot Administration will be happy to schedule you in, and it usually makes a big difference in the length of the sentence."

"Can we Mommy?" Matthew asked hopefully. "I'll testify if you don't want to."

Lenore hugged him again. "Yes we can, sweetheart. By the time you're done, those Wizengamot Elders will probably lock him up and throw away the key."

Christine and Harry left shortly after that, and went back to Auror Headquarters, and Harry spent another couple of hours filling out his report before going home to get some sleep. He got up once in time to have his chat with Ginny, which was the first chance they'd had for a nice, long talk since he'd switched to the night shift. After that, it was back to sleep, and then up early and off to Auror Headquarters on Friday morning.

Nathan had them all get back on the Mulciber case again, and they were all out in the field for the day and tracking down leads. Harry was the only one of their group who worked on the weekend, though he worked on the other leads he hadn't gotten to yet from the Muggle tabloids, and passed on a report to Emma with his findings from those other instances, though only one turned out to have a connection to the Wizarding World.

They were all back to work on their case Monday morning, but on Tuesday, Emma had another assignment for them. When they went into the conference room that Emma had told them to meet her in, Harry was surprised to see Bill, four Goblins, and two other Wizards in the room. He smiled and went over to shake Bill's hand before sitting down across the table from him.

"Minister Shacklebolt, a group of Witches and Wizards from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and a group of Goblins from Gringotts have come up with a solution for the captured Dementors," Emma told Harry and the others. "We're going to be helping them make the transfer of the Dementors to the new prison that's been created for them." She smiled at Bill. "I'll let you explain to everyone what they'll be doing, and then I guess all that's left to do is get on with the job."

"Thank-you, Auror Ogden," Bill said, returning her smile before getting serious again.

It took him fifteen or twenty minutes to go over everything that the Goblins and Witches and Wizards had done together, and then let them know how they were planning on accomplishing the transfer from the Gringotts vault and out of Hermione's undetectable expansion bag into what was going to be their new home. When he was finished, everyone in the room left the Ministry of Magic and went on to Gringotts. They had to split up there, taking separate carts to the lowest level of the vaults, where two Goblins unlocked the vault and Bill went in to retrieve the bag, handling it with extreme care.

"We walk from here," he told them, and with the same two Goblins leading, they began a two-hour walk along a brand new corridor that had been tunneled out over the past several months.

There were no connecting passageways and no doors for vaults along the way, just a kilometers-long tunnel that ended in a cavern that was about the size of a small Cottage. In the middle of the cavern was a large, metallic box with an open door that took up about half of the cavern space. Harry judged that it was about twelve feet high, by maybe twenty feet wide, and ten or more feet deep, though he couldn't tell that size for sure from the front. There was about twenty-five feet of space between the tunnel entrance and the open door of the box.

"Now for the tricky part," Bill told them. He carried the bag into the cavern, and set it down just outside of the open door for the metal box. "Harry, you'll be using your Patronus to force them from the bag into the container. I'll open the bag when you're ready, and seal the door once they're all inside." He looked at the four Goblins next and nodded.

"If you could all step back into the tunnel, we will make sure that you're in no danger while we make the transfer my friends," he told them, and they all turned and moved a dozen paces back from the cavern entrance.

"The rest of us are here to make sure that if any of them get past Harry's Patronus that they do not leave this room," Bill told the rest of the Witches and Wizards. "I'll let you decide who stays and who goes, but two of you need to be in the tunnel, and shield it, and the rest of us will remain in here to aid Harry if needed."

Harry looked at him for a long minute and then asked the question that was bugging him since hearing about everything they'd done, and what the plan was. "And if we fail?"

The answer was in Bill's eyes, and Harry nodded even before he spoke. "Then the Goblins will collapse the cavern with us in it."

Harry looked at Emma, who he saw had known about this already. "Then I vote for Nathan and Christine to shield the entrance," he told them, before grinning at Ron and the other guys. "Just in case, mind you, because I have no intention of not getting out of here in one piece – Ginny would kill me if I didn't."

They all laughed, but then they also agreed with him, and Christine and Nathan were sent into the passageway, and put up a heavy double-shield that protected them and the Goblins, and sealed the rest of their friends inside with all of the Dementors.

"Ready?" Bill asked, and Harry nodded and pulled out his wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he shouted so loudly that the sound was as shocking as the view of the immense Patronus that erupted from his wand.

When Bill opened the bag with a wave of his wand, Harry nearly buckled under the assault the Dementors launched against his shield as they erupted from the bag, something close to fury incarnate. His Patronus caused them incredible pain, but they fairly sucked on the energy after months of starvation, and he gritted his teeth and poured everything he had into the shield.

"Help me!" he panted. "We need more to push them into the box!"

Bill, Emma, and the others were right there for him, and he heard each of them shouting, followed by seven smaller Patronus flanking his. Harry redoubled his efforts and one by one, the Dementors were pushed into the box. He had no idea how long that battle of wills went on for, but finally, the last Dementor had been pushed into their new prison, Bill had swept the bag in after them, just in case any had decided to try hiding in it, and then he slammed the door closed, locking it with a wave of his wand that activated heavy metal bolts that slammed into place in the frame. The sudden release of pressure against Harry's Patronus was such a relief that he collapsed to his knees, sucking in air like he'd just played a marathon Quidditch match – for a week or two straight.

"Thanks," he wheezed out, smiling weakly up at Emma and the others. "They were definitely not happy campers, were they?"

"If you hadn't eaten in nearly four months, you'd be a bit cranky too," Reggie suggested. "Now what, Bill?" They were all breathing pretty hard, and Bill waited a moment before answering. By then, the Goblins, Christine, and Nathan had joined them again.

"Now we catch our breath, and then we'll collapse the cavern and tunnel behind us as we go," he told them. "I'm wishing right now that we'd doubled the help, though, since we'll need to take turns shielding all the way back out, assuming we'd like to have oxygen to breath while we're doing this."

"We'll manage," Christine told him. "In case you were wondering, there were fifty-three Dementors that came out of that bag. I had time to count while you were all busy."

"Is that all? It seemed like more," Ron joked. "So why'd you need help this time, mate?" he asked Harry. "You had them covered all by yourself back on New Year's Eve."

Harry had been laughing weakly at Ron's first comment, and smiled at his friend. "Well, I think they were more desperate this time, and last time, they were trying to kill the Witch and family I love the most, so I was a bit upset and a lot motivated."

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Reggie said, "but after this, I'm motivated to get this done, go home, and share a very long hug and kiss with my wife."

"We can do that if you really want," Dan told him, "but I'm really not sure whether your wife is going to want all of us snogging her tonight."

Reggie punched his best friend in the arm, but they were both laughing. They stayed in the cavern for another five minutes or so, mostly to give Harry time to recover enough that he felt ready to start the walk back. That two hour walk in was closer to three back out, as they stopped at intervals, taking turns putting up shields while the Goblins collapsed first the cavern, and then sections of the tunnel behind them.

"How long do you expect the prison to last?" Harry asked Bill as they walked.

"Hopefully longer than the Dementors can survive with nothing to feed on," he answered. "The estimate is at least a thousand years, and possibly quite a bit longer. Like I told you all earlier, the box is Goblin made, and the charms were done as it was forged and built, so they're a part of the metal now." He looked over at the Goblins walking ahead of them. "Wizards and Witches could learn a lot from our Goblin neighbors if we'd just open our minds to the possibilities. I certainly have working for Gringotts all of these years." None of the Goblins said anything, but Harry was certain they had heard Bill's praise, and they seemed quite pleased about the compliments.

"We could say that about nearly all of our magical neighbors," Harry suggested.

Fleur was waiting anxiously in the main hall of the bank, since they were a bit overdue, and she had a long hug and kiss for Bill, and hugs and kisses for Ron and Harry before they left for Auror Headquarters, while Bill and Fleur went home, and the four Goblins went on to whatever they were doing next. Reggie and Dan were having fun teasing Ron and Harry as they made their way to Headquarters.

"Should we send Owl Posts to their girlfriend to let them know that their boyfriends are out here snogging Veelas?" Reggie asked Dan.

"We were not snogging Fleur!" Ron protested, and Dan nodded his agreement.

"That's true. I think that technically she was snogging you, but the question is – will your girlfriend care about that distinction?"

"Guys, she's my sister-in-law," Ron told them.

"My sister-in-law never snogged me like that," Reggie said. "How about you, Dan?"

"Actually, your sister-in-law has snogged me. I think we were in third year at Hogwarts, but it just wasn't meant to be for us," Dan answered. "Harry doesn't seem to be too concerned about this."

"That's because I'm about ready for a very long nap," he told them, "and because Ginny knows that's just Fleur's way. Besides, do either of you actually think Ron or I would try anything with Fleur? Her husband's a curse breaker who has a large number of Goblin friends."

"He does have a very good point there," Reggie conceded.

"I suppose," Dan agreed. "Too bad, though. We could've dragged that joke out for weeks."

When they walked into Headquarters, there was a lot of activity, and they all went to see what was going on. Josh, Neville, and four other Aurors were the center of attention, and Harry recognized Jugson immediately when he saw him bound tightly in ropes and glaring defiantly at the Aurors around him.

"Apparently we weren't the only Aurors out playing today," Emma told them. "Was this where that Imperiused Muggle case led you?" she asked Josh.

"Yes it was," he agreed. "You weren't around, and we had the opportunity, so Neville and I took some friends along, and Jugson here was nice enough to come out to play."

"Is everyone alright?" Emma asked.

"None of us were injured, and we're just back from having Jugson tended for a couple of broken bones in one arm, and a cracked rib. I think he found out that using a stone garden wall to hide behind during a fight is a bad plan."

"Especially if that wall gets blasted on top of you," Neville suggested with a look of satisfaction that had Harry fairly sure who'd done the blasting.

"Well, it's turned out to be another pretty good day for the Aurors," Emma told everyone, then tried to look gruff. "Now get back to work!" she ordered. "We're not getting paid to sit around and pat ourselves on the back."

"Why don't you just go home," Christine suggested quietly to Harry. "Your reports can wait until tomorrow, and I get the feeling that you've about hit your limit after what you did in the cavern."

"Pretty much," he agreed. "That'll mess up most of the day tomorrow, though. We've got training with Josh in the morning too."

Christine shrugged. "So you spend a day working at Headquarters. We can handle that, and it's not like the rest of us didn't push our own limits a bit today too, so it wouldn't hurt to just have a research day anyway and rest up."

Nathan had agreed with that assessment and suggestion, and it wasn't long before Harry was on his way home, where he skipped eating, went up to bed, and had a long nap – until Wednesday morning. When he woke up and realized that he'd slept through, and missed his chat with Ginny, he got his mirror out right away and called her name.

"It's okay," Ginny assured him when she saw the look of worry on his face. "Ron told Hermione all about what happened yesterday, so I was only worried for a couple of minutes before finding out why you didn't answer last night."

"I'm really sorry," he answered. "I wanted to wake up in time for our chat, and even set the alarm, but slept through anyway."

"You obviously needed the sleep," she told him. "We can catch up on everything tonight."

She didn't have time to talk right then, so Harry let her go on with her day, while he got ready for work and went in to Auror Headquarters. Even with sleeping for hours more than he usually did, he was really glad to just have a training and office workday. He didn't make it a long day either, and after stopping for a visit with Mrs. Weasley, he went home and spent a quiet evening there, doing a little reading, listening to music on the WWN, and ending the night with an hour-long chat with his girlfriend.

The last two days of the workweek went by quickly, and Harry was excited about the coming weekend. Teddy's birthday wasn't until Monday, but Harry and Ron were taking him to his very first professional Quidditch match – the season finale for the Cannons, who were playing the playoff-bound Falcons. He had Teddy for the night too, and wouldn't be taking him back to Andromeda until Sunday afternoon.

He picked up Teddy in time to go and meet Ron for lunch, and after letting Teddy entertain them, Hannah, and half the patrons in the Leaky Cauldron for about an hour, they headed for Exmoor Stadium, where Teddy was completely outfitted with Chudley Cannons robe, hat, banner, stuffed orange snitch with the Cannons' logo, and enough drinks and snacks to pretty much guarantee that Harry would be spending half the game doing diaper changes.

Teddy absolutely loved every minute of their adventure. His eyes were wide with amazement for most of the game, and his head was on a swivel as he watched the players roaring around the stadium on their brooms, scoring or saving goals, chasing the snitch, and batting the bludgers around. The Falcons were outscoring the Cannons two goals to one, and while Ron wasn't happy about his team eventually going down to a three hundred and ten to eighty defeat, he did have as much fun as Harry did. Teddy had been a hit with most of the other spectators around him as he cheered on both teams indiscriminately, and charming all of the Witches in their entire section.

After the game, Harry took Teddy home with him, and they played out in the yard for a while, had dinner together, played some more, and then were in bed by eight o'clock, and Teddy went to sleep while Harry read and waited for his bedtime chat with Ginny.

"How did Teddy's first big game go?" she asked, her voice quiet so she wouldn't wake Teddy.

"He loved it, and we all had fun," Harry answered, "including most of the Witches and Wizards around us. Have you had a good day?"

"Compared to playing with Teddy all day and watching a professional Quidditch game? No, it was definitely not a good day. Hermione's going mental over exams, and they're still just over five weeks away. She's going to have us all exhausted before we get around to starting the exhausting part of our NEWTs."

"I've never understood that, considering how brilliant she is, but it does seem to work for her, even if it drives everyone else around her completely bonkers."

Ginny nodded. "I know that when we're done exams, I'll be thanking her, and after the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match, I'm going to be working even harder to get ready for our last game, so it's probably best that we are working this hard, since we'll be right into exams the Monday after our game."

"That almost sounds like we're getting close to the end," Harry said and Ginny laughed.

"I'd say we're getting close to the beginning," she suggested. "We do still have months to go, but I'm switching to counting down the weeks now, and we have a day less than eight left."

"My favorite part of the next five weeks is that we'll get to see each other for three of them, starting next weekend."

Ginny smiled brightly at him. "What a coincidence! That's what I'm looking forward to most too."

"That and hopefully a Quidditch Cup for your team," Harry amended. "At least you know already that it's in your hands, since either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw will go undefeated this year to earn the Cup."

"Which has been a terrible disappointment to a lot of students who miss having to figure out all of the possibilities for what could happen in a closer race." She laughed again. "Everyone knows that the Slytherin-Hufflepuff game won't make a difference, but I've got to root for Hufflepuff just because of the way the Slytherin players have been shooting their mouths off about how badly they're going to beat Hufflepuff."

"You're rooting for Zacharias Smith and his team?" Harry asked in mock incredulity. "How times have changed since a couple of years ago when you crashed into him in the commentator's booth after our game. You have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss you after that move."

"Really?" she asked, her expression all wide-eyed innocence. "Maybe I should crash into him again after our match against Ravenclaw and see if you still feel that way."

"I doubt that Professor McGonagall would believe you forgot to brake and crashed into him twice," Harry pointed out. "Why don't you just skip that, and we'll go straight to the me wanting to kiss you part."

"We can do that," she agreed.

They talked until nearly midnight, and since Teddy was still out, and seemed comfortable and happy, Harry just snuggled with him and went off to sleep too. On Sunday, they did breakfast, played for a while, went to Diagon Alley to do a little shopping that included a gift for Ginny, and finished their time together with lunch at a café. After taking Teddy home, Harry stopped for a short visit with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and then went home again to do the post-Teddy cleanup, some work around the yard, and a light dinner. Snowstorm was ready and raring to go when Harry had the letter and package put together for him.

"Don't forget to give Ginny my love," he instructed the bird, who nipped him in answer before leaving, impatient to get out and flying again, though he did go out every day even when he wasn't taking Posts anywhere.

The rest of the evening on Sunday had been quiet, and Ginny had been tired out, so they'd kept their chat short, and had both gotten a good night's sleep. On Monday, Harry had kept busy at work all day, but what he'd been fired up while he'd been working was his Godson's first birthday. Andromeda was having a party for him, and Harry went over to their place right after work to help her with getting dinner ready for that party. Ron and his parents were among the invited guests, and there were a total of sixteen Witches and Wizards there to celebrate Teddy's big day.

"Bwoom!" Teddy shouted excitedly when he opened that present from Harry and Ginny. "Go fwy?"

Andromeda laughed. "I'm really glad you saved that until last," she told Harry before turning to Teddy. "Yes, you can go fly, but not in the house." She gave both Teddy and Harry the look, which had most of the Witches laughing. "Do I make myself clear on that?" she asked. "And you, Ron, or somebody else younger gets to do the running around and keep him from getting hurt on that thing."

"Yes, Grandma," Harry answered, grinning at Teddy. "Only outside, and somebody has to be with you."

"Yes Gwamma!" Teddy mimicked. He reached up for Harry, who scooped him up, while Ron picked up the broom, and they went outside, with about half of the party guests going out to watch the fun.

"He's a natural," Ron said as he watched Harry running around the yard while Teddy flew along, his feet just a few inches above the grass, giggling and having a blast.

"Teddy or Harry?" Mrs. Weasley joked, and Ron laughed, putting an arm around her.

"I was talking about Teddy, but Harry's a natural with kids too. It's probably because he just took everything the Dursley's taught him when he lived with them, and does the opposite with Teddy."

"You might be right about that," his Mother agreed. "That, and he's trying to do everything for Teddy that he wished he could have done when he was growing up."

"At the risk of ruining my reputation and getting all maudlin, thanks, Mum," Ron said, and gave her a big hug.

"You're welcome," she assured him. "What for?"

Ron nodded toward Harry. "I know I didn't always appreciate what I had growing up, and what I have with you, Dad, and our family, but I really do now, even if I'm really lousy at remembering to tell you that – and that I love you."

Mrs. Weasley laughed and gave him one of her famous bone-crushing hugs. "I love you too, Ron." She looked around and smiled. "I don't think anybody overheard that, so your reputation is probably still intact, even though they would have seen the hugs."

Andromeda let the boys play for a while before calling everyone in for cake and ice cream, which was an adventure all it's own as Teddy wore as much of his cake as he ate. When the party was over, Harry stayed to help with the cleanup, which included a thorough bath for Teddy, followed by story time and rocking the exhausted little boy to sleep before tucking him in for the night.

Teddy's birthday party was pretty much the last chance that Harry had for fun during the last four days of April, and he got right back into work for the rest of the week, putting in long days as all of the Aurors worked to track down the remaining fugitive Death Eaters. April might be ending with all work, but May first was on Saturday, and there was a lot to look forward to over the coming month, with Hogsmeade weekends, the last Quidditch games of the season at Hogwarts, and the British and Irish League Championship playoffs on three of those weekends too.

At Hogwarts, while Quidditch and Hogsmeade weekends were going to be fun, and there were probably too many students spending too much time in fun mode, for most of the OWL and NEWT students, and the more serious students in all of the other years, May was crunch time, as they were all loaded down with assignments and with getting ready for those exams. When it came to studying, Hermione was definitely in charge of her study group, and for Gryffindor Quidditch, Ginny ruled, and her team followed her with unquestioning loyalty and dedication. Both Witches were often on the receiving end of grumbling and complaining about how hard they worked their friends and teammates, and Ginny was happy to join in to complain about Hermione's demanding study schedule, but they'd been working together through all of it since September, and they were all determined to get through this final push to the end of the school year together too.

Whether working and playing at Hogwarts, or doing the same out in the real world, the best part about dealing with both the fun and not-so-fun times was that they all had family, friends, and loved ones to share all of those moments with.


	15. Winners and Losers

Chapter Fifteen – Winners and Losers

"I vote for taking the entire day off," Seamus announced as they had breakfast in the Great Hall.

"And I second the motion," Lavender added.

"All in favor?" Dean asked, and everyone except Hermione put their hands in the air immediately.

"I do believe that means the motion is carried," Ginny told Hermione.

"It's mutiny," she answered, smiling at her friends.

"More like we're just in desperate need of some time away from the books, you included," Parvati told her. "You've got the day to spend with your boyfriend, and when you get back here, go for a walk, enjoy the weather, or do anything else except study." She smiled at Hermione. "We love you, and we're really grateful for all of your help this year, but we've all hit our limit."

"Not to mention that after today, between studying and Quidditch, it's going to be weeks of nearly non-stop work for several of us," Dean pointed out.

Hermione put her hands up in surrender. "I concede defeat," she said with a laugh. "Okay, the whole day off, but it's back to the books tomorrow right after breakfast."

With that decided, and an entire day off to look forward to, it was a pretty happy group of young Witches and Wizards who finished breakfast and then headed out to spend the day in Hogsmeade. There were a pretty happy pair of Wizards just outside of the school gates when their girlfriends had long, happy hugs and kisses to share with them while their friends and fellow students passed by, with the usual whistles, laughs, and comments directed their way.

"We seem to be helping the Head Girl and Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team along toward getting quite the reputations," Harry joked when they all started walking toward town.

"True," Ginny agreed, "but then since it's a pretty great reputation, we're good with that."

"So what's on the shopping schedule for today?" Ron asked.

"All of the usual supplies," Hermione answered, "and I want to pick up some extra sweets to use for bribery."

"The Head Girl is going to bribe people?" Ron asked in amazement. "You're not trying to get the Potions NEWT exam from Slughorn, are you?"

Hermione looked scandalized. "Ron! Of course not!"

"Then who are the sweets for?" he asked.

"To bribe my reluctant study group to keep working harder," she explained, and Ginny laughed.

"That could mean that I can cut back on my own order, since Hermione's going to have extra," she suggested, "or I could buy extra, and use the same tactic on my team."

"That's a tough one," Harry told her. "If you don't get the balance just right, your team could end up being really big, and not in a good way."

"Which Demelza, Vicky, and the girlfriends of the Wizards on your team would not appreciate," Hermione added.

"I'll figure out a way to do that without changing all of us from Gryffindors into hippogriffs," Ginny assured them.

They pretty much did the same thing for the day as they'd done on the last Hogsmeade weekend, going around and shopping all morning together, having lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and then splitting up for some couples alone time, or as close to it as they could get in a town full of students, until the girls needed to get back to the school. As always, their time together was far too short, and the goodbye hugs and kisses bittersweet as they each tried to deal with facing another three weeks apart before the next Hogsmeade weekend.

"What are you doing for the rest of the day?" Harry asked Ron while they watched Hermione and Ginny walking up the lane to the castle.

"Hanging out with George at the store, and then we're doing dinner together after he closes up for the night. You?"

"I've got some running around to do, and work around the house after that," he answered. "There are a lot of great things about having your own place, but all of the work is not one of them, even doing most of it with magic."

"Maybe, but now that Ginny's going to be done school, I'm thinking about getting a flat in London or something, like Fred or Percy have. I just didn't want to leave Mum alone this past year. I don't think she was ready for that quite yet."

"Careful, or you'll blow your reputation," Harry joked. The girls were about out of sight, and he sighed. "I guess it's time to get out of here. Say 'Hi' to George for me, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Harry had a fair bit of running around to do, and it kept him busy until dinnertime. After eating, he had a letter to write, and a package to send to Hogwarts with Snowstorm, and then he went to work out in the yard and gardens until dark. He continued working inside the house after that, right through until it was time to get ready for bed and his chat with Ginny.

"How are you doing?" she asked, knowing exactly what was going on with him right from seeing the look in his eyes.

"I've been trying to keep busy pretty much since you went back up to the school," he said.

"Which doesn't answer my question," she countered, and Harry smiled.

"I love you. I'm having a tough time tonight," he admitted. "It doesn't hardly seem possible that it's been a whole year already. I wish I could be there for you tonight."

Ginny smiled. "You are," she reminded him. "Just not in person. Professor McGonagall announced that they're doing a short memorial service in the Great Hall at sunrise. Hermione, Luna, and I are going for sure, and I expect all of the old DA who are still here at school will be there too."

Harry looked at his watch. "I should let you get some sleep then – it's already getting pretty late."

"No you shouldn't," she told him firmly. "Even if we don't feel much like talking, I'm in no hurry to say goodnight to you for a while."

They did end up talking for more than another hour, and Harry was awake for hours more, watching Ginny as she slept, fighting a losing battle to control his emotions. His sleep was broken and restless, and he was up an hour and a half before dawn. He was going to be splitting his day between spending the morning with Andromeda and Teddy, and the afternoon and evening at the Burrow, but before he did either, he had some stops to make. He'd picked up flowers when he was running around on Saturday afternoon, and he made several stops before dawn, personally delivering and placing those flowers on the graves for Colin Creevey, Professor Snape, Remus, and Nymphadora before going on to the cemetery where Fred was buried just as the sun was about to come up.

"Hi Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley," Harry said softly, trying not to break the early morning quiet.

"Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said tearfully, hugging him tightly when he joined them next to Fred's grave. "Thank-you for coming."

Harry hugged her back and nodded to Mr. Weasley. "You're welcome," he assured her. "Have you been here long?"

"Just a few minutes now," she answered. "I guess we weren't the only ones not sleeping well last night." Harry put the flowers he'd brought at the base of the headstone, and then stepped back next to Ginny's parents.

"I imagine there were a lot of us having that problem last night," he agreed. "You're the only other Witch and Wizard I've seen so far this morning, though."

"Where else have you been?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"To visit Colin, Professor Snape, and Remus and Nymphadora," he answered. "I had some other flowers sent to a few other places, but I wanted to make those visits, and this one, personally." He'd actually sent flowers either to the gravesites or the families of all of the Witches and Wizards who'd been killed during the battle, but he didn't tell them that.

"And you thought we were up early," George told Ron as they walked up to Harry and their parents.

Ron laughed quietly. "More like we're just still up," he answered. "What'd we get, two hours sleep?"

"About that," George agreed, hugging his mother, who'd started crying the moment she saw George, and holding her for several minutes. "You do know that Fred is probably laughing at all of us right now, don't you?" he asked.

"And wishing he could pull a good practical joke on us about now too," Ron suggested. "I'm pretty sure he measured how successful those pranks were by how mad Mum would get at the two of you."

George laughed. "There's some truth to that. Some of our best sellers are the wheezes Mum got most upset about."

"So your best wheezes are rated 'Mom Disapproved'?" Mr. Weasley asked, chuckling too.

"I like that," George told him, laughing too. "Can I use that in my adverts?"

George might have been joking about Fred laughing at them, but Harry thought he would have been pleased at the effort his family was making to have fun together as they talked and remembered him with fond stories and more than a few laughs to go along with the tears. Bill and Fleur, then Percy, and finally Charlie and Julianne all joined them, sharing in those laughs and tears until they'd reached that moment when they all knew that it was just time to leave again.

While her family had been gathered together to remember her brother, Ginny was in the Great Hall with Hermione and her friends, and had been a bit overwhelmed when it looked like nearly all of the students in the school had come for the sunrise Memorial service. Just as back on September first, her mind played back the scenes she remembered most from the battle, and while she was able to mostly hold it together, there were still some tears, especially when Professor McGonagall read through the names of those killed during the fight.

The service had been solemn, and while it hadn't been long, it had been very moving for all of the students and professors. There was still a fair bit of time between when the service ended and breakfast, so Ginny and Hermione went outside for a long walk down by the lake before returning to the Great Hall, where the mostly still-subdued students ate their meal while talking in hushed voices.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Hermione asked Ginny. The Owl Post had arrived, and Harry had sent Ginny a long letter, and flowers that Hermione knew were meant to be left in a certain hallway. Ginny had nodded, and since they'd both pretty much finished with breakfast anyway, they left the Great Hall together, and went up to the spot where Fred had been killed.

"How about putting them here in this window alcove?" Hermione suggested. "They'll get some sunlight there, and," she looked around, spotting a vase, "we could put them in water. They'll last for quite a while if we do that." She helped Ginny do that, and then, when her friend couldn't hold it in any longer, she wrapped he arms around her, and held her while she cried.

"Thank-you," Ginny finally said when she'd pulled herself together again. "I really hate falling apart like this."

"Don't we all," Hermione agreed, "but sometimes a girl just needs to have a good cry."

Ginny nodded. "I suppose, but now we need to get started on our studies, so come give me a hand fixing up my face, and let's go catch up with our study group."

Harry was over spending the morning with Andromeda and Teddy by then, and it had been a pretty emotional morning for him too. Teddy didn't understand what was going on, of course, but he could tell that his Grandmother was upset, and he'd cry too whenever he saw that she was crying. She didn't want to take him to the cemetery, so Harry stayed at the house with him while she went there to spend some time visiting her husband, daughter, and son-in-law.

They had lunch together, and then after helping Andromeda with the cleanup, Harry went on from there to the Burrow, and spent the rest of the day with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Bill and Fleur came over later in the afternoon, and George and Ron joined them in time for dinner after closing the store. There were more George and Fred stories during dinner, and the stories continued afterward when they went into the sitting room and visited for a few more hours before George, Harry, Bill, and Fleur went back to their own homes.

The anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts had been a big news story around the Wizarding World, even if Harry and the Weasleys had all pointedly ignored the newspapers and left the WWN turned off over the weekend. By Monday, though, while everyone was getting back to work, it was Quidditch that was in the headlines, and the impending start of the playoffs, or in the case of the students at Hogwarts, the resumption of the Quidditch season with the upcoming game on Saturday between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

"Tell me again why we're watching this game instead of studying," Hermione said, and Ginny laughed.

"Because you're Head Girl, and should support all of the Houses, and I'm a Quidditch fan who wants to see what will hopefully be a really good match."

"I'll try to remember that when I fail half my NEWTs," Hermione grumbled, and Ginny laughed again and hugged her.

"Since your idea of a fail is an E, forgive me if I'm not all that sympathetic, Hermione. If you'd like to bet against yourself, though, I'm willing to put ten galleons on you to get straight O's."

"That's not fair," she complained. "You know I'd never try to get a lower mark just to win a bet."

Ginny smiled, her eyes flashing with triumph. "See? I knew you were way more confident about how ready you're getting for our exams than you're admitting! Quit doing all of that complaining, and just enjoy yourself for a few hours."

"I've been tricked," Hermione said with a laugh. "Okay, a few hours of fun, but then we go back to work after the game."

Hermione had only been talking about Ginny and the rest of her study group getting back to work after the Quidditch game at Hogwarts, but that Saturday was the last break for Harry and Ron too. They'd had a long, exhausting week running down what were mostly dead end leads, and were ready for a day off to enjoy what was a first for both of them – a League playoff game.

Harry had gotten tickets to see the quarterfinals match between the Catapults and Pride of Portree. By the time they'd gotten to the stadium, the game at Hogwarts was already over, Hufflepuff had beaten Slytherin by a score of two hundred and sixty to seventy, and their girlfriends were already hitting the books with most of their study group, except for the Hufflepuff members, who were at the victory celebration in their Common Room.

The Catapults-Prides game was one of the best Harry had seen in his limited experience with seeing Quidditch matches in person, and from what they read in the Prophet on Monday, it was the best game of the playoffs so far too. While the lead did change hands a couple of times early, as the game went on, the Pride of Portree took the lead and stayed ahead of the Catapults in the high scoring match. They held the lead right up to the end, when in the fifth hour, the Catapults' Seeker outraced his Prides opponent to catch the snitch, and give his team the three hundred and sixty to two hundred and ninety point, come-from-behind victory.

The Catapults-Prides game might have been the best, but there were fans of three other teams who were all quite happy too. Puddlemere United blew the Appleby Arrows out in their game, which the United team had pretty much won in the first hour, though it had taken nearly four hours before their Seeker put the Arrows fans out of their misery. The Wimbourne Wasps upset the Holyhead Harpies in a game that was getting close to being out of reach for the underdog Wasps when their Seeker caught the snitch to give his team the win by just ten points. In the longest game of the day, the Tutshill Tornados beat the Falmouth Falcons in a seven-hour marathon that ended up being nearly as lopsided as the United-Arrows game had been, though the score didn't really show just how close the two teams had been for most of the game. It had been an injury to the Falcons' Keeper that had ended up making the difference in the end.

Harry and Ron had both gone back to work on Sunday, and that's when their case started heating up. They were running down a missing Muggle report, and were going to check out the country home of the man in question, and came across a small group of houses that they luckily had been cautiously approaching, since the combined properties had been turned into a veritable fortress, with all manner of wards and shields, and Muggle-repelling charms.

"Those are Inferi!" Ron whispered in dismay as they watched from the hiding spot they'd chosen, quite a distance from the properties.

Harry nodded. "Yes, and though I haven't seen them yet, there are definitely some Dementors nearby – I can feel them out there."

"Let's get out of here then," Ron told him. "It's stupid for us to be out here and have nobody know where we are, and we're going to need a lot more help figuring out how to deal with all of this."

While he would have liked to stay and find out more about what was going on there, Harry knew that this time, Ron was right. Other than writing up their reports on what they'd found, there wasn't much else they could do on Sunday, but by Monday morning, they were kept busy with helping to set up the first stages of a major surveillance before going home to get some sleep and then join Reggie, Dan, and four other Aurors who'd all be working the night shift with them.

There was so much going on, and the information was rolling in so quickly that everyone who was involved with the case was working sixteen or more hours a day just keeping up with the reports and meetings that preceded and followed their surveillance shifts. Nathan and Josh had been assigned the lead for the case now, and while they weren't in the field nearly as much as the Aurors and trainees doing the stakeout, they were working as many hours coordinating everything, and working up plans for how to deal with what was going to be another major raid whenever they decided that they were ready to act.

"We're working nights, mate," Ron told Harry on Friday morning. "The game's in the afternoon. We could still go."

"You know we can't," Harry answered. "Drop them off with Bill, and let him use them. The stakeout is way too dangerous for either of us to even think about working tomorrow night when we're tired. One mistake, and the best we could hope for is that we're found out, and the bad guys escape. I'd rather not think about the worst."

"Sometimes I hate my job," Ron complained. "Best seats in the house to a semifinal match, and we've got to give them up. Are you sure we can't call in sick and go anyway?"

Harry laughed. "Give it up, mate. You know we wouldn't do that either. Will it help if I tell you that I've got tickets to the Championship game too?" He hadn't planned on telling Ron, or any of the others he'd gotten tickets for, until next week, but that had been exactly what Ron had needed to immediately get over his disappointment, and Harry smiled to himself as he watched his friend go from being down to fired up again in the space of a few seconds.

"That definitely helps," he agreed. "I'll drop the tickets off with Bill on my way home."

While they continued working all weekend, most of Wizarding Britain was blissfully unaware, and the Tornados' two hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty point win over the Wimbourne Wasps, and Puddlemere United's win over the Catapults to put those two teams into the League Championship match had been pretty much all that was being talked about everywhere except Auror Headquarters. Bill had taken his father with him to the game, and while Ron might still have the finals to look forward to, he hadn't been happy to find out that he'd missed another brilliant match.

None of the Aurors were thinking about Quidditch at all in that week leading up to the Championship game. They were totally focused on preparing for the raid that Emma, Josh, and Nathan had decided was going to happen on Thursday morning. Every Auror was going to be involved, and different groups had different jobs. Harry had expected that his job would be to deal with the Dementors, and he wasn't wrong about that. Ron and Neville were part of the team Josh was leading who were going to be hitting the main house, while Nathan, Christine, and Emma were all leading other teams who were going to raid the other houses that were part of the base of operations this group of Death Eaters had put together.

Harry, Ron, and the rest of the night shift stakeout team had been told to get the extra sleep and not set up for their shift on Wednesday night until just before midnight, which still meant that they'd have a long shift in even before the raid, but not as bad as if they'd worked twelve or fourteen hours first. There wasn't anyone dozing off or not completely focused on the job all night. There was too much at stake to risk making any mistakes now, and while it was a fairly quiet night, they were all a bit on edge as the hours passed, and they closed in on the time for the raid.

All of the Aurors were in place a half hour before they were launching the offensive, and before Harry started rounding up Dementors, his first job was to take down the shields, while another group of Witches and Wizards were to handle anti-apparition shielding, and any other perimeter protections that they'd need.

"Now," Dan told Harry quietly. He and Reggie were there to back him up, watch his back while he was occupied, and to help round up the Dementors if needed.

Harry released an immense blast of energy that obliterated the wards and shields, creating a sonic concussion that reverberated all around them, breaking the early morning silence. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he bellowed, and his Patronus sprang to life and galloped off toward the Dementors who were already reacting to the Aurors who were running from their places of concealment across the boundaries that had marked the edges of the defenses.

"Get the box ready," Harry told Dan as his Patronus sped around with blinding speed, corralling and directing the Dementors away from the battles already raging around each of the houses, the fires that were containing the Inferi, and the group of Aurors in charge of the new shielding that was in place. Inexorably, Harry guided his Patronus to herd all of the Dementors directly toward himself, Reggie, and Dan.

"Tell me again why we took this assignment instead of a nice cushy duel with Death Eaters?" Reggie joked nervously as Dan walked about fifteen feet in front of them, put the shiny new metal box on the ground, and used his wand to open the door that was, in this case, on the top of the box.

"Ready when you are Harry," he said, ignoring Reggie's comment.

For Harry, it felt like it took forever to drag the desperately fighting Dementors over and force them into the new prison that the Goblins and Wizards and Witches had built for them specifically to capture Dementors in, and he had no idea of how much time had passed, though he did know that a lot of the fighting was over with by the time Dan was able to slam the door on the box closed, and lock it securely. Harry let go of his Patronus, sucking in air as he caught his breath, and looked around. The fighting was over everywhere except at the main house, and he steeled himself to go help, knowing that Ron and Neville were in the middle of that battle.

"Can you guys keep an eye on that?" he asked Reggie and Dan, who both nodded. "I'm going to see if I can help over there."

Without waiting for an answer, he hurried off, looking all around him as he went, and taking in everything that was happening. There were dozens of Inferi, but the Aurors in charge of dealing with them had them all contained by fire. He saw that Emma and her team had a group of Witches and Wizards in custody, as did Christine and her group, and Nathan and his. He was relieved to see that they all looked unharmed.

The battle at the main house was still raging, and there were three old men in the front yard of the house, holding off Josh and his team, using heavy shields to defend themselves, while managing to keep all of their opponents so busy protecting themselves from the attacks they were launching, that they didn't have time to even attempt counter-attacks.

"REDUCTO!" Harry shouted so loudly that he made several of the Aurors in front of him jump in surprise. His spell was directed at the shielding surrounding the three old Wizards, and when it blasted all of those shields apart, it also hurled all three men backwards against the wall of the house.

One of them crumpled to the ground, but the other two went right back on the attack, and Harry was as busy as the other Aurors as he defended himself against a flurry of attacks aimed in his direction. The two remaining old Wizards had re-shielded, but with the new focus of their attack being Harry, that left the other Aurors free to launch a full counter-attack. The Wizard that Harry could now see was Rosier was taken down first when Harry again blasted his shield apart, and several disarming and binding spells hit him at the same time. That just left Mulciber still standing and fighting on, his eyes blazing and filled with madness.

"Give it up, Mulciber!" Josh shouted.

"Never!" he shouted back, sending another killing curse in Josh's direction. "You'll have to kill me first!"

Harry put his hand out to get Josh's attention, and waved him to have everyone back off even as he stepped forward, his own shield blazing nearly incandescent as he moved to face Mulciber.

"No, we won't," he said in a clear, calm voice that seemed to just enrage Mulciber even more. "The war was over more than a year ago, and you still haven't figured out that you lost. We're not like you, Mulciber. I don't have to kill you to stop you – all I have to do is this: EXPELLIARMUS!" he bellowed, locking eyes with Mulciber, watching the fury and hate turn to dumb incomprehension as his shield was crushed, his wand ripped from his fingers, and he was once again blasted backward and this time pinned to the wall as he was put in a full body-bind that Harry had fired at him with a non-verbal spell. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Harry deftly catching his wand, his emerald eyes blazing with power, and his expression a mix of resolve and triumph.

"Wasn't dealing with a pack of Dementors enough for you?" Ron joked, coming up to Harry and clapping him on the shoulder.

Harry grinned at him. "I thought maybe you'd all had enough fun for one morning, and would like some help. Anyone hurt?"

Ron nodded. "A couple of injuries, but nothing major. Thanks for the help. Are you going back to take care of moving the Dementors now?"

"Yeah, if everything else here is under control," he agreed, handing Mulciber's wand to Ron.

"We'll be fine from here," Josh told him. "Turn your body-bind on Mulciber over to Ron, and get on with what you need to get done, then meet us back at Headquarters. You'll be busy doing that for a few hours, and I'm not sure if we'll need you to help with anything else after that or not."

"Yes sir," Harry answered. "Can you try to let Hermione and Ginny know we're okay when they're off for lunch?" he asked Ron. "I'm sure they're worried about us, but I'll likely still be flying then."

"I should be able to," Ron answered. "See you back at Headquarters. Be careful."

"You too," Harry told him before turning to go back to where Reggie and Dan were waiting for him. He had his broom in hand by the time he reached them.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "After all of this, a nice quiet flight is looking pretty good right now."

"Compared to playing with Inferi or dealing with the paperwork for processing the Death Eaters, I'll agree with you on that," Reggie told him.

"Yeah, it's just too bad that we can't just apparate to Gringotts and then just go hide somewhere for a few hours instead of flying the entire way to Diagon Alley," Dan said.

"That would be great," Harry agreed, "unless apparating would allow the Dementors to squeeze out of their new prison. Then we'd have real troubles with a bunch of them loose in the middle of London."

"Flying it is," Dan declared fervently.

Harry had thought that being assigned the job of transporting the Dementors to Gringotts would be pretty good, but once the adrenaline rush from the fight started to wear off, and the fatigue set in, he'd needed to force himself to stay focused on what he was doing, and it became a long, tough flight. When they got to the bank, Bill and a team of Goblins were waiting for them, and then Harry, Reggie, and Dan escorted them to the high security vault where the Dementors would be kept until another tunnel and cavern could be prepared for their final prison location.

From there, it was back to Headquarters, where they were put to work transporting some of the new prisoners to Azkaban, since they again had more prisoners than holding cells at the Ministry. The third old Wizard who'd fought in front of the main house had been Montague, and along with Mulciber and Rosier, had led the little enclave of what they'd thought was an unbreachable base of power for the strongest and best of the original group of Death Eaters. There had been six other Death Eaters, and they'd had eleven underlings and five Imperiused servants. By late afternoon, Harry was pretty much reduced to just forcing himself from one job to the next. After finishing the prisoner transfers, he wrote up his reports, and it wasn't until he was handing a copy in to Emma that he realized it had gotten dark outside.

"I don't want to see you back here until Monday," she told him. "That's an order."

Harry smiled tiredly at her. "Yes ma'am," he agreed, not even remotely interested in arguing about it. He was seriously considering just going home and sleeping straight through until Monday morning. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome, Harry," she assured him. "Have a good weekend."

Ron had already left Headquarters by then, and Harry took the chance that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would still be awake and talking with him, stopping by the Burrow mostly for the crushing hug he knew Mrs. Weasley would have for him, and to see how Ron was doing, since they hadn't had time to talk at all.

"Did you get ordered to take a three day weekend too?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded, sitting down at the table with them after Mrs. Weasley had gotten him a drink.

"And glad of it," he answered. "This has been a really tough nearly two weeks." He reached into a pocket and pulled out an envelope. Ron was grinning when he took two tickets out of it and set them on the table before sliding the envelope over to Mr. Weasley. "After my chat with Ginny tonight, I'm probably going to sleep for quite a while, so I was wondering if you could hand those out for me."

Mr. Weasley looked nearly as excited as Ron. "Who are they for?" he asked.

"Three are for you, Mrs. Weasley, and Ron, and then there are two tickets each for Bill, Percy, and George, though if Percy and George can't use them because of work, I'm sure you, or they, can find others who can go instead. Since Ginny can't come, I'm taking Teddy instead," he added, waving at the two tickets in front of him.

"I'll take care of that," Mr. Weasley promised. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Percy's already going with Kingsley anyway, since I'm pretty sure he has to be there, but if Audrey wasn't on the Minister's invitation list, she might like to come with us. George probably won't close the store even for a League Championship game though."

"Probably not," Harry agreed. "Have Ron and I missed much in the real world while we've been on this case?"

That prompted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to tell them about what they'd been doing recently, and a few tidbits of interesting news. Harry finished his drink, and after having a good visit with them, and getting another hug before leaving, he went home, got ready for bed, and was ready when Ginny called for their nightly chat.

"You look all done in," she told him.

"I'm getting there fast," he agreed. "Emma gave Ron and I, and probably most of the Aurors who were on the night shift, a three day weekend, though, so I'll make sure that I'm all rested up and ready to see you on Saturday in Hogsmeade."

"Good, because I'm seriously thinking about just taking you somewhere and snogging you for the entire day."

"Which I would love if we could, but you've got to pick up all of the supplies you need for the rest of the school year, and I'm sure we'll be doing lunch at least with Ron and Hermione."

"Not to mention that they're calling for rain up here for the day too," Ginny added with a sigh. "Maybe you should change that plan for taking the first weekend I'm home from school off to taking a week's holidays. We've got some serious snogging to catch up on, Harry."

"I do want to take some holiday time with you this summer, but I thought we'd wait to see what you and Hermione were going to be doing first before Ron or I tried to book any time off."

"With our exams and my Quidditch match just over a week away, we're not thinking about much of anything past getting through this next four weeks." She smiled at him. "Do me a favor, and if you're going into any life and death fights between now and the end of school, please don't tell us in advance. I'll never be able to concentrate on an exam if I'm spending the whole time worrying over you."

"I'll do that, and maybe even try to just not get into any of those fights at all for a while," he offered.

"That'd work for me too," she agreed with a nod and smile.

They talked for a while longer, and after Harry fell asleep on her, Ginny watched him sleep for a while longer, wishing desperately that she could be snuggled in his arms instead of being so far away from him. When she couldn't stay awake any longer either, she regretfully put her mirror on her nightstand, ending the chat, and going off to sleep too.

Harry didn't sleep all day on Friday like he'd thought he might, but was up by mid-morning, and if not feeling one hundred percent, was at least feeling a lot better. That did give him lots of time to do the yard work, clean the house, do his laundry, and get his shopping out of the way, and then he spent a quiet evening at home, had his bedtime chat with Ginny, and then got another good night's sleep, waking up Saturday morning fired up and ready to go. Getting to spend time with Ginny, and then going to his first League Championship game with Teddy, Ron, and however many Weasleys ended up going along was sure to make for one of those really brilliant days.

The weather forecast had, unfortunately, been accurate, but that didn't keep Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione from having a really great time together anyway. They went around to get all of the supplies the girls needed, had lunch together at the Three Broomsticks, and then went for long, separate walks in what was by then just a light rain before eventually making their way back to the school gates, and in Harry and Ginny's case, a lengthy and absolutely brilliant goodbye embrace.

"Have fun at the game," she said quietly as they caught their breath after one of those searing, heart-pounding kisses. "Think about me while I'm stuck here studying for my exams for the rest of the day."

Harry laughed quietly. "I can do that, but I'm pretty sure that I'm thinking about you nearly all of the time, pretty much regardless of what I'm doing." He suddenly grinned and his eyes lit up with excitement. "How about if I take my mirror along, and you could watch the game with us?"

Ginny laughed too, hugging and kissing him. "I think that's a brilliant suggestion," she exclaimed happily.

"What's a brilliant suggestion?" Hermione asked, turning to look at her friends to see what had Ginny all fired up.

"Harry's going to take his mirror with him to the game so I can watch the game, or at least as much of it as I'll be able to see through the mirror."

"We've got to study," Hermione reminded her, and Ginny nodded.

"I'll study too, and just keep the mirror with me. Maybe we'll all be able to hear the game announcer too."

"You won't be able to do that in the Library," Hermione said, and Ginny shrugged.

"So let's use an empty classroom while the game's on. There isn't much actual new research to do anymore – we've got everything we need in our textbooks and notes."

Hermione gave up. "Alright, but if we're not getting anything done, I'm sending you off somewhere so the rest of us can keep working."

Ron laughed. "And she'd have every Quidditch fan in your group going with her at that point," he predicted. "I'll take my mirror too if you'd like. Between the two of them, you'll probably hear enough of the game to catch most of the action."

It was time for the girls to go back up to school, and after a few more one last goodbye kisses, they started walking up the lane to the castle, while Ron went home to the Burrow, and Harry went to pick up Teddy for the game and overnight adventure they were having together.

The League Championship game was held at the Quidditch World Cup Stadium, and Harry was a little surprised to see that it was sold out. There were fans of the British and Irish League from all over the Wizarding World there to see the biggest match of the year, and it was incredibly busy, with the concessions and souvenir booths all packed with Witches and Wizards vying to get drinks, snacks, and a few mementos before getting to their seats to watch the game.

Harry had taken Teddy to the Burrow, where they'd met up with Ron, his parents, Bill and Fleur, and Audrey before going on to the stadium. George had indeed turned down the tickets, so Mr. Weasley had given them to a young Wizard in his department, who was coming to the game with his wife and six-year old daughter. They all worked their way through the concession and souvenir gauntlet, and then went to find their seats, where Mr. Weasley introduced them to his young co-worker, his wife, and their adorable daughter, who ended up sitting next to Harry and Teddy during most of the game.

"Ginny!" Teddy exclaimed, both mimicking Harry, since he'd just said her name, and greeting her when he saw her smiling face in the mirror Harry was holding.

"Way to go, Teddy," Harry complimented him. "You said her name exactly right that time."

"Hi Ginny!" Teddy said. "Love you!"

Ginny laughed. "I love you too, Teddy. Are you ready to have fun at the game?"

"Widdish!" he said happily. "Bwooms fwy fwast!"

"Just like I hear you do on your broom," she agreed. "You have fun, and I'm just going to mostly listen in on the game while I'm busy studying, okay?"

"Kay!" Teddy said happily.

Harry hadn't really thought about how he could use the mirror to show the game action, since it really wouldn't be able to show what was going on across the entire stadium, and he was juggling Teddy too, but once the game got started, he pretty much just tried to point it toward whatever he was watching at the time, and hoped Ginny would get to see at least some of the action. When the game announcer started calling the game, she assured him that she and the rest of their study group could hear it just fine.

Puddlemere United had fairly breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs; while the Tornados had fought through that Marathon match in the first round, and had the close come-from-behind win in the semifinals. Both teams came out playing hard, and while the action was furious in both directions, the United team pulled ahead early, and began building their lead, the biggest difference between the two teams being the Keepers. The United team's Keeper was facing a lot of shots but only allowed two goals during the entire match.

"Look there," Harry whispered into Teddy's ear; pointing out the two Seekers. "They've seen the snitch again."

Teddy and Harry both watched as the two Wizards raced toward the snitch, though Teddy hadn't spotted the snitch yet. Harry tried his best to keep the mirror following the pair too, and laughed when he heard Ginny's shouted 'YES!' from the mirror when the Tornados' Seeker grabbed the snitch just outreaching the United Seeker, and giving his team a one hundred and seventy to one hundred and forty point victory, and the League Championship.

"I guess you saw that well enough," Harry said, turning the mirror back toward him so that he and Teddy could see Ginny smiling at them.

"That worked out really great," she told him. "Thanks for bringing me along for the game – or bringing the game to me, whatever you call this."

"You're welcome," Harry assured her. "I'll let you get back to your studying, and Teddy and I will talk to you later tonight."

"Bye Ginny," Teddy added, waving at Ginny. "Love you."

Since getting out of the stadium was going to take a while anyway, they stayed and watched some of the post-game celebration while the more impatient fans rushed the exits. Harry had earned a little fan for life when he'd given Hildie, the little girl who'd been glued to him and Teddy throughout the game, a game program, Championship banner, and the little gold Championship pin, two of which he'd had Ron pick up for him mid-game when he'd gone for drink and snack refills.

When they did finally leave, Harry took everyone to the Leaky Cauldron for a late dinner, and then took Teddy home with him for the night. The little boy had run out of steam shortly after getting there, and Harry had cuddled in bed with him, reading for a while, and ending his night with his chat with Ginny. Teddy had kept him running on Sunday right up until he'd dropped his Godson off with Andromeda. She'd thought it was hilarious when Harry had suggested that two weeks of fourteen and sixteen-hour days and a major battle with Dementors, Inferi, and Death Eaters had been less exhausting than twenty-four hours taking care of Teddy.

Ginny had thought that was funny too, but she'd have traded a play day with Teddy over her exam studies any day. They'd gone all day and night on Sunday, and the workload just got worse during that last week of May – half of it her fault as she worked her team hard to get ready for their game on Saturday.

"Take the night off tomorrow," Harry counseled her during their Thursday night chat. "From Quidditch and studying. You've done everything right, Ginny, but if the rest of your team looks as tired as you do, what you're going to need most is a solid night's sleep before the game, and no extra stress."

"I wasn't going to have a practice anyway, but Hermione will lose it if I tell her that I'm not going to let anyone on my team study either," Ginny predicted, and Harry smiled.

"Remind her that compared to working with Ron and I, this year has been a breeze for her," he suggested. "I'm not sure she'll ever completely understand what we see in Quidditch, but I do think you need to put your foot down on this. If the rest of your study group wants to keep working with Hermione, that's entirely up to them, but your team will do what you ask of them."

Ginny nodded. "Like they'd turn down a night off after everything we've been doing. I do agree with you, though, so I'll just have to take the blast from Hermione and deal with the fallout."

"If they did try and turn down the night off, you should get them checked out by Madam Pomfrey, because they must've gotten their brains scrambled by a bludger or something. Hermione will get over it eventually," Harry answered. "I can hardly wait to see you on Saturday, but I really wish we could have a few hours to spend together instead of just a few minutes before and after the game."

"Me too, but we're almost done now. Three more weeks from tomorrow, and I'll be home again." Since Ginny was completely wiped out, Harry told her to close her eyes and get to sleep, while he watched her do that for a long time before going off to sleep too.

Hermione had been as unhappy about Ginny's news that she was ordering her team to have a night of complete rest and no work at all after classes on Friday, and she'd been even less happy when Lavender and Parvati had summarily told her that if their boyfriends were getting the night off, that they were going to spend that time with them. Luna had been the one to bring Hermione around, offering to study with her, but suggesting that their friends had hit their limit with both their exam preparation and Quidditch.

That night off had done the trick as far as Ginny was concerned. When she went down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Hermione, she was fired up and ready to get on with the game. When Snowstorm had flown in with the rest of the Owl Posts, and delivered a very large box, her spirits had soared even higher.

Dear Ginny,

This package is for Dawn and Jeremy. Don't open the second envelope until after you've seen what I've sent for them.

Love,

Harry

"What in Merlin's name is he up to?" Ginny asked, showing the note to Hermione and tucking the smaller envelope that had been inside the first one into her pocket.

"I have no idea, but let's go find out, since it should be good," Hermione said with a laugh, and the two girls went over to the Ravenclaw table together, with Ginny carrying the large package in her arms.

"Good morning, Dawn," she said, and smiled when Dawn looked up at her in surprise.

"Hi Ginny," she said in her shy, quiet voice.

"My boyfriend has sent you and Jeremy another gift," Ginny told her as she handed the package over to her. "I'm not sure what he's doing, but I think I'm supposed to stay and find out what he's gotten for you."

Dawn's eyes had gone big and round as she took the package, and her hands were shaking a bit with excitement as she tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. There were boxes of chocolates inside and an envelope sitting on top of them. She was smiling brightly as she opened the envelope, and she, Ginny, Hermione, and Dawn's friends all laughed when they saw the 'Get Well Soon' card.

Hi Dawn,

I wanted to offer my condolences to you and your fellow Ravenclaws on your impending loss. The chocolates are for all of you to share, and the second envelope has five tickets for you and your family to go see the Wasps play your Harpies on opening day this coming August.

Hopefully that will help you get over the coming disappointment.

Harry.

Dawn had read the note out loud, and her voice had gone up a few notches when she'd read the part about getting Harpies tickets. Ginny and Hermione were both laughing, and Dawn turned around to give Ginny a big hug.

"Thank-you," she said happily. This is brilliant."

"Well, it's at least audacious," Ginny answered. "I guess now you'll just have to decide whether to pass out those chocolates now, or save them for later in case your team does win and you can all have a good laugh about this at your victory party."

Dawn laughed and hugged her again. "I'm really sorry about this, Ginny, but I'm going to have to pass them out, and show the card to our team. It might help fire them up for the game."

Ginny pretended to groan and look distressed. "I should have waited until after the game to give this to you," she lamented. "When you do that, tell your Captain good luck from me. Whether you win or we do, I think this is going to be a great game today."

Ginny and Hermione went back to their table, and Hermione nudged her after they'd sat down again. "So what's in the other envelope?" Ginny pulled it out of her pocket, opened it, and held the sheet of parchment so they could both read it.

Dear Ginny,

Your good luck present today was getting to be there for that. Hope you had fun.

Love,

Harry.

Both girls were laughing again, and then had to spend a few minutes explaining to the rest of their friends what Harry had done. Seamus and Dean thought that he'd gone mental to give the Ravenclaw team something to get fired up over, but Ginny really wasn't worried about it at all. Her confidence in herself and her team just shot up to a whole new level as she thought about how much faith her boyfriend had in her that he wasn't even concerned about getting Ravenclaw's players worked up.

"Don't get me wrong about this, since I definitely love getting gifts that are for me a lot, but that was really a great surprise," Ginny told Harry when Hermione had come to get her out of the locker room after walking Harry and Ron in from the gates. "Thank-you."

Harry's smile was bright, and his eyes were sparkling as he hugged her happily. "You're welcome. Hopefully Luna and the other Ravenclaws won't be too mad at me about that after you win today."

"You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" Ginny asked and Harry kissed her.

"I'm sure about you," he answered. "I have no doubt that you're going to end your Gryffindor Seeker career undefeated. Today will be six for six."

Ginny laughed, pulled him close, and nearly leveled him with the kiss she gave him then. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you too," he assured her.

"And we'd love it if our Captain could join her team sometime before the game is over," Demelza told them, smiling as she stood in the doorway, holding the door open suggestively. "Come on, Captain. Time is up on your motivational snogging session. We've got a game to go play."

"I'm going to recommend you for Captain next year," Ginny told Demelza. "You remind me a lot of Angelina."

"Since I think that she's pretty great, I can live with that comparison just fine," Demelza said happily. "Now move it, Weasley!"

Harry and both girls laughed, and Ginny kissed him once more before hurrying after her favorite teammate. He went on into the stadium, waving and laughing as he walked past the Ravenclaw section and almost all of the students there booed and jeered him. One young Wizard chucked one of the chocolates he'd sent Dawn and Jeremy at him, which did earn some laughs when Harry caught it easily and popped it into his mouth, calling out his thanks to the now red-faced boy, and complimenting him on a really good throw.

"You send a gift like that, and then just go strutting past the Ravenclaw section?" Hermione asked him.

"What'd that kid throw at you?" Ron wanted to know, and Harry grinned at them.

"I wasn't strutting, and it was one of the chocolates I'd sent to Dawn. The kid probably just wanted to make sure I got to share too."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's why, since he'd aimed it at your head," Ron said sarcastically. "It was a pretty good catch, though. Nice to see you haven't lost your Seeker skills yet."

They had some time to talk quietly together, and Ron and Hermione were both quite happy to snuggle together while they waited for the teams to be called out into the stadium, and the game to get started. All of the players on both teams looked ready to go when they met at center pitch, and they all shook hands, not just the Captains before Madam Hooch gave them their pre-game instructions and then set the snitch and bludgers loose, at the same time that she tossed the quaffle high into the air. The players all took off, and Rose Zeller started right in with the game commentary.

"Robins reaches the quaffle first, and tosses it ahead to Finnigan, who goes in alone on goal against Boot. He shoots – HE SCORES! Wow! What a start to the game for Gryffindor!"

The pace of the game was furious, and after giving up the quick goal, Ravenclaw regrouped and went right out on the attack. Harry was able to see their game plan right from the start, and he watched with pride as his girlfriend dodged bludgers, battled against Anthony Goldstein, the Ravenclaw Seeker, and continued to direct her team to, using both hand signals and quick commands that she'd pass on while flying close to her teammates.

Ravenclaw was using a similar game plan to Slytherin's, though they were playing cleanly. Harry did think that it was a good game plan, but the weakness was in that they were counting on their Beaters giving Goldstein the opportunity to catch the snitch and win the game for them, since playing like that meant that their Chasers were on the defense a lot of the time, and eventually that would wear them out.

"AND ROBINS SCORES AGAIN!" Rose shouted, and Harry looked over to see her roaring around behind the Ravenclaw goals after putting the quaffle through the right side goal. "Ackerley has the quaffle, and passes to – Robins intercepts! She passes it out to Thomas, who shoots – AND SCORES! What a play!"

The Ravenclaw Chasers fought on valiantly, but at the three hour and seven minute mark, Demelza scored Gryffindor's twenty-first goal, and since Ravenclaw had only scored fifty points so far, that score put Gryffindor up by more than one hundred and fifty points. That changed the whole game plan for Ginny and her team then, and she sat back and waited patiently for her chance to get a shot at the snitch. The Ravenclaw players all knew that they were in trouble now – a close loss meant nothing this season – it was winner take all.

Their Beaters moved their attack completely away from Ginny, and they went after the Gryffindor Chasers, but with a couple of quick instructions from Ginny, Jimmy and Ritchie turned the focus of their counter-attacks back onto the Ravenclaw Beaters, pretty much battling to a draw, and leaving their Chasers mostly free to keep playing on.

Ravenclaw only managed one more goal against Vicky over the next hour and a half, their Chasers pretty much worn out, while Demelza in particular seemed to get faster and stronger, and she scored eight of the twelve goals that Gryffindor put past Terry Boot.

Anthony Goldstein was playing his heart out against Ginny, battling desperately to defend against both her fakes and actual runs to catch the snitch. Harry, and every other Wizard and Witch in the stadium watched in amazement when, from quite a distance apart, both Ginny and Anthony raced across the pitch to where the two Seekers, and only some of the spectators could see the snitch darting around about fifteen feet above the heads of some students in the Hufflepuff section.

Harry had another one of those moments, and he was on his feet and cheering as he watched Ginny shoot in high, catch the snitch while rolling three hundred and sixty degrees, making Anthony completely miss on his attempt to block her, and then pull up on her broom hard to avoid crashing into the Hufflepuff section. He couldn't help but roar with laughter when he saw Zacharias Smith drop down, covering his head as she blasted past, even though she was still probably five or six feet above the heads of the students.

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed. "That was really something!"

"WEASLEY CATCHES THE SNITCH!" Rose shouted out. "Get your pensieves out after the game boys and girls – you're going to want to take a look at that play again! Gryffindor wins four hundred and eighty to sixty, and wins this year's Quidditch Cup! Let's have a cheer for both teams for giving us such an excellent game today!"

The stadium erupted with cheers, and Harry watched as Ginny was gang-hugged in midair by her team before they all flew down to the pitch, where they met with the Ravenclaw team, exchanging handshakes and a few hugs too. Harry, Ron, and Hermione started making their way down to the pitch, and when Ginny saw them, she ran over and hurled herself into Harry's arms, kissing him and laughing as he swung her around before setting her down again.

"You were even more brilliant than the other games, if that's possible," he told her.

"What was that move?" Ron asked her. "I thought for sure that you were going to miss and crash into the Hufflepuff section."

Ginny laughed and nodded to Hermione. "It's called applied Arithmancy," she told her brother. "Your girlfriend and I have been taking a look at Quidditch from that angle, so to speak."

"Hermione getting involved in Quidditch?" Ron said in amazement. He laughed too, and then hugged and kissed her exuberantly. "You're amazing!"

"Thank-you," she answered breathlessly. "If I'd known that would have been your response, I would have suggested trying that years ago."

Ginny hugged Ron next and smiled at him and Hermione. "You should get out of here and take that long walk back to the gates," she told them. "If I do this right, I'll get you about a half hour or so."

"Do what right?" Ron asked,

"I'm going to get Harry together with Dawn and Jeremy, go grab a world's fastest shower and change, and then walk with him to the gates. Our fellow Gryffindors can get the party started without me." Harry picked her up for another long hug and kiss, and then she led him over to the Ravenclaw section, and waved Dawn over, though she didn't see Jeremy to get his attention too.

"Can you keep Harry company for ten or fifteen minutes while I go get changed?" she asked Dawn. "Professor McGonagall probably won't ask him to leave as long as he's chatting with some students, and I really want to walk him to the gates since I won't see him for three more weeks."

Dawn tried to look indecisive. "That's asking a lot after that Post he sent, and then you and your team beating mine."

Ginny smiled at her. She was definitely getting over being shy around them. "I know it is, but that's what friends are for – to help out even when it's toughest to do that."

"That's true," Dawn agreed. "I'll do it, then." Ginny hugged her and then hurried off toward the change room. Harry hugged Dawn too, and then had a hug for Luna when she joined them.

"We're risking a lot hanging out with today's Ravenclaw Undesirable Number One," Luna joked, and Harry and Dawn both laughed.

"Hopefully you'll all eventually forgive me for that, but it just seemed like too much fun not to do it," he told them. "You should be proud of your team anyway – they had a really great season too."

"I'm sure we'll get over it," Luna assured him. She hugged him again. "Hopefully when we get home again, Rolf and I can get together with you and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione before we leave on our expedition. I've got to get up to the school and get back to studying, though, so I'll leave you in Dawn's capable hands."

Harry and Dawn both watched her go, and he smiled when he saw the look on Dawn's face. "Don't believe everything you hear," he suggested. "She's got some strange ideas about some things, but that's all just fun once you get to know her. Luna's brilliant, honest, as brave as anyone I know, and has a really great heart too."

Dawn laughed. "Funny, my Mum says those same things about you."

"Including the strange ideas?" he joked, and Dawn laughed again.

"No, she actually thinks your ideas, at least about the Aurors and Ministry are pretty great," she answered seriously.

Harry held out his arm to her, and she smiled as she tucked hers into his and they started walking toward the change rooms to go wait for Ginny. "Your Mum's been helping me a lot," he said quietly. "I hope that you and your brother and sister are proud of her, because she's really an amazing Witch."

"We are, but don't tell anyone I said that – my friends would never let me live that down," she told him. "Moms are not supposed to be cool, even though I think mine is."

"I wouldn't dream of saying a word," he promised. "Have you got any plans for the summer holidays yet?"

Dawn smiled brightly. "Well, I'm pretty excited about going with my family to see the Wasps and Harpies play on opening day," she answered. "We usually go on vacation somewhere for a couple of weeks too, though Mum and Dad haven't told us where or when yet. Other than that, I'm hoping to make a bit of money here and there with babysitting, and will hang out with my friends the rest of the time."

"Can I come live with you?" Harry asked. "That sounds like way more fun that working most of the summer, and all of the chores I'll have around my house."

"Do you think Ginny would trade me Jeremy for you?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "We could ask her. Jeremy is pretty cute, but she did grow up with six brothers, so she may have had her fill of them."

Dawn laughed. "Suddenly having one brother is looking so much better to me."

They found a spot to sit down near the change rooms, and ended up having nearly fifteen more minutes to chat before Ginny, Demelza, and Vicky came outside, the last three to leave after Seamus, Dean, Ritchie, and Jimmy all came out ahead of them, and stopping for a word with Harry before going on to the school and their victory party.

"Thanks, Dawn," Ginny said, smiling and hugging the younger girl when she and Harry both stood up. "Sorry to take longer than I'd planned."

"That's okay," Dawn assured her. "This has been fun." She hugged Harry and smiled up at him. "Thanks for the tickets, and the chocolates too. Maybe I'll see you both around this summer sometime."

"You will for sure," Harry promised. "Good luck on your exams, and say 'Hi' to Jeremy for me."

She left them after that, though she did look back after walking for a minute, and in time to see Ginny pull Harry close for a long kiss that both had her feeling sad and happy at the same time. Sighing, she turned toward the school again. Thinking about the talk she and her mother had one night over the Easter holidays, she smiled to herself. She knew that her Mum had been joking about Harry not being suitable boyfriend or future husband material, but she did know for sure now that he was totally in love with another Witch. Since she thought that Ginny was brilliant, it was impossible for her to be mad about that either, and there wasn't much she could do about being born a four or five years too late. The happy thought in all of that was that even though she was a lot younger than they were, she really did feel like she had two really great friends, and she was happy about that, and for them.

"We should get started," Ginny told him, and Harry laughed and kissed her again.

"I am just getting started," he answered.

"On the walk back to the gates," Ginny amended. "We're probably pushing the limits having you stay here this long."

"Woof," he whispered, and Ginny hugged him and laughed.

"Don't tempt me. I might decide to just keep you here for the entire three weeks."

"And how would you do that?" he asked.

"Hermione managed with Rita," she reminded him, and he grinned at her.

"Rita couldn't do magic in her Animagus form," he countered.

"True," she agreed, "but the question is, if you didn't behave, how bad would my bat-bogey hex be with a nose as long as yours?"

"You win," he said with a laugh.

Ginny kissed him again, and then took his hand and tugged to get him moving. "Good. I love to win."

"I've noticed that. Is Hermione going to get you all back hitting the books later?"

"We're allowed to stay at the party until dinnertime, and then we have to get back to work again," she answered. "We start our NEWTs on Monday, so I don't really mind."

"You're starting with Transfiguration?" he asked, pretty sure he remembered that right.

Ginny nodded. "Yes, and I'm not all that worried about that one – it's the written and practical Potions exams next Friday that have me nervous. I really hope I get a potion that I'm good at making, but it sounds like that's all pretty much at the whim of the examiner."

"Do you think that Bezoar thing would work with them if they tell you to do a poison antidote?"

"Maybe as bonus points after making the real antidote, but no, it wouldn't and Slughorn was on to that this year too. I heard that he had five different students try that one on him, and he wasn't nearly as amused about it this year."

"It's all in the timing and delivery," Harry joked. "He can say what he wants about that, but I carry a few in my field kit, since it's proven very useful to me in the past."

Ginny smiled when she saw that he was looking ahead to where Ron and Hermione were sharing a goodbye hug and kiss. "Very useful," she agreed. She stopped him there, and shared a blistering kiss goodbye with him before they went on to meet up with Ron and Hermione.

"Ready to go, mate?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"No, but we don't have much choice, so let's get out of here so the girls can get to their party."

There were a couple more goodbye kisses, and Harry hugged Hermione goodbye too and wished her luck on her exams, and then he and Ron left the school grounds, and turned to watch the girls walk arm-in-arm back up to the castle.

"Any suggestions on what to do now?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"How about some shopping, and I've got something to show you that I think you're going to like a lot."

"You're nearly as bad as a Witch when it comes to all of the shopping you like to do," Ron accused.

"Maybe," Harry conceded, "but I want to pick up some little good luck gifts to send Ginny for the days she has exams."

"And what do you want to show me that I'm going to like a lot?"

"Why don't we go to Diagon Alley, and I'll show you that first?" They apparated to Diagon Alley, meeting outside of George's store, but then Harry led him down the street until they reached one of the cafés.

"You want to show me a café, or some new kind of snack or drink?" Ron asked and Harry laughed.

"Actually, I want to show you something above this café," he explained, taking out a key ring with four keys on it and opening a door that was at the left side of the café. He led Ron up two flights of stairs, which went straight from the front to the back of the building, with a landing for the first floor in the middle. The landing on the top floor was wide, and the door was on the right. Harry opened that door too, and they walked into a spacious kitchen.

Ron looked around the room, and Harry smiled to himself. He loved his friend, but sometimes Ron didn't catch on to the obvious all that fast. "Why are you showing me this place?"

"You told me that you were thinking about getting a flat now that Ginny was going to be home again," he answered. "What do you think of this place?"

"Are you serious?" Ron's expression had become animated, and he began looking around the place in earnest.

Harry followed him as he first went into a balcony Atrium or sunroom sort of setup at the back of the flat, and looked out over the small area behind the buildings. From there, he checked out the large sitting room with a wide, tall window that overlooked Diagon Alley, and then the two bedrooms and good-sized bathroom before going back into the kitchen.

"George told me that his place costs loads of galleons to rent, mate. I'm not sure that I can afford a place this great, and it's way nicer than his flat." Harry pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Ron, who opened it and pulled out the sheets of parchment. "No way!" he exclaimed when he saw the monthly rent."

"Way," Harry answered with a laugh. This was a lot of fun. "I know the owner of the building, and he's giving you a special rate."

Ron looked up at Harry then, and saw the look in his eyes. "You own this building?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

"I still need to cover the costs, but if you're good with that rate, read the contract through, sign it, and the place is yours starting now, though your first rent would be for July. That'll give you a month to furnish the place and take your time moving in."

Ron laughed and hugged Harry before stepping back quickly. "Tell anybody I did that, and I'll deny it. As for this, I'll take it." He did read through the rental agreement first, and then Harry handed him a quill from his pack, and Ron happily signed it, and handed that page and the quill back to his friend. Harry handed him the key ring, and they were both grinning.

"George is going to go nuts when he finds out about this place," Ron suggested, and Harry laughed.

"Want to have a little more fun?" he asked, and Ron looked at him suspiciously.

"That depends. What do you have in mind?"

Harry pulled another envelope out of his pocket. "How'd you like to come with me while I drop off this renewal of George's rental agreement for his store and flat?"

"Are you charging him double?" Ron joked, and Harry laughed.

"Nope, I'm going to try and lock him in long term, with a better rate, and I'll throw in a remodel of his flat if he goes for it. I've got one other little surprise in there that I hope he'll like a lot too."

"You suck at business, don't you?"

"Possibly, but I'm not doing this for the money, so from my perspective, what I am getting out of these two deals is pure gold."

"This sounds dangerously close to getting mushy, so let's get out of here and go see George," he told Harry.

Ron locked up both doors on the way out, and they walked back along Diagon Alley until they got to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. There were maybe a dozen customers in the store at the moment, and while that was pretty quiet compared to most times Harry had been in the store, it was still a few minutes before George had time to come over and talk to them.

"How'd the game go?" he asked.

"Gryffindor in a pretty brilliant blowout," Ron told him. "Our sister has turned out to be a seriously amazing Seeker."

George laughed. "You're surprised? She's been learning how to play since she was six." He looked at his watch. "I've got a meeting any time now. Is there anything I can do for you before the guy gets here?"

Harry and Ron both grinned at him. "The guy's here," Harry said, handing George the envelope. Lead the way, and we can get this pesky business stuff done."

"You're the new owner?" he asked, and Harry laughed.

"Actually, you could say I've been the owner for a long time – the building was just in trust. This is just the first time your lease has come up for renewal."

"I've got an option for another two years," George pointed out.

"You'll like this better," Harry promised.

George led them back to his office, letting his staff know on the way past that he would be back out as soon as his meeting was over. Harry and Ron both enjoyed watching George go over the lease agreement, and he'd been pretty excited about the whole thing.

"You suck at business, don't you?" George asked and Ron and Harry both laughed.

"I've heard that," Harry told him. "Fairly recently, but then Ron did sign the rental agreement, so I'm guessing that's a good sign for me in this case too."

"You're renting a flat?" George asked Ron, momentarily distracted from his own lease offer.

"Just up the street, top floor above one of the cafés," Ron confirmed.

"That's brilliant. Now, let me think about this," George said, pretending to ponder the pros and cons. "Big drop in rent, long term stability, a remodel of my flat, and a buyout option that I'd have to be completely mental not to take you up on as soon as I can afford to do that." He'd been ticking them off on his fingers, and then picked up a quill. "You've got a deal, mate." He handed that page across the desk, and Harry took it and tucked it into his pocket with the one Ron had given him.

"Before we let you get back to work, I've got one other offer for you," Harry told him.

"If it's as good as this one, keep talking," George said with a smile.

"I wouldn't' exactly say this is a deal, but more like an offer to be a silent investor. I saw that Zonko's didn't open up again after the war, and if you were still interested in opening up there too, I'd be interested in the investment, though we'd work out a similar sort of buyout as this one." He smiled at George. "Like you say, I probably suck at business, and I wouldn't want to screw it up for you by staying involved too long."

"You may suck at business, Harry, but you're doing just fine at being a good friend," George told him. "I'll have to think about that one. Opening a store there would mean needing to get someone to manage it, since I can't be in two places at once, but I love the idea if I can figure out how to pull it off."

"I've got a full time job, but I could help you out too," Ron offered. "Work on Hogsmeade weekends and such. I think it's a brilliant idea."

Harry stood up and held his hand out to George, who ignored it and hugged Harry instead. "Thanks, mate."

"You're welcome, George. I'd better get out of here. There's some shopping I want to do for your sister before the stores close, and Ron may want to start looking for furniture while we're doing that."

The rest of the afternoon and evening went pretty great for Harry, and even going back to the Burrow with Ron to offer him moral support when he broke the news to his parents that he'd gotten his own flat, and would be moving out soon had been fun. Mrs. Weasley had hugged Ron tightly, and had a few tears too, but she also seemed genuinely happy too, and Harry was pretty sure she understood that Ron hadn't moved out earlier for her. He'd stayed for dinner there, and then helped with the cleanup before going home. Once there, he spent the rest of his evening working around the house, and then got ready for bed and his chat with Ginny.

"So Ron's renting a flat, and you've set George up with a new lease with a remodel tossed in, a buyout option, and an offer to invest in a second store," Ginny summarized. "Slow afternoon was it?"

"More like brilliantly fun," Harry answered. "Your brothers both think I suck at business, though."

Ginny laughed. "That'll only be true if you do things like this with all of your businesses and properties. I'm guessing that's not your plan."

"Other than taking control of those two buildings, I'm leaving the rest to continue being managed as they have been until now. If I get time in the future, maybe I'll get more involved, but I've got more than enough on the go for now without adding all of that work too."

"Are you going to have deals like the one you gave Ron for Hermione and I when we're ready to move away from home?" she asked archly, and Harry grinned at her.

"I'll have one for Hermione for sure," he agreed. "Hopefully when you're ready to move away from home, you'll like the offer I'll have for you quite a lot too, but I guarantee that it won't be anything like Ron's offer."

Ginny smiled at him, her eyes flashing excitedly. "Really? Will it be better or worse?"

Harry grinned at her. "I guess only time will tell if it'll be for better or worse," he joked, and Ginny laughed.

"As long as it's a long term contract, I think it'll be for better," she predicted.

With another long day of studying ahead of her on Sunday, and then the start of her NEWT exams coming on Monday, they didn't stay up and talk late, though Harry did again stay awake and watch as she fell asleep, a gentle, contented smile on her beautiful face. There were less than three weeks left now until she'd be home, and he was feeling the growing sense of excitement now that they were almost there. Ginny would be keeping busy with her exams, and he was expecting to be just as busy with work, helping Ron with getting his flat ready, spending some time with Teddy, and keeping up with the gardening, yard and house work he had at home. Hopefully, if he worked things out right, these last few weeks would breeze by, and then Ginny would be home, and all would be right with the world again.


	16. Farewell to Hogwarts

Chapter Sixteen – Farewell to Hogwarts

"I still think we should have stayed up studying last night," Hermione told Ginny as they had breakfast on Monday morning. "We should have worked on our practical conjuring more too."

"You were welcome to do that," Ginny answered. "I'm actually rested, happy, and am capable of thinking at all because I got a good night's sleep. What good would all of that extra work have done if I'd slept through half of the written exam, or couldn't see well enough to focus on what I was Transfiguring in my practical exam?"

"Same here," Parvati agreed. "Relax Hermione. If it was possible to get higher than an O, you'd get it in Transfiguration."

"And every other subject," Dean suggested. "She ought to get bonus points just for dragging our marks up a notch or two on her way to straight Outstanding marks on her NEWTs."

Hermione smiled at her friends, but still looked like she was sure that her exams were going to be a disaster. Ginny was glad when Storm and Pig flew in with the Owl Post, delivering small good luck gifts to each of them. Hermione started laughing when she read the note with her gift, and Ginny looked over to see her lifting out a little bottle with what looked like pumpkin juice in it, the stopper tightly sealed with wax.

"What's so funny?" she asked and Hermione handed her the note from Ron.

Hermione,

Harry and I would like to remind you that it's all in your mind.

Good luck.

Love,

Ron

"Inside joke?" Ginny asked, and Hermione laughed again, leaned close to Ginny, and quickly told her the story behind her brother's first miraculous shutout victory in that first game of the season the year Harry was team Captain.

"That's brilliant!" she told Hermione and hugged her friend.

"So is the timing on the gift," Hermione agreed. "I feel much better now."

By lunchtime, she was furiously digging through her Transfiguration notes, sure that she'd gotten this or that question completely mixed up, and finally, Ginny reached over and grabbed both of her hands, forcing her to stop flipping frenetically through the pages.

"You're repeating yourself," she told Hermione. "Out of hundreds of questions, you could only come up with seven you may have gotten wrong, and I'm positive that you did six of them right. Do the Arithmancy there, and give it a rest. Some of us need to focus on our practical exams this afternoon, and you're being a bit distracting."

"And annoying," Seamus told her. "I couldn't have even dreamed of only getting seven questions wrong, and if Ginny's right, then you're only a maybe wrong on one."

"Okay, you win," Hermione told Ginny, and put her books away again. "Let's hurry up and eat, and we'll have enough time to have a little last minute practice before our practicals."

"She's incorrigible," Dean complained.

Ginny could have taken lots of time to practice – most of the afternoon, since for some reason, nobody ever seemed to consider the possibility of doing something radical, and going through the alphabet in reverse for a change occasionally. Being at the end of the list did have one advantage – she got to hear from all of her friends what they'd had to do for their practical exams, starting with Lavender, and through to Padma, Parvati, and Dean. They'd all been reasonably happy with how they did, and even Hermione couldn't find a single thing to be upset about for her practical.

When it was finally her turn, she went into the examination room feeling pretty confident, and elated when she left after her testing was done, knowing she'd done everything asked of her exactly right. Hermione had left after her exam, but was there in the hallway waiting for Ginny when she stepped out of the room, and hugged her friend.

"Your exam went well too, I see," she said, and Ginny nodded.

"Couldn't have gone better," she agreed. "One O down, four to go."

"You've got five exams left," Hermione reminded her, and Ginny laughed.

"True, but if I get an E on Potions, I'll be a happy camper, and only a little disappointed if I only get an E in Herbology instead of an Outstanding."

"Well, we've got until Friday to get ready for Potions, so you never know, but I've got Ancient Runes in the morning, and we've both got Charms on Wednesday, so let's go get a little work done before dinner," Hermione suggested.

For the rest of the day on Monday, and all day on Tuesday, studying had been pretty much all that Ginny and her friends did, with the only exception being stopping to have meals, and short nightly chats with Harry – both of them short from her perspective, since she fell asleep during both of them. Hermione had come out of her Ancient Runes exam muttering and worrying, and she had her books out looking up translations for the three questions she was certain that she'd totally botched.

"Instead of fretting about that all afternoon when you've got to get concentrating on Charms, why don't you just go ask the Professor after lunch?" Ginny suggested. "Either that, or just stop worrying about it anyway, since it's over with, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it if you did actually have a real mistake on your exam."

"I don't know how the rest of you can be so calm about this," Hermione told her friends. "Our futures depend on how we do on these exams."

"Says the Witch who's been promised her pick of jobs by the Minister of Magic himself," Parvati said with a laugh, and she put an arm around Dean. "What we get to do for jobs may depend on how we do on our NEWTs, Hermione, but there's a lot more I want for my future that has nothing at all to do with my NEWT results. In fact, some of the things I want for my future aren't even taught at Hogwarts."

"How fun would it be around here if they were?" Seamus joked, earning him a hug and kiss on the cheek from Lavender as she laughed at his comment. Ginny had laughed too, and Hermione had started blushing.

"Maybe we should have started a club – like we did with the D.A.," Dean suggested.

"Now you come up with that," Seamus complained. "Why didn't you think of that last September?"

That sent them all off on a fun little side trip that included everything from suggestions on group activities to who would be suited to be their instructor, and potential names for the club. Ginny had joined right in for the fun, while Hermione continued to do a lot of blushing. It did distract her from worrying over Ancient Runes, though, and by the end of lunch, they were all ready to get back to studying and concentrate on their impending Charms exams.

On Wednesday morning, Ginny and Hermione had both started their day with gifts in the Owl Post again at breakfast, and while that didn't seem to affect how Hermione thought her exam went, Ginny thought that the gifts Harry was sending her had helped a lot with putting her in the right frame of mind to do well on her exams. She was sure that her practical exam had again gone brilliantly, and that her morning written exam had been good enough that she'd earn her second Outstanding mark.

She and Hermione both had Thursday off, so after she'd finished taking her Charms practical, they threw all of their efforts toward getting ready for the only exam that Ginny was really all that worried about – Potions. The rest of their group was doing the same unless they were writing the History exam on Thursday morning. Harry and Ron had both sent gifts again on Friday, and Ginny had loved that gift too, but by the end of the afternoon, when she walked out of the examination room, she was finally sure about where the 'Nastily Exhausting' part of NEWT came from.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, looking worried when she saw her normally always fired up friend looking so wiped out. "Didn't your potion go right?"

Ginny hugged her, and then they started walking toward the Gryffindor Common Room. "It came out a bit on the weak side, but I did make it correctly," she answered. "Since my written was probably borderline A to E, I think it was good enough to push me solidly into that E mark, but this has been a really hard day."

"Well, we've got the weekend off," Hermione said, and Ginny laughed.

"Really? We're going to take both days off? No studying or anything?" she joked, and Hermione laughed too.

"Okay, so maybe we don't have the weekend off," she conceded, "but since you're half way done, and I've finished four of seven exams already, it won't be quite so bad next week. We've got DADA on Monday, and then have two whole days to get ready for Herbology after that."

"You make that sound like three days of intense Herbology immersion is going to be fun," Ginny told her.

"You mean it isn't?" Hermione asked. "Why didn't anyone let me in on that secret?"

"Because we thought that every Witch and Wizard was born with that knowledge," Ginny answered. "Maybe it's a learned response, but if that's the case, Percy didn't learn that lesson either."

"I'm not sure how much I'm liking being lumped in with Percy for this," Hermione told her.

"You can't deny that you definitely have a Percy-like side to you, Hermione. The good news is that you have a really great fun side to you too, and when we're done with exams, I really hope you let that part of you out to play more often." Ginny grinned at her friend. "You know – the part of you that's able to snog a boy in the middle of a battle, or break the rules once in a while. Percy's still got to figure out that right and wrong is more important than the rules and regulations, and he's got a fun side too, but he almost never lets it out."

Hermione was laughing, and felt that same small thrill as she did every time she thought about that first, brilliant kiss with Ron. "I'll try to do that," she promised, "though to be fair, a lot of those times, I blamed your brother and Harry for bringing out the worst in me."

"They've done that from time to time with both of us," Ginny agreed, "but then most of those times, they had it coming to them."

"Yes they did," Hermione said, laughing again. "Let's take a break, and then maybe just do a light study session tonight. We can get back to working harder again in the morning."

Harry and Ron had been working all week too, but compared to most of May, it had been fairly quiet. With the capture of Mulciber, Rosier, and their group, while they were by no means running out of bad guys, most of the very worst were now safely locked away in Azkaban, and while other Aurors were working fugitive cases, Emma had quietly put Josh and his trainees, and Nathan and his team onto a new project – cleaning up the Ministry of Magic. They all knew that there were still Witches and Wizards working there who had helped Voldemort and his followers, and were likely still plotting and acting on behalf of the old pureblood elitists.

While they all began working on their new investigations, Ron was also starting to make plans, do some shopping, and begin getting his new flat ready to move into. Harry helped him out with that after work two nights, and most of the day on Saturday, including buying his friend a sofa and two recliners as a housewarming gift. He spent one evening mostly running around after Teddy as he flew on his toy Firebolt for a couple of hours before bedtime, and played with him on Sunday morning too before needing to go home and spend the rest of the day working around his own house.

Back at Hogwarts, after starting their Monday with good luck gifts from their boyfriends, Ginny and Hermione had gone off with all of the other NEWT students to take the written exam for DADA. This was the only subject where Ginny was possibly, if only by a little bit, better than Hermione, and she wasn't worried about how she'd do, but the written exam was still very thorough, long, and tiring.

It had taken ten minutes at lunchtime to assure Hermione that her 'problem' questions had all been answered correctly and to stop worrying, and then it was sit around and wait time for Ginny in the afternoon as she watched all of the other students go into the examination room in small groups to take the difficult practical exam. When Hermione came out into the hallway from her exam, she'd looked both thrilled and mortified, and Ginny had hurried over to her, and pulled her off to one side to find out what had happened.

"I won my duel!" Hermione whispered, and Ginny hugged her.

"Why are you looking like that then?" she asked. "That's brilliant!"

Hermione actually looked sheepish now. "I had Dawlish," she whispered. "They've got Aurors helping out too, but he's been moved to the Wizarding Examination Authority. He was being such a pompous ass, and when he recognized me, he said something snide about Ron that made me mad, so I confunded him, then had no trouble disarming and binding him."

"Just because you knew he had a weakness for being confunded doesn't mean you should be upset," Ginny whispered back. "Figuring out your opponent's weaknesses is part of DADA. Dawlish is having a rather bad spell these past few years, though. You'd think he'd get over himself with that many failures."

"Some people never learn," Hermione answered. The door to the examination room opened again, and they watched a dazed looking Dawlish being led out of the room, which had all of the students out in the hallway whispering furiously together as they speculated on what had happened to him.

Hermione left Ginny to wait for her own exam, deciding to go get a drink and snack, but promised to return to meet her after she was finished. Ginny was pretty relaxed, and had fun hearing from her friends how and what they did on their exams when they came back out of the room. Finally, it was her turn, and she was smiling when she went into the room and was directed to where two Wizards were at one of the tables set up around the room.

"Ms. Weasley, this is Auror Scott, and he will be your opponent for this examination. You've been instructed as to the format of the testing, and if you are ready, we will proceed."

"Yes sir," she answered, returning Dan's smile. She hadn't met him before, but Harry had told her a bit about all the Aurors he'd been working with. "I'm ready."

"Very well," the older Wizard told her. "Take up your positions, and begin."

Ginny was pretty sure that no NEWT exam was supposed to be fun, but she was having fun with this one as she and Dan began their duel. He'd started out by incrementally increasing his attacks as he tested her defenses, but it wasn't long before she was pressing him to the limit on her own attacks, while handling anything he could throw at her.

They'd been battling for close to fifteen minutes when she'd broken through his shield, and then had him momentarily distracted when she hit him full on with a bat-bogey hex. When she disarmed him after that had broken his concentration, he'd laughed despite fighting off the bats with both hands. They disappeared a moment later when she reversed that hex, and they were both laughing when she handed him back his wand.

"Will that be enough, sir?" Dan asked the examiner, who was smiling now too, and seemed to be trying hard not to laugh.

"That was quite unorthodox, but obviously effective," he answered. "She won the duel, and has more than shown an outstanding knowledge of the material. Well done, Ms. Weasley. Good luck with the rest of your exams."

"Thank-you, sir," Ginny answered. She turned to leave, and her smile brightened when she saw Christine walking toward her. She knew immediately who it was both from Harry's description, and Dawn's resemblance to her mother.

"Auror Campbell," she said in greeting, holding her hand out, and Christine smiled too.

"Christine, please," she answered, shaking her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ginny. I'm pretty happy to see that you've got the skills to keep that boyfriend of yours in line too." She'd said that loudly enough for Dan and Ginny's examiner to hear, and this time both Wizards laughed, though the examiner broke it off after a moment.

"Skills that seem to be completely ineffective the moment he bats those sparkling emeralds at me," Ginny said quietly enough so that only Christine would hear her.

"I could see why that would happen," Christine agreed. "Try color change charms. That might help. I've got to get back to work, but I wanted to meet you while I had the chance. Hopefully we'll see you and Harry around after you get out of here."

"You will for sure," she promised. "Thank-you for everything you've been helping Harry with. It's meant a lot to him."

"You're welcome, Ginny," Christine answered. "Take care, and good luck with the rest of your exams."

Ginny had left then, and had a little mini-celebration in the hallway with Hermione, who told her that as far as she'd heard, they were the only two to actually win their duels. They took a break until dinnertime, and then it was back to hitting the books again to get ready for their Herbology exams.

Harry and Ron were both having fun for the next couple of days, as most of the other Aurors had fun teasing them about having girlfriends with some serious DADA skills. The advice ranged from hanging on to them so they'd have someone to protect them if anything bad happened, to running now while they still had a week or two to get away before it was too late.

Ron continued working at his flat, and he'd been getting other help from his family that had included some gifts, like dishes, cutlery, and cookware from his parents and brothers, to decorating help and advice from his mother and Fleur, who assured him that yes, there was more to decorating than Chudley Cannons posters and game souvenirs.

For the few students who had them, the NEWT exams on Tuesday and Wednesday were Astronomy and Muggle Studies. Nearly everyone else was working on getting ready for Herbology. Hermione, Ginny, and the rest of their study group had put in a really long day on Tuesday, but by early evening on Wednesday, Ginny had told Hermione that she was as ready as she was going to be, and packed up, planning on having an early bedtime chat with Harry, and getting a solid night of sleep.

She'd been the only one of their group to do that, but by the time she'd finished taking the written exam in the morning, she had been very glad about bucking the trend. It had been a draining three hours, and while she wasn't quite sure whether her effort was worth a high E or low O, she was sure that she was in better shape going into the afternoon practical exam than most of her friends were, including Hermione. Working with some of those plants when you were at your best was hard enough, and doing it when you were tired could end badly indeed.

"Don't even go there today," Ginny warned Hermione when they sat down at the Gryffindor table to have lunch, and Hermione was reaching for her Herbology books. "Take a break, don't think about it, and get ready for this afternoon, 'cause the tough part is still ahead for this one."

Hermione looked ready to protest, but then shrugged, nodded, and left her books in the bag. "Okay, but I'm sure that I completely messed the whole thing up."

"Even more reason to get focused on the practical then," Ginny suggested, "even if I really doubt that you did." Pulling the box of chocolates that Harry had sent her that morning out of her bag, she set it in the middle of the table, and smiled at her friends. "Help yourselves," she told them; taking one out for herself. "If chocolate helps with Dementors, it should do wonders for post-Herbology exam fatigue."

"We've all faced both now, and in the future, I'll pick fighting the Dementors," Seamus joked, taking one too. "Thanks."

Ginny had been half joking with Hermione about the practical exam being the hardest part of their day, but by the time she was finished, she was sure it had been, and she had a couple of deep scratches and a bite mark for proof. While she didn't have anything needing major treatment, she stopped by the hospital wing to ask Madam Pomfrey for something to put on her injuries, and found that she had to get in line for that, with Dean and Padma both there getting looked at, while Parvati and Terry Boot were there waiting for their respective boyfriend and girlfriend to get finished.

"I see you had fun too," Padma told Ginny, looking at the long scratches on her arm, and the darkly red bite mark on her hand.

"My exam did go okay, but I have decided that my career options are not going to include anything in the field of Herbology," Ginny answered. "Are you alright?"

"Just some burns," Padma answered. "I didn't notice that one of the plants cut through my glove, and some puss seeped through onto my skin later in the test. Dean's picked up a few cuts like you did."

"I'm just about done with them, Ms. Weasley," Madam Pomfrey told her, "and I'll have you fixed up in no time."

"Is it always like this with the NEWT Herbology exam?" she asked and Madam Pomfrey smiled at her.

"I'm usually kept quite busy during exams," she answered. "Herbology is usually the easiest. Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration accidents are usually more serious, if not quite as frequent. Getting an examiner for a patient this year was a first. They're usually pretty good about protecting themselves." She handed a little jar of cream to Padma. "Put this on again before you go to bed tonight, and again tomorrow night if it's not totally healed up, and you'll be fine," she instructed.

She handed another jar to Dean with similar instructions, and then took care of Ginny. The two couples waited for her, and then they all went down to the Great Hall together to sit and chat while they waited for dinner.

"You were already gone by the time I got back to wait for you," Hermione told Ginny when she joined them. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "Just a bite and a couple of scratches. I thought maybe you'd decided to have a nap."

Hermione nodded. "I did snuggle with Crookshanks and close my eyes for fifteen, but I just guessed wrong on when you'd be done. Are you happy with how your exam went?"

Ginny nodded. "From what you told me, yours went better, but I'm a solid E for sure, and may squeak the O out, depending on how nice the examiner wants to be, since we're supposed to get dinged for scratches and bites, and things like that."

"Especially if your plant bites your examiner," Seamus joked. "I'll be lucky if they pass me after that, even though I did everything else pretty well."

"Like you're worried about it now," Lavender told him. "You're done your exams now."

Seamus grinned at her. "True, but you're the one taking Divination – shouldn't you have been able to see the exam schedule in advance, and picked your classes accordingly?"

"Careful, buddy, or maybe I'll tell you all about what I see in your future," she threatened, and Seamus laughed, giving her a hug and kiss.

"If you're in that future with me in a big way, I'm good with whatever you see," he told her, and Lavender smiled at him happily.

"That was a very good answer," she complimented him.

Seamus wasn't the only one finished his exams by the end of the day Thursday. All of the first and second year students were done already, having just seven exams to write, and for the NEWT students, the only exams remaining were Divination on Friday, Arithmancy on Monday, and Care of Magical Creatures on Tuesday. Since none of them had all three subjects, Hermione and Ginny, and the rest of their study group split up. Luna was on her own as the only Care of Magical Creatures NEWT student, and she spent most of the next four days with Hagrid happily helping her to get ready for her exam, while Lavender worked with the few other Divination students, and Ginny and Hermione worked together, and a few times with the other Arithmancy students.

Out in the Wizarding real world, after having a busy week at work, helping Ron out around his flat, and having another play evening with Teddy, Harry spent most of the weekend helping Ron actually move into his flat, which had happened at least a week sooner than he'd expected, but then Ron had definitely been motivated. They'd moved the last of his things from the Burrow on Sunday afternoon.

"Funny how the timing works out that he's into his own place five days before his girlfriend gets out of school," George joked. He, Harry, and Neville were there, and George had closed his store for the day about an hour earlier. They'd picked up a couple of pizzas, and were sitting down eating and having drinks.

"More like brilliant," Ron told him.

"Why?" Harry asked innocently, trying not to grin at his friend, then opened his eyes wide as if he'd just thought of a reason his friend might think it was so great. "Ron, you're not thinking about having Hermione over here all alone are you? That's scandalous!"

George and Neville both laughed, and Ron just grinned at Harry. "I don't see anything scandalous about that at all," he answered. "There are two bedrooms here."

Harry nodded. "True, so if that's the case, then you and your brothers shouldn't have a problem with Ginny staying over at my place either, right?"

"Excuse me?" Ron asked.

"What's the problem?" Harry asked. "You just said-"

"- Never mind what I just said, you're talking about my sister!" Ron told him, and Harry started laughing, watching as Ron's expression turned sheepish. "Don't do that to me mate. You are so not funny."

"In this case, he so was," George assured his brother. "This is a pretty great place. Are you going to do something like this for remodeling my flat?" he asked Harry.

"We can't do a sunroom like Ron has here, but we can do new floors and walls, and put in a new kitchen and bathroom to bring it a couple of centuries up to date. I checked around a bit, and when you're ready to have it done, it'd be easiest for the workers if you just moved out for a week and let them do it all at once."

"Well, I do have a brother with a second bedroom right close by," he suggested, "and he may need to have a chaperone, so it could work out."

"Or you could spend a week with Mum and Dad, take a vacation, or even take Mum and Dad on a vacation," Ron suggested.

"I'm crushed," George joked before turning back to Harry. "Anytime after the end of June, but before the last couple of weeks of August work for me, or we'll have to wait for after the kids go back to school. While I'm thinking about it, I may have a line on a manager for a store in Hogsmeade. I'll know for sure next week sometime, but it's looking pretty good."

"Just let me know what you need," Harry told him. "The kids would love it if you could have a new joke shop opened up for them by the first Hogsmeade weekend in September."

"That's what we're thinking too," George agreed. "So now that you've got your own place, Ron, how are you planning on feeding yourself?"

Ron grinned at him. "I'm right above a café, George. Starving shouldn't be an issue, and I can cook some things."

George nodded. "Of course you can, but a person can only eat so many toasted sandwiches and soup before needing something a little more substantial."

"Isn't that what going home for visits with Mum and Dad are for?" Ron countered, and George laughed.

"I can't say much about that, since I've done that enough times, but you should work on learning a bit more, if for no other reason than to impress Hermione."

"Is that the voice of experience?" Ron asked.

"Well, I haven't invited Hermione up to my flat for one of my specialty dinners," George answered with a grin, "but I have invited a few other Witches in the past."

"Really?" Ron asked, looking surprised. "How come we haven't heard about that?"

George shrugged. "I haven't dated anyone seriously enough to want to bring them home to meet Mum and Dad, but that doesn't mean I never go out with a girl now and then."

"Hannah's said that you've stepped out with more than a few Witches," Neville told him, and George laughed.

"Maybe, but she turned me down twice last summer. Seems she had eyes for some other Wizard, though other than both ears, I have no idea what he has that I don't."

"Me either," Neville agreed, "but I'm really happy for him."

Harry, George, and Neville stayed for another hour or so, and then went back to their own homes and let Ron enjoy the rest of his first night out on his own. The first thing that Harry took care of after getting back home was to get Snowstorm on the way with Ginny's last exam good luck gift, and then he had needed to do some work around the house after being away most of the weekend helping Ron. He got ready for bed, and was lying down by the time Ginny called for their nightly chat.

"Hermione told me that Ron's moved in now," she said after they'd done the greetings. "Were you having fun today?"

"Some of it was fun," he agreed. "Getting your brother's room at the Burrow packed up and cleaned wasn't so hot, but the pizza and drinks with George and Neville was pretty good."

"I give it a week, and his place will be a disaster zone," Ginny predicted, and Harry shrugged.

"I don't know," he answered. "Until I moved in here, I wasn't exactly known for being neat and tidy. My perspective on that's quite a bit different now."

Ginny nodded. "Maybe, but I don't think you were ever as bad as Ron. How's Mum taking it?"

Harry laughed. "I'm trying to figure that out. She cried a bit this afternoon when we hugged her goodbye, but then your Mum and Dad have seemed pretty happy too."

"Maybe they're looking forward to the food bill going down by two-thirds," she suggested, and Harry laughed again.

"That could be part of it," he agreed.

They didn't talk for too long, since Ginny did want to get a good night's sleep to be ready for her Arithmancy exam, but they did keep the mirrors active so that he could again watch her sleep for a while. He'd been joking with Ron about having Ginny overnight at his house, but now that they were just days away, he could hardly wait to cuddle with her in the sitting room at the Burrow again, and be able to see each other every day.

"Can we go home now?" Ginny asked Hermione. "Do we really have to stay until the train leaves on Friday?"

Hermione laughed. "No, we can't, and yes we do," she answered. They'd just finished their Arithmancy exam, and for once, even Hermione was confident about how well she'd done on it. "You're supposed to want to wander around the school and grounds, soaking it all in, spend time with all of your friends, and be maudlin and sad about the best days of your life being over now. It's all downhill from here, you know."

"Hermione, nearly all of six out of seven years of my life here were pretty awful. This year has been great, even with all of the work, and a few weeks of my OWL year were brilliant, but the rest isn't filled with warm happy memories. The best years of my life are about to get started."

"It wasn't that bad," Hermione protested, and Ginny laughed.

"Shall we take a look at that? First of all, you've quite possibly spent more time in the hospital wing than Ron or Harry, without ever playing Quidditch, I might add. Then it'd take hours to cover everything that's happened to you, starting with fighting trolls in your first year through to dueling Bellatrix Lestrange last year. I'd say you had plenty of bad, worse, and near-catastrophic, Hermione."

"All true," Hermione agreed, "but I got some life-long friends and a pretty great boyfriend from all of that, and a lot of really good memories too. I am going to miss this place."

"Apply to teach here then," Ginny told her, and it was Hermione's turn to laugh.

"I'm not going to miss it enough to do that. If you think I got frustrated with our little study group, can you imagine what I'd be like if I had the whole school full of kids to teach? Our Professors ought to be awarded Order of Merlin's First Class for what they have to put up with around here. I'd be driven mad in a month."

"That sounds like a 'No'," Ginny joked. "Since going home isn't an option, then let's go get changed, have lunch, and go outside for the afternoon. It's supposed to stay nice all day."

The only testing left to go on Tuesday was Luna's Care of Magical Creatures exam, and the OWL for Muggle Studies. There were some students still taking the practical portion of their exams on Monday afternoon, but Ginny guessed that more than half of the students in the school were outside relaxing or playing with their friends. She and Hermione wandered around the grounds, stopping occasionally to chat with one group of kids or another, but mostly staying away from their own closest friends who had all paired up and were happily entertaining themselves.

"Seeing all of that snogging going on isn't getting my mind off of wishing I was home with Harry right now," Ginny said, and Hermione nodded.

"I wasn't thinking about that," she admitted. "It's too nice to stay cooped up inside though. Hagrid's probably working with Luna again this afternoon, or I'd suggest we get our goodbye visit with him out of the way."

"We can do that tomorrow morning when he's all blubbery and worried over how Luna will do on her exams," Ginny suggested. "That'll still give us two days to get over his snacks before the feast."

"I doubt that'll be long enough," Hermione told her. "Maybe we should go inside and spend the afternoon whipping up an antidote."

That gave them a starting point for discussing ways to survive Hagrid's rock cakes and other treats, and eventually they just found a spot under a tree that hadn't been claimed by any snogging couples or groups of kids running around and playing. A few friends like Vicky and Demelza stopped by for chats while they were out and around too, and while it was a bit odd to have absolutely nothing to do after months of nearly non-stop work and action, they did start winding down, and enjoyed themselves quite a lot.

They hung out in the Gryffindor Common Room with their friends after dinner on Monday night, and as Hermione suggested, a lot of the graduating students wanted to talk about all of the good times. That did mostly prove entertaining, and they all had a few laughs until, as it got later in the evening, the couples started looking to be more interested in some non-verbal activities, and Ginny, Hermione, and most of the other single Gryffindors left for their dorm rooms.

"Four more sleeps to go," Harry said as he smiled at Ginny through their mirrors. "How'd the last exam go?"

"And counting," she agreed, "and the exam was fine – even Hermione's confident she earned an Outstanding."

"Write that one down," he joked. "I think that might be a first. By the time you get the results, though, she'll be sure she's failed everything."

"Then be surprised with getting straight O's for all seven classes," Ginny added with a nod and smile. "How's work? Did Ron survive his first night all alone?"

"I think he missed the ghoul – said it was too quiet by half," Harry answered. "It's a different kind of busy at work right now, but I'm enjoying the change of pace a lot. What are you going to do for the next three days?"

"We're going to do our visit with Hagrid tomorrow, but other than that, packing to come home, and the feast on Thursday night, Hermione and I don't really have much planned. Would you consider coming to play? I promise to give you lots of hugs and scratches behind the ears."

"With my luck, Professor McGonagall would catch us, and keep you there for detention an extra week. I'd rather not take any chances when we're this close."

Ginny sighed. "You weren't so worried about rules and getting in trouble when you went to school here."

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that, but I'll make it up to you starting this Friday."

"That could take a while," she countered, and Harry smiled at her, his eyes lighting up.

"We'll have as much time as it takes," he promised.

Ginny was done exams, but she was tired out, so Harry encouraged her to go ahead, close her eyes, and get some rest, and he stayed awake for a while doing what had become one of his favorite things to do – watch her sleep. On Tuesday, she and Hermione went out to Hagrid's cabin around mid-morning, and found him pacing his cabin floor, wringing his hands and fussing like an expectant father.

"'ello, 'ermione, Ginny," he said, inviting them inside after opening the door for them. "I thought you might be down to visit tomorrow or Thursday." The two Witches each took turns hugging him, or as close as they could get to doing that.

"We thought that you might need the company this morning more," Hermione explained.

"Oh, I know if she doesn't do well, it'll be all my fault," he cried – literally, and pulled a tablecloth out of his pocket to wipe his eyes and blow his nose.

"Luna thinks you've been a brilliant teacher," Ginny told him soothingly. "Do you know what they've brought in for her practical exam this afternoon?"

"You wouldn't tell her, would you?" he asked, and Ginny laughed.

"Of course I would, Hagrid. She's one of my best friends."

He laughed too, but shook his head. "Then I definitely can't tell you about the Dragon or – I should not have said that."

"Said what?" Ginny asked, and Hagrid laughed again.

"Nothing, and I'm not saying anything more. What have the two of you been up to other than exams of course. You haven't been out to see me in over a month at least."

"That's pretty much all we've been doing for months," Hermione told him. "Studying for and then writing our exams, though Ginny did have to fit in winning the Quidditch Cup, and my Head Girl duties still take up a fair bit of time too."

"Well, you're here now, so come sit down, and I'll get you something to drink, and I've got some rock cakes just baked fresh yesterday too."

Ginny and Hermione exchanged knowing looks, and followed Hagrid to the table. They sat and visited with him until Luna arrived, wanting to let Hagrid know that she was sure her written exam had gone very well, and to thank him for all of his help. They took that opportunity to say goodbye to Hagrid and go up to the school with Luna. It was close to lunchtime too, though neither of them was sure if eating was going to be an option or not quite yet.

"We didn't hear that there was going to be a dragon here for your practical exam this afternoon," Ginny told Luna, who nodded and laughed.

"Hagrid's such a dear, sweet man, but he can't keep a secret, can he?" she answered. "He let that slip to me a few weeks ago, though I'm pretty sure that he didn't even realize that he did. I'm fairly sure that he's told me about everything I'll be dealing with during my exam this afternoon."

"What are you going to do for the next couple of days after you're done today?" Ginny asked, and Luna smiled at her.

"The same thing I do every year – round up my things and get ready to go home. They should start showing up by tonight or tomorrow. I did post notes already asking to have everything returned by Thursday so I can get packed up."

"I don't know how you put up with all of that," Hermione said. "We can give you a hand with finding everything if you'd like."

"Thanks, Hermione, but it's really all just good fun, and I do always get everything back before we leave."

"You sound like you're going to miss that," Ginny suggested, and Luna nodded.

"It is kind of a fun treasure hunt, even if it is going around finding my own treasures."

"Maybe she's not going on those expeditions just because Rolf's cute," Ginny told Hermione.

"She does seem to have a liking for exploring and adventure," Hermione agreed.

"Yes I do," Luna assured them. "The cute factor is just a really great bonus."

When they reached the Great Hall, Ginny hugged Luna and wished her good luck before she and Hermione moved on to their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. They did manage to eat a bit, and then it was back outside for another lazy afternoon spent chatting and taking it easy. After dinner, Hermione had some Head Girl duties to take care of, so instead of sitting in the Common Room all evening, Ginny went for a walk outside with Luna, and then went up to her dorm room after that to begin packing, even though she still had two full days left to do that. Her bedtime chat with Harry had again been one of the highlights of her day, and this time, they'd had a much longer talk, and had stayed up past midnight.

By Wednesday morning, she was getting bored with all of the inactivity, and set up a 'Battle of the Sexes' Quidditch match that quite a few students, and even a few Professors came out to watch. The Wizard's team had all four boys from the Gryffindor team, along with Stewart Ackerley, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw's team at Chaser, Keeper and Seeker. Ginny had a bit of a disadvantage there, with Demelza and Vicky from Gryffindor, and Laura Madley from Hufflepuff being the only Witches playing from House teams, but she also recruited a fired up Dawn Campbell to be her third Chaser, and two fourth year Hufflepuff girls to be their Beaters. The only concession she demanded, on the side, from the boys was that they be careful – especially with the bludgers – against the three novice players.

When Rose Zeller heard about the game, she came out to the stadium with some of her friends and offered to do the game commentary, which helped to make it actually feel a lot like a real match. Hermione joined the rest of their friends in the 'Witches' cheering section, which she thought should be fun, since the girlfriends of all of the boys were in that section, cheering for Ginny's team instead of their favorite Wizards. Some of Ginny's teammates were in the same situation, but while Seamus, Dean, and Terry weren't finding it all that funny, all of the girls thought the whole situation was very amusing.

"Here we go, boys and girls," Rose told her audience. "Madley outraces Finnigan to the quaffle, tosses it to new rookie sensation Campbell, who turns back toward the Witches' goals – and passes to Robins going the other way! Robins goes in on Boot, fakes, shoots, AND SCORES! Witches take the early ten to naught lead!"

"Do you think she's biased for this game?" Hermione asked Luna, who smiled happily.

"Aren't all of us Witches?" she asked. "I don't think the boys considered the impact of having their girlfriends booing them and cheering for their opponents before agreeing to this game." That suggestion had Hermione laughing, and she took a minute out of watching the action to make some suggestions to those girlfriends on how they might be able to have some fun and help their girl's team too.

"I don't know what Finnigan saw there, but it wasn't the quaffle," Rose said about ten minutes later. "Campbell grabs the quaffle from behind the Wizard's goals, passes out to Madley, who shoots – AND SCORES! Witches are ahead forty points to ten! Come on, girls let's hear it for your team!"

The game lasted for just over an hour and a half, and when Ginny caught the snitch to end the game, the boys were mostly just relieved to have it over, even though they'd lost, and lost big time. There was a round of hugs when the two teams had landed, and while they had lost, the guys were having fun, and there was a lot of post-game joking around going on.

"I think we were playing against the entire Witch population of the school up there," Seamus told the girls. "It was really unfair to have our girlfriends blowing kisses and making those provocative suggestions to us at untimely moments too."

"We thought their timing was about perfect from our point of view," Ginny told him. "Whose idea was that?" she asked.

"Hermione's," Lavender answered as she hugged and kissed Seamus, and then grinned at him. "If it makes you feel any better, you and I can go somewhere now and discuss those suggestions I had for you – right after you go take a shower and change," she added, wrinkling her nose.

While the couples were leaving the stadium two-by-two after the game, Ginny took a minute to hug and talk with Dawn, who had a huge smile on her face as some of her friends came over to congratulate her.

"You played really great," Ginny told her. "Maybe you should think about trying out for your House team next year."

"I'm not sure you should be telling her that," Demelza said, smiling at Dawn too. "Do we really want to help Ravenclaw find another good player? Tell her she's lousy and should never play the game again."

"She helped you with eight assists, had five more for me, and two goals of her own against a pretty decent House Keeper," Laura Madley pointed out. "I'd say she doesn't need to listen to anyone, since that speaks for itself." She grinned at Ginny. "Too bad we couldn't have done this all season instead of our House matches. This is the most fun I've ever had playing Quidditch. Thanks for inviting me to join in."

"You're welcome, Laura," Ginny assured her. "This turned out to be even more fun than I thought it would be when I suggested it. You and the other girls should think about doing something like this again next year." By then, most of the spectators had left, and after giving Dawn another hug, Ginny left the stadium with Hermione and Luna, heading back up to the castle.

"I'm going to go grab a shower before lunch, and meet you in the Great Hall," she told Hermione. "What would you like to do this afternoon, now that you've let me play all morning?" she asked both of her friends.

"You do vaguely remember the not too distant past when we would have all loved to just have time like this to do nothing, sit around, chat, and enjoy a nice day with no work to do, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but all of this freedom is just giving me too much time to sit around thinking about how much I miss Harry," she answered. "At least with all of the work we were doing, that was easier."

Luna smiled at her. "At least your boyfriends were able to come to most of the Hogsmeade weekends and to watch your Quidditch matches. Rolf was too far away most of the year to do that, and we didn't have two-way mirrors like you did."

"You guys probably won't get any research done the entire first week of your expedition," Ginny suggested. "Unless a week straight of snogging can be counted as research."

"Depends on what you're studying," Hermione told them, smiling too.

"We're not leaving right away," Luna said. "I've got to spend a little time with my father before we leave on our expedition, so I'll be home for a bit over a week. That'll give us time to catch up a bit."

"Okay, this is not helping distract me from thinking about my boyfriend at all," Ginny told them. "I'm going to go make that a cold shower, and you two can see what you can come up with for this afternoon."

Hermione didn't end up being able to do much of anything with them, her Head Girl duties getting in the way of that when a series of little problems needed to be dealt with. Ginny and Luna did a little treasure hunting for Luna's things, and after Ginny played fanged Frisbee with Jeremy and some of his first year buddies, she left a group of infatuated little Wizards in her wake as she and Luna moved on to play a few other games, do a little visiting, and finally just go stretch out under a tree by the lake on a blanket Ginny conjured for them to lay on.

"It's a good thing that the Head Girl didn't catch you playing fanged Frisbee," Luna joked, and Ginny laughed as she looked over toward where Jeremy and his friends were still tossing it around.

"She's done a lot better this year with cutting the kids some slack and letting them have fun. It's pretty much just the kids who've been trying to pull the really nasty pranks that she and Ernie clamped down on all year."

"They've done a fair job of that too," Luna agreed. "Should I send Harry an Owl Post?"

"Why?" Ginny asked, turning to look at her friend, who smiled and nodded toward the boys she'd just been watching.

"To let him know that you've been hugging cute boys, and Jeremy and half of his friends are ogling you every time they think you're not looking their way."

"If you'd like," she answered. "Jeremy is a cutie, but I'm pretty happy with the guy I've got, and he knows it."

Luna nodded. "Did you ever think it'd turn out like this for everyone?"

"I always thought we'd win, but no, I didn't think it'd be anything like this until right after the war. Mum and Dad, and the rest of the Order had fought Voldemort for years – decades when you think about how he was building his army right from the forties and fifties until what happened with Harry and his parents in eighty-one. I thought it'd be like that this time – years or decades of fighting them."

"That's what I thought too," Luna admitted, "though when they had me locked up at Malfoy Manor, I didn't think I'd be around much longer. I'm liking this quite a bit better."

Ginny laughed. "So am I, Luna. I'm going to miss seeing you every day like this after we leave school. You'll be gone on your expeditions with Rolf, and I'll be doing whatever I end up doing."

"We'll keep in touch with Posts, and I'll be home for visits even if we will be gone a month or two at a time," Luna said, and smiled at her friend. "Careful, you're getting borderline maudlin, and you're not going to be sad about leaving here, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ginny agreed, laughing again. "What was I thinking?"

Ginny was still restless with pent up energy, but managed to keep that under wraps and enjoy a little quiet time with Luna, and with Hermione when she joined them until it was time to go into the school again for dinner. Since everyone would be getting up early on Friday morning for the trip home, Wednesday night was sort of the farewell party night in all of the Houses. In Gryffindor Tower, there were snacks and drinks out, the WWN was turned up loud, and quite a few couples were dancing in one area that had been cleared for that, while the rest of the students lounged around and talked or played games at the tables.

That party had gone on late, though Hermione and Ginny had gone up to their dorm room in time for their bedtime chats with Ron and Harry. On Thursday, Hermione had been busy nearly all day with her Head Girl duties, working with Ernie and the Prefects to start getting everything lined up for the trip home on Friday. While she was busy with that, Ginny finished all of her packing in the morning, except for what she'd need for the rest of the day and in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out with Luna.

She'd been determined not to go all emotional about leaving Hogwarts, but as she and Luna went for a walk around the school and grounds, there had been a lot of memories going through her mind, both good and bad. Out of all of her memories in the Gryffindor Common Room, that first kiss with Harry was the best and brightest, and there'd been other places that had reminded her of other happy moments with him. The visit to the Quidditch Stadium had been fun, and Luna had helped to remind her of some of the really good moments, while she tried to ignore the not so great, like when McLaggen had nearly taken Harry's head off with a bludger, or the Dementor attack on him that had stopped her heart when he'd fallen.

"You're losing the fight," Luna joked, and Ginny smiled at her.

"I am not," she answered. "The memories are trying hard to best me, but they're not going to win."

"You could just change the rules of the game, go with the flow, and you could both win," she suggested. "There's nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, you know. It's not like you're going to leave here and spend the rest of your life reliving your years of Hogwarts glory."

"More like year instead of years, but point taken," Ginny agreed with a nod. "At least we've finally reached the last day. Tomorrow we'll be on the way home, and we'll be back together with our boyfriends and families."

Even though she didn't have an outlet for all of the restless energy, thinking about being home again by Friday night kept her more happy than impatient for the rest of the day. When it was getting close to time for the end of year feast, she and Luna went back to their dorm rooms, both girls wanting to freshen up, and Ginny changed into one of her best school robes before going with Hermione and the other girls who'd been doing the same down to the Great Hall.

"Welcome!" Professor McGonagall said after standing and waiting for the students to quiet. "This has been an exceptional year at Hogwarts, and you should all be proud of everything you've accomplished. Congratulations also to our graduating students. Your Professors and fellow students wish you all the best as you move on and begin new adventures and careers." She waited while the Professors and most of the students clapped before continuing.

"Before we begin our last feast of the year, while it is already well known, Gryffindor's team is this year's Quidditch Cup Champions, so congratulations to them for an excellent season, and to all of the teams and players for working and playing so hard for your Houses." There was another round of applause, and then all of the students quieted down for what they knew was going to be the awarding of the House Cup.

"This year, there were just ninety points separating the first and last place Houses," she announced, "and in most years even the fourth place points would have been worthy of winning the Cup, so you should all be proud of how your Houses did this year too. With seven hundred and thirty points, this year's House Cup winner is GRYFFINDOR!"

With that announcement, the ceiling of the Great Hall came alive with the Gryffindor blazon and colors, and Ginny, Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindors cheered loudly as the rest of the students in the other Houses clapped with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Professor McGonagall announced the start of the feast then, and the tables filled with the amazing assortment of foods and drink.

"I wonder how many of Gryffindor's wins of the House Cup while we've been here should just have been given to Hermione," Seamus joked. "Four wins in, well, technically eight years – or seven for some of us, and you probably single-handedly got a quarter or more of the points each of those years."

Ginny laughed. "She had to do something, since Ron and Harry kept losing them for Gryffindor. For those first three, she probably won more points than the total to make up for their losses."

"Seamus and I appreciated them doing that," Dean told them. "We got away with loads more than we would have if not for Ron and Harry."

"We managed to get into enough trouble anyway," Seamus said, "though I'm pretty sure that Harry did earn the detention record for our year, even going one less year."

"Maybe," Ginny answered, "though there were quite a few of us last year who were pretty much constantly in detention, so one of us may have passed him."

The feast lasted for nearly two hours, and Ginny had really enjoyed herself, as had all of the students and Professors. After it was over, Hermione had needed to get to work, as did Ernie and all of the Prefects, needing to start pushing the kids who'd been procrastinating on getting ready to leave in the morning to get packed up, and dealing with the many problems that happened every year on the last night at the school. While Hermione was busy with that, Ginny did a round of goodbyes in the Gryffindor Common Room, and then went up to her dorm room to get ready for bed, snuggle with Arnold, and have a long chat with Harry.

"This is it," she said happily when his face appeared in her mirror. "Our last mirror chat of the school year, and tomorrow, we'll be back together again."

"I can hardly wait," Harry answered. "It's been nearly impossible concentrating on work pretty much all week. Tomorrow's going to likely be even tougher. Ron tried to get Auror security for the trip home for you, and generously offered to lead the team, but Emma suggested that she could best protect the only students who seemed to be in any imminent danger by keeping Ron and I at Auror Headquarters instead."

"Does she consider the risk of being snogged senseless something that we either need or would want protection from?" Ginny asked with a laugh, and Harry grinned at her.

"Not since you and Hermione won your DADA duels. She and Christine do wish the two of you were joining our department, though."

"That idea sounds brilliant right up until the time when I see your capture success rate go to near-zero."

"You'd likely be right about that, but we would definitely have fun," Harry countered.

"Right up until the time we all got fired for doing such a lousy job," Ginny suggested. "Ron and Hermione are going to be with her parents tomorrow night. Do you know what's going on at home for us?"

"Just you, me, and your Mum and Dad," he answered. "Your Mum's trying to get as many of your brothers to come for dinner on Sunday to have a welcome home for you and Hermione."

Ginny smiled. "Then make sure that you rest up tonight, because after they go to bed, you and I are going to start catching up on six months worth of overdue snogging."

Harry pretended to yawn. "I'm suddenly very sleepy," he joked. "We should probably snuggle in our respective beds and get right to that."

They did talk for a while longer before ending their chat for the night, but as Hermione, and the rest of their roommates began returning to their dorm, Ginny ended up sitting up and talking with them until nearly midnight before snuggling with Arnold again and getting around to starting her last sleep ever at Hogwarts.

The Battle of Hogwarts, and the end of the war had been a huge turning point for the Wizarding World, but as this first school year after the war came to a close, in a way, it was the real end of the era that had begun when Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and the rest of their friends had started at Hogwarts in ninety-one. Some of their group had already started their lives beyond school, but, particularly for Harry and Ron, those lives had been partly on hold. Now that Ginny and Hermione were coming home to stay, they could move on with what they were all sure was going to be a bright, amazing future.


	17. Homecoming

Chapter Seventeen – Homecoming

Ginny, Hermione, and all of their roommates had been up by dawn and getting ready for the day and trip home. Hermione had been the first up, and had left their dorm room to attend to her Head Girl duties while Ginny and the other girls could take their time packing before going down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione had stopped by for a quick bite to eat, but then was off again.

"Ready to go?" Luna asked as she and Ginny met up after breakfast to line up with the other students for the carriage ride to Hogsmeade Station.

"Since about January," Ginny confirmed. "If Harry wasn't working all day, I'd be seriously considering apparating home from the train, taking him somewhere to snog him all day, and then apparating back to the train just before it arrives at King's Cross Station."

"But then you'd miss out on all of the traditional last trip ever back from Hogwarts fun, and one last, last, last chance for us to get all misty over leaving our childhood behind and all of that good, clean fun and gooiness." Luna pointed out; and Ginny laughed.

"If you and the other girls do that all day, I'm going to track down Jeremy and his buddies and start up a fanged Frisbee game instead," she promised her friend.

Getting all of the students and luggage to the station and loaded took more than an hour, and while Ginny had never wished to have all of the Head Girl duties that Hermione had dealt with so efficiently all year, she wouldn't have minded having the work Hermione was doing today that would have given her something to do other than just sit around talking and having far too much time to just think about being home again and back with Harry.

She and Luna ended up in a compartment with Susan, one of her fellow Hufflepuffs, Megan, and a pair of Ravenclaw Prefects who were gone most of the trip home with their duties or going around and hanging out with their friends. Ginny didn't have to go start up a fanged Frisbee game, and the four Witches kept the conversation light and fun as they moved ever-closer toward home. Not long after they all ordered treats and drinks from the trolley for the last time ever, Harry and Ron were getting ready to go out to lunch with Neville after spending the morning working at Auror Headquarters.

"When you're finished lunch, don't come back," Josh told Ron and Harry. "The pair of you are so distracted today, you're practically incapacitated. We'll see you on Monday morning."

Josh's comments had Christine and the other Wizards in their little team all laughing, and most were nodding their agreement too. Ron and Harry laughed too, and while they still had hours until the Hogwarts Express would be pulling into King's Cross Station, they weren't going to argue the order, since they could both admit that the quality of their work all morning had been pretty dismal. Harry had a hug for Christine before he, Ron, and Neville left to have lunch at the Leaky, and she told him that she'd see him later on platform nine and three-quarters, since she'd be there picking up her kids too.

"Way to get out of work," Neville joked as they headed for the lifts. "If Hannah wasn't stuck working all day, I might have tried that too."

"Now if only the train wasn't still hours away from getting back, it'd be brilliant," Ron told them. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"I'm thinking about going to the Burrow and give your Mum a hand there," Harry answered, and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Figures," he said with a shake of his head. "When in doubt for Harry, find more work to do."

"I'm surprised that you don't have some work of your own to do," Harry told him. "We've put in some long days – is your flat ready to show off to the girls later? You know they'll both want a tour, even if you will likely be spending most of the weekend at Hermione's place."

Ron nodded. "It looked okay to me when I left for work this morning."

Harry laughed. "You said that your room looked okay at the Burrow last Sunday too, mate."

"What's so funny about that?" Ron asked. "It did look okay."

"We spent over two hours cleaning it," Harry reminded him, "and that would have taken a day or two without magic."

"How is it possible that you've grown up to be like my Mom?" Ron complained. "Let's just agree that my flat probably wouldn't meet her standards and move on. If you're going to hang out at the Burrow and work, I'll probably just go spend the afternoon with George at the store until it's time to head to the station."

"He'll probably put you to work getting ready for the big back from school, summer shopping weekend rush," Neville suggested.

"Maybe," Ron conceded, "but we usually at least have fun while we're doing that. I can't say that happens very often when Mum puts me to work at the Burrow, and my limited experiences so far with cleaning my own flat haven't exactly made the best memories ever list for me either."

"I seem to remember you and Hermione having some fun working around the Burrow last summer," Harry told him, and then laughed at the grin he saw on Neville's face. "Have you been making some happy memories helping Hannah clean up after close at the Leaky, mate?"

Neville blushed, and he and Ron both laughed too. "Well, old Tom is slowing down, so I don't mind helping out now and then. Other than Hannah's day off, the only chance we get to spend any time together is after she's done work, and that's really my main motivation in helping out."

"That's great if it works for you," Ron told him, "and yes, Harry, Hermione have had some fun working around the Burrow, except for the fact that I kept getting into trouble for having too much fun, and not actually getting the work done."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "Let's change the subject – the girls won't be home for a while, and talking about snogging them isn't making the wait any easier."

Ron and Neville had agreed to do that, and other than the welcome and goodbye kisses Hannah had for her boyfriend before and after lunch, they all stayed on safe topics like Quidditch or news from around the Ministry or elsewhere in the Wizarding World. The three friends split up after that, and Mrs. Weasley was happy to have Harry's help around the Burrow for the afternoon. They'd worked until about a half hour before the Hogwarts Express was due in, and then they both took a few minutes to get cleaned up and ready to go, and apparated to King's Cross Station together, getting to platform nine and three-quarters with about ten minutes to spare.

Snogging had come up in the conversation that Ginny and the other girls were having from time to time too, mostly when they were catching up with the latest gossip that some other friends stopped in to pass on, or that Ginny and Luna had picked up when they'd gone for a walk around the train. While Harry had been able to go help her mother out around the house and keep busy, she'd had a lot of free time to spend thinking about snogging, and about the Wizard she was planning on doing a lot of catch-up snogging with over the next few days. By the time the train began slowing for its approach to the platform, she was practically bouncing with excitement.

"It's a good thing that Harry's got that reserved bed at St. Mungo's," Susan joked. "He may need it after Ginny's done with the welcome home hug and kiss."

"That'd make for an interesting Auror injury report," Luna added, "not to mention a great front page story for the Quibbler."

"Nice try," Ginny complimented them, "but I have no intention of doing anything to Harry that'd mess up spending the weekend with him, so there will be no snogging injuries for your collective entertainment today."

They weren't on the platform side of the train, so Ginny wasn't able to look for Harry as they pulled into the station, and it took a while for them to make their way off of the train through the press of excited students all rushing to get to the start of their summer vacation. There were more minutes after she finally stepped down onto the platform with her trunk, bags, and cages before Harry could get through the crowd to her, and then finally, for a few sweet moments, there was only the two of them as she threw her arms around his neck, and they shared a sweet, brilliant kiss.

"Your name's Harry Potter, you're at King's Cross Station, on platform nine and three-quarters, picking up your girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, who has just finished her last year at Hogwarts," Luna told him helpfully as she smiled at her friends. Harry laughed and hugged her next.

"Thanks, Luna. I appreciate the help with that. Is Rolf coming to meet you? I didn't see him yet, but the platform's packed today."

"He was hoping to get back in time, but he wasn't sure if he would or not," she answered as she looked around the platform, looking for signs of either Rolf or her father. Her face lit up when she spotted Rolf trying to make his way over to them. "Make that a yes he is," she added happily. While Luna and Rolf were being reunited, Harry and Ginny went back to concentrating on each other for another minute.

"Your Mum's here too," Harry told her after sharing another really great kiss. "We should probably meet up with her again soon."

"I suppose," Ginny agreed reluctantly, smiling at him. "Don't lose track of where we've left off, though. I'm going to want to get back to the hugging and kissing part of my welcome home later."

"Me too," he agreed. Pulling out his wand, with a wave, he sent her luggage, Snowflake, and Arnold to her room at the Burrow, and Ginny hugged him again.

"Let's get together and do lunch or dinner some day next week before you leave on your trip," Ginny told Luna and Rolf, hugging each of them. "I'll pop over to your place on Monday or Tuesday to set something up with you, Luna."

"We can do that," Luna agreed. "I'll be around the house most of the week getting ready, and spending time with Daddy, and Rolf's going to be around getting everything ready for the expedition, so we'll be pretty open to get together whenever you guys have time around Harry and Ron's work."

Ginny had one more hug for Luna, and then they went to find her mother, who was smiling happily when she finally had the chance to hug her daughter. Ron and Hermione joined them as Ginny was catching her breath from the bone-crushing hug, and it was Hermione's turn to get hugged by Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron's told us that you'll be spending the evening with your folks," she told Hermione. "Will you be able to come to dinner on Sunday? I've got everyone except Charlie and Julianne able to come then."

"I'm sure that we can," Hermione answered. "We'll stop in to see you and Mr. Weasley tomorrow morning before we go out with Ginny and Harry too."

"That's fine," Mrs. Weasley told her. "Even though Ron's got his own flat now, we hope you'll stop in to visit us regularly too. Will you be coming back to the Burrow right now?" she asked Ginny.

"We're going to go with Hermione to get the tour of Ron's place first, and then we'll be right home after that," Ginny said, and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Alright, then I'm going to get back home and start on dinner while you're doing that, honey." She hugged Ginny again. "It's really great to have you home. I'll see you and Harry in a bit." Hermione was hugged again too. "Have a good night, and we'll see you tomorrow, dear."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, hugging her back. While Mrs. Weasley left for the Burrow, the two young couples apparated to Diagon Alley, and Ron proudly led Harry and the girls up to his flat and showed them around.

"You win," Harry whispered into Ginny's ear. "It did take him less than a week." She laughed and hugged him. The flat wasn't a complete mess, but it was on the way to getting there fast, and from the looks of Ron's bedroom, he hadn't made his first attempt at doing laundry yet.

"I imagine it won't be long before Hermione will be giving him a hand around here to keep it from getting too ridiculous," she whispered back, and from the look on Hermione's face, Harry was sure that Ginny was right. "Maybe you should have taken pictures last Sunday when the place was still spotless."

"If you and Hermione want to see the before pictures sometime, I can always put my memories of it into a pensieve and let you go take a look," he offered, and Ginny hugged him again.

"Let's not," she decided. "That might just make Hermione cry, since it will probably never look like that again in here. This is a great place. No wonder he's so fired up about it."

"What do you think?" Ron asked Hermione and Ginny when they were all back out in the sitting room after doing the tour.

"It's brilliant," Hermione told him, "and you're in a great location here too. Have you met your downstairs neighbor yet?"

Ron shook his head. "We've been working a lot of hours, but now that I think about it, I haven't seen anyone going in and out of there on the weekends, or when we were working here in the evenings either."

"That's because it's empty right now," Harry told them, then grinned at Hermione. "I'm holding it for a friend in case she needs it once she finds out what job she's going to do at the Ministry of Magic."

"Seriously?" Ron asked excitedly; and Hermione just stared at Harry.

"Absolutely," Harry agreed. He took a set of keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Hermione. "Ginny and I should probably get going on to the Burrow, but you could take a look around and see what you think of the place."

"We're not going anywhere except to go with Hermione to take a look around down there," Ginny informed him, and Harry laughed as the two girls headed for the door together, not waiting for their boyfriends, and already touring the place by the time Ron and Harry caught up with them.

"Ron's sunroom is really great," Harry told Hermione as she checked out the room at the back of the flat, "but I thought you might like having a library-office more, and the balcony's small but is probably nice for sitting out on in the evenings during the summer."

"I wasn't even thinking about looking for my own place anytime soon," Hermione told him. "This is really great, though."

"I'm in no hurry to get the place rented," he said, waving for her to keep the keys when she went to hand them back to him. "Take your time, and if you decide you want the place, it's yours."

Ginny smiled at them. "If you do take the place, don't forget to negotiate a discount for having to put up with your upstairs neighbor, Hermione."

"Hey!" Ron said indignantly. "What makes you think I wouldn't be a great neighbor?"

"Having nearly eighteen years of experience living in the same house with you?" she suggested with a laugh, and Harry and Hermione both laughed.

"My perspective on having Ron for a neighbor would be a bit different than yours," Hermione pointed out, "but I'm not against the idea of trying to get a discount. Maybe I'll just get you to negotiate that for me if I do decide to get the place."

"Now why didn't I think of that," Ron asked.

"Probably because you'd never consider asking your sister to snog your landlord into a better deal on your flat," Hermione answered.

"And you would?" Ron countered, and Hermione laughed.

"I don't expect it'd make any difference, since I'll guess he's got a similar offer for me as you have for your place, but at least Ginny would have fun with the negotiations."

"Yes we would," Ginny agreed. "It's time for us to get home, though, so have a good night, and we'll see you both in the morning."

She hugged Hermione and her brother, and then she and Harry left for the Burrow, while Ron and Hermione went back upstairs to his flat. When they got to the Burrow, Harry started to help Mrs. Weasley out with making dinner, while Ginny first went up to her room to let Snowflake out for a fly, and put Arnold on her bed before going back down to the kitchen to help out too.

"It's just the four of us for dinner tonight," Mrs. Weasley told them. "I thought we'd all prefer having a quiet evening for your first day home instead of a big family night."

"That sounds perfect, Mum," Ginny agreed.

"What did you think of Ron's new place?" she asked, and Ginny laughed.

"I think your workload around here must have gone down dramatically in the last week. It's a great place, but he's already falling way behind on keeping it clean – like about a week behind. If it was as clean as the flat below it was that Harry's offering to Hermione, then I'm fairly impressed he was able to make that much mess in just six days."

Mrs. Weasley had stopped working, and was now looking from Ginny to Harry. "Run that by me again? You've offered the other flat to Hermione?"

"She hasn't decided for sure that she even wants to get her own place, Mum," Ginny told her, but then she was looking at Harry too. "You're sure she's going to take it,"

"I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure she will," he agreed, and smiled at the two Witches. "Don't worry – she lived with us the whole time we were on the run, so I don't think having a flat in the same building as Ron's will scare her off."

"That wasn't quite what I was worried about," Mrs. Weasley told him, and all three of them were smiling.

"She's going to be twenty in September," Ginny reminded her mother. "Do you really think it'll matter if she's got a flat in the same building or some other city or town?"

"No, I guess not," Mrs. Weasley conceded. "Keep that bat-bogey hex of yours ready to go in case your brother does something to deserve getting hit with one, though. I'm rather fond of Hermione, and I'll be very cross if he messes things up with her."

"I will," Ginny promised.

They had dinner ready to put on the table by the time Mr. Weasley got home, and it really was pretty great for all of them to have a quiet evening together where Ginny could just relax, hear all about what her parents had been busy with, and tell them all about her last couple of months at Hogwarts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed shortly after eleven o'clock, while Ginny and Harry stretched out on a sofa under a blanket, and spent several more hours talking quietly and beginning to catch up on that six-month backlog of overdue snogging before falling asleep, warm, comfortable, and brilliantly happy to be together again.

Mrs. Weasley had been smiling when she woke them in the morning before going into the kitchen to start making breakfast, and Harry and Ginny went upstairs to get cleaned up and ready for their shopping day with Ron and Hermione. Mr. Weasley was at the kitchen table, having a cup of coffee, and reading the Daily Prophet when they made it back downstairs again.

"Rita Skeeter's at it again," he informed them. "There's an excerpt in here today from her new book – Snape: Scoundrel or Saint. It's on sale starting today just in time for your summer reading pleasure."

"She's likely trying to make up for what she lost to Teddy's trust fund from the last book," Mrs. Weasley told them with a laugh. "I thought that the court was really quite generous with the amount they awarded."

"That's likely why she wrote about Severus this time," Mr. Weasley said. "No relatives around to sue her with this book. If this excerpt in the Prophet is any indication, the book will be as full of lies as the books about Harry and Albus were."

"Maybe someone should write a book about her," Ginny suggested. "I like the ring of 'Rita Skeeter – My Life as an Unregistered Animagus' quite a lot."

"How about 'Rita Skeeter – Beetle or Bard'?" Harry asked, and Ginny hugged him as they all laughed.

"If she ever does get caught, she'll probably write that book herself," Ginny told them. "What are you and Dad doing today?" she asked her mother.

"Just working around here," she answered, "or I will be while your father pretends to and tinkers with that motorcycle or his model airplane instead."

"I'll have the airplane ready to fly soon," Mr. Weasley said excitedly. "The box it came in said fourteen plus years, but I'll have it finished in about six months!"

"That's great, Dad," Ginny told him with a completely straight face, and Harry didn't need to feign a coughing fit after Mr. Weasley's comment had him choking on his coffee. "I can hardly wait to see you fly it."

Mr. Weasley talked about his model airplane while they ate breakfast, and Harry and Ginny took care of the cleanup, and were just getting that done when Ron and Hermione got to the Burrow. They sat down at the table with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and had a little visit, and then the two younger couples headed out for Diagon Alley, with plans to shop there in the morning, and at a Muggle Mall in the afternoon.

"Did all of those clothes you both got last summer disappear during the winter?" Ron asked as Hermione handed him another bag to carry.

"No, and since your idea of a wardrobe is a pair of good pants, a pair of jeans, and a couple of shirts to go with each, there's probably no way to explain a Witch's fashion needs to you," Ginny answered. "Just go with the flow on this, Ron, and enjoy the fact that your girlfriend is going to look fabulous this summer."

"I think she looks great all of the time," Ron told her, "and I've got more clothes than that."

"True," Ginny agreed, "but I was only counting the ones that are decent enough to keep – the rest of the lot wouldn't even make good polishing rags for the suits of armor at Hogwarts. When was the last time you bought yourself some new clothes?"

Ron shrugged. "I think my clothes are fine, and the last time I bought something was last summer when you and Hermione badgered me into it."

"When was the last time you did?" she asked Harry.

"That's not really fair to throw me into the middle of this," he pointed out, and Ginny smiled at him.

"And you're avoiding the question, but I did notice that you were wearing new clothes yesterday, and again today, so I'd guess fairly recently."

"Harry, you have seriously got to stop acting like a girl," Ron grumbled. "It's getting embarrassing, and if I find you playing with dollies at your desk, like you were at that Easter party we went to at Christine's I'm going to deny knowing you altogether."

"I seem to remember that you had a Viktor Krum doll," Harry reminded him, and Ron glared at him.

"That was an _action figure_, not a doll, mate, and I only picked that up for a laugh."

"Were you having a lot of laughs with it the time I found its arm torn off after the Yule Ball?"

"You tore the arm off of a Viktor Krum doll – action figure – after the Yule Ball?" Hermione asked, smiling at Ron, and he looked at her sheepishly.

"Maybe – along with its other arm, legs, and head," he admitted, and gave Harry a hard look. "I wasn't planning on ever telling you that story, though."

Hermione laughed, and then hugged and kissed him. "I think that's a really great story, so don't look all stormy like that. It's not even close to as bad as what I did after seeing you and Lavender snogging in the Common Room."

"Funny, I thought that what you did with the birds was brilliant," Ginny told her, "though that could just have been because of my perspective as a younger sister."

"I'm not sure how we got here from where this conversation started, but let's change the subject to anything else," Ron pleaded. "I've spent years trying to block out some of those memories."

"I guess we can let you off of the hook," Ginny agreed. "Since we're going to the Mall for the afternoon, I vote for lunch at the food court there instead of the Leaky. Hermione and I haven't been able to have any fast food since Christmas."

"We can do that," Harry agreed, "but before we do that, we should get something for your Mum and Dad's anniversary, unless you want to get that at the Mall too."

"When's their anniversary," Ron asked, "and how do you know that?"

"It's next Wednesday, and he knows it because we talked about it. This is their thirtieth."

"No way," Ron said, and Ginny laughed.

"Bill's going to be twenty-nine this year, Ron. I know that Arithmancy isn't your thing, but this one's pretty easy to work out."

"Okay, so we need to get a gift for them. I hope you and Hermione have some good ideas, 'cause I sure don't."

The girls had several good ideas for anniversary presents, and they also had a brilliant day of shopping. While Ron and Harry did get put to work carrying bags all day, they were both happy to be with their girlfriends, and loved being on the receiving end of the frequent hugs and kisses that Hermione and Ginny had for them. They spent most of the morning in Diagon Alley; pretty much going from one end to the other. When they were finished shopping there, they dropped their morning purchases off at home, and then moved on to the Mall, where they started their afternoon shopping adventure by having lunch at the food court.

"You two look ready for a nap," Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Ginny when they got back to the Burrow about a half hour before dinnertime. "Tough day of shopping?"

"More like one of those best days ever," Ginny answered as she hugged her mother. "Let me put these bags up in my room, and I'll help you with making dinner."

"I've pretty much got everything under control, but you and Harry can set the table for me," she answered, and Ginny nodded before going up to her room, with Harry following along, carrying most of the shopping bags. They just put them all on her bed, and then Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him rather soundly.

"Thank-you," she breathed after leaning back to look into his eyes. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you too," he had time to assure her before she was kissing him again for a few brilliant moments before they went back downstairs to help out in the kitchen.

"When you're done that, go tell your father it's time for him to come in and get cleaned up for dinner," Mrs. Weasley told Ginny. "He's been out playing with his airplane all afternoon."

"You can go ahead and do that," Harry offered. "This won't take much longer to get done." Ginny kissed him, and then went outside to the chicken coop, where she found her father happily working on the nearly completed plane.

"It's bigger than I expected," she told him, putting an arm around his waist to hug him as she looked at what he'd built.

"The wingspan's about six feet," he said proudly, though he didn't try to hug her back, since he was fairly covered up to his elbows in glue and paint. "I haven't quite put all of the finishing touches on it, but I was thinking about trying it out tomorrow when everyone's here, and Hermione can help me learn how to use that remote control thing." He looked at his watch and smiled at her. "I'm past due to get inside and cleaned up?"

"I'd say so, yes," Ginny agreed, returning his smile. "Mom probably didn't know you were painting, or she would have sent me out to get you earlier. Hopefully that comes off fairly easily, since you've managed to brush a fair bit of it onto your face too. The airplane looks wonderful, though."

"It does," he said proudly. "Let me just get it covered so that nothing gets into the wet paint, and I'll be ready to go."

Ginny went over to look at the motorcycle while she waited for him. It wasn't looking nearly as great as the airplane, and was still mostly in pieces. "Have you thought about asking Hermione to look for a manual for this thing?" she asked, and Mr. Weasley looked up from what he was doing in surprise.

"Do they have such things?" he asked, and Ginny nodded.

"I've seen books for other motorcycles and cars at one of the bookstores in the Mall that Hermione likes to go to. This one is pretty old, but she could probably still track down the manual for it, and probably any parts you might need too."

"Those are great ideas," he said enthusiastically. "I'll have to remember to ask her about that tomorrow afternoon when she and Ron are here for dinner." He looked around the coop once more, and nodded to himself. "Let's go, or I'll have your mother mad at me for holding up dinner."

Ginny was pretty sure that her mother was more amused by her temporarily colorful husband when he came into the kitchen than upset, even though it did take him a while to get all of the paint off and changed before he joined them in the kitchen again. Their dinner and the cleanup after that was followed by Harry and Ginny entertaining her parents for an hour with a Seeker battle that Ginny won, but that they were both mostly playing around for, trying out some pretty wild flying maneuvers, and having a blast while they played. They all walked into town for ice creams after that, and finished up their day with another quiet evening in the sitting room, chatting quietly and listening to music until Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to bed, and Harry and Ginny snuggled on the sofa, shared a brilliant snogging session, and then fell asleep together for a second night.

They all spent Sunday morning working around the Burrow. Harry and Mr. Weasley spent a good part of their time cleaning up the yard and garden, including de-gnoming, and setting up tables and chairs, since Mrs. Weasley had decided to have their dinner outdoors once it looked certain that the weather was going to cooperate to do that. When they were done outside, while Mrs. Weasley was busy baking and cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Harry started helping Ginny with the cleaning she'd been working on all morning, and getting everything done just before stopping to have something to eat and then getting cleaned up and changed.

"I didn't know you were coming," Ginny told Andromeda, and she laughed when Teddy reached out for her instead of Harry. "Hey sweetie. I've really missed you."

"Misted you, Ginny," Teddy told her as she gave him a big hug.

"We're just stopping in for an hour or two," Andromeda told them. "We already had dinner plans, but Teddy really wanted to see you."

"I really wanted to see you too," Ginny said, hugging Teddy again. "You're growing up so fast, and I hear that you're walking now and everything."

"Wok!" Teddy repeated, wriggling to be let down so he could demonstrate. Ginny put him on the ground, and he happily started walking around the kitchen, going over to Mrs. Weasley, who picked him up for a hug, and gave him a little treat.

"Molly!" Andromeda exclaimed. "It's bad enough that I have to worry about Harry getting him wound up on sweets, and now you're doing it too."

"One little treat won't hurt him," Mrs. Weasley answered.

"No, but by the time he gets everyone here to each give him one or two, he'll be bouncing off the walls by the time we leave," Andromeda countered. "I left his toy broom outside of the door," she told Harry. "Why don't you take him outside and try to wear him out a little, and keep his mind off of all of these treats."

Harry and Ginny both did that, and were eventually joined outside by Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, Percy, and Audrey, though the other three couples moved back and forth between the kitchen and yard. Teddy lost all interest in flying his broom when Mr. Weasley got his airplane out and Hermione helped him with his first attempts at flying it. It was hard to tell which of the two Wizards were more excited about watching the model plane fly.

"You've gotten the hang of take-offs and flying it," Hermione told Mr. Weasley. "There's nothing wrong with using a little magic to help out with the landings until you get better at them, and it's a lot easier than fixing these models after they crash land. I think you've done brilliantly for your first time flying one."

Mr. Weasley was smiling brightly; and he hugged Hermione. "Thank-you; and it's been pretty great getting to finally fly it too."

"I'm glad you've had fun," Mrs. Weasley told him. "Time to pack up your toys, though. Teddy's got to go soon. I doubt Andromeda will get him out of here as long as you keep playing with that, and I could use a little help with dinner and a few other jobs."

"Thanks for reminding me, Mum," Percy said, snapping his fingers. "Hermione, the Minister was going to send you a Post in the morning, but since I told him you'd be here today, he wanted me to ask if you could stop in tomorrow morning and tell him what job you'd like at the Ministry." He smiled at her. "I don't think he's going to take a no for an answer, so I hope you do have an idea of what you'd like to do there."

"The good news is, you can pretty much have any job you want, but the bad news is that you're drafted," Ginny joked, and Hermione laughed with everyone else.

"What time would you like me to stop in, Undersecretary Weasley?" she asked.

"Monday mornings always start out with his weekend updates, so I tentatively booked you for ten o'clock, if that'll work out for you," Percy answered.

"I'll be there," Hermione promised. "Thank-you, Percy."

"So if you can have any job, maybe you should tell him you want to be Minister of Magic," Ron joked.

"I think it'd be funnier if she were the Head of the Aurors, or the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Bill told him. "Then she'd be your boss."

"Hermione should do whatever she thinks she'd love doing the most, and the rest of you should come and start helping me," Mrs. Weasley told them.

Harry and Ginny joined in to help out, though they first helped Andromeda with getting Teddy's things packed up, and saying goodbye to them before going into the kitchen to help out there until dinner was ready. George made it to the Burrow from the store just in time to sit down and eat; and they all ended Ginny and Hermione's first weekend home from school with a pretty amazing and fun evening.

"Got a minute, Harry?" George asked. They'd just finished eating, and they'd managed to escape from the cleanup crew for the night. Harry nodded, and George waved toward the orchard, suggesting they go for a walk.

"I've got a manager to run that store in Hogsmeade," he continued. "You know Lisa Turpin?"

"Sure," he agreed. "She was in my year, in Ravenclaw. I wouldn't necessarily have picked her as a big wheezes fan, though."

"You'd be surprised at who the real die-hard wheezes lovers are," George told him. "I think she'll do pretty well, and will be a lot more reliable than any of the other Witches and Wizards I was considering for the job."

"So you're ready for the investment?" Harry asked.

"If we can get Zonko's old place for a decent price, Lisa will spend the summer getting the store cleaned up, stocked, and ready to open in September – maybe even for the last week of August, though that's a bit optimistic."

"Do you know how much you're going to need yet?" George gave him the number, and smiled when Harry didn't even pause before agreeing to get the money transferred to George's vault. They'd just finished discussing that when Ginny caught up with them.

"I gather from that last comment that you're going ahead with the second store," she told George.

"We've still got a few details to work out, but it looks like it," he agreed. "Is the cleanup all done?"

"Pretty much, but I'm looking to find a few good Quidditch players to come play with me for a while. Interested?"

George and Harry were both drafted, and Ginny soon had a pick-up Quidditch game started. They played for over an hour, and after that, they all sat down to have drinks and a long chat in the sitting room before it was time for everyone to head home for the night. Ginny and Harry ended their night with a fairly brilliant goodnight hug and kiss in the yard before he apparated home to get a good night's sleep before needing to get back to work in the morning.

"Morning, honey," Mrs. Weasley said as Ginny walked into the kitchen, looking a bit sleepy, and still in her nightclothes and housecoat. "Owl Post came for you this morning. It's on the table."

Ginny hugged her mother and father first, and then went to sit at the table in front of the envelope, picking it up and looking at it curiously. When she saw where it had come from, all signs of sleepiness evaporated, and her parents were both smiling at her as she excitedly tore the envelope open and pulled the sheet of parchment out.

Ms. Weasley,

Gwenog Jones and I would like you to come to a meeting this morning at the Harpies office in Holyhead for eleven o'clock, which we'll follow up with lunch here in town at our usual hangout. There's no need to send a reply, as Gwenog assures me you'll definitely be coming, and if you don't lunch is on her for the week.

I look forward to meeting you,

Glynnis Griffiths

Manager

Holyhead Harpies

"I wonder why they want to meet with you?" Mrs. Weasley asked innocently, and Ginny and Mr. Weasley both laughed.

"Well, at the risk of being devastated, I'm going to hope that it's to offer me a job," Ginny told her. "Maybe Angelina and Alicia have put in a good word for me, and Professor Slughorn told her at Christmas that I'd played well during the Slytherin game."

"Glynnis Griffiths was a great Seeker when she played," Mrs. Weasley said, going over to the table and putting plates down in front of her husband and daughter. "Learning from her would be brilliant."

"Too bad I won't have time to go talk with Angelina or Alicia," Ginny mused. "I'd like to hear what they think about the Harpies after their first year on the reserve team."

"Why not?" Mr. Weasley asked. "It's not like you have to take the job right away if they do offer you one."

"Dad, I was sneaking out to fly and play Quidditch when I was six, have loved the Harpies as long as I can remember, and getting paid to play the game would be a dream come true. If they offer me a job, I'll be a yes even if I have to work full-time for George on the side to make ends meet."

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself until you find out what they want to meet with you about," Mrs. Weasley suggested. "Eat your breakfast, and after we clean up, I'll help you pick out the perfect outfit for that meeting and luncheon."

Hermione had long since picked out the outfit that she was going to wear to her meeting with Minister Shacklebolt. She'd also had breakfast, gotten ready, and paced the house for most of an hour until her parents left for their clinic. Ron had stayed overnight again, but had been off to work before eight o'clock after wishing her luck and kissing her goodbye. Instead of pacing the house for the next three-quarters of an hour or so, she apparated to Diagon Alley, and went up to the flat that Harry was offering to rent her.

"This really is quite perfect for me," she said aloud to herself. "I'd be crazy not to take it, even though I won't make nearly as much as an Auror does, whatever job I get."

She wandered around the flat until nine-thirty, and then went on to the Ministry of Magic. Even with as busy as it was in the Atrium, she'd still had ten minutes to spare when she reached the Minister of Magic's office, and was invited to sit down in the small reception area while she waited for her appointment. Percy was there to escort her into the Minister's office precisely at ten o'clock; and Kingsley was smiling as he stood to greet her.

"Thank-you for coming this morning," he told her. "I wanted to make sure that the best student Hogwarts has had since Percy didn't have time to be scooped up by anyone except the Ministry of Magic."

"You're welcome, Minister Shacklebolt," Hermione said as she sat in the chair he waved her to. "I've been so busy with exams, though, I haven't really had much time to think about what I'd like to do now that I'm done school."

Kingsley flipped open a folder on his desk and looked down at the top page, though he didn't need to look at it to know what was on the page. "Well, Percy and I, and a few others have discussed it, and while I was serious about you having your pick of jobs, we think you might like working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. We're looking to start a new House Elf Liason office, and from what I've read in your Hogwarts record, and have heard from some of your Professors, I think you're the perfect Witch to run that new office." Hermione's mouth had fallen open; and she looked from Kingsley to Percy and back again. Both Wizards were smiling at her now, and were happy to give her the few moments she needed to get over the shock.

"What exactly are you hoping to accomplish with this?" she asked, and Minister Shacklebolt handed her a few sheets of parchment.

"This is just an outline," he explained. "It'll be up to the new Head of House Elf Liason to put everything together, and we'd model it on Goblin Liason, but in a nutshell, just like in all other Departments in the Ministry, we're going to start working on cleaning things up around here. There are a lot of things we've been doing wrong in our dealings with other Magical Creatures, and if you take the job, you'll be responsible for making things better for House Elves. We're by no means done in that Department yet, but we are starting to move like-minded people into all of those divisions and offices to do the same with all of the other beings and creatures too."

Hermione read through the outline, asking questions as she went along, and then Kingsley had her read over the job offer, which, while still not close to what Aurors got paid, was quite a bit higher than she expected for a starting job in the Ministry, her job likely about at the same pay scale as Percy's Junior Undersecretary position.

"Permission to hug the Minister before I sign this and it would be inappropriate for me to hug one of my bosses?" she asked, and Kingsley laughed and stood up, meeting her halfway around his desk to get that hug. "Thank-you," she added. "This is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing."

"You're welcome," he assured her. "The only thing that we have left to decide is when you'd like to start, so I can let Mr. Diggory know when he can expect his new Head of House Elf Liason to be joining his Department."

"I need to spend some time with my parents and take a break from the last few months of work at school. Would the first week of August be soon enough?"

"That will be just fine, and it gives Mr. Diggory time to get some office space ready for you," Minister Shacklebolt agreed. "I'll leave it up to you and Amos to work out your budget, and you can hire your own staff, since we're basically starting over, though you will be responsible for the Office of House Elf Relocation as part of House Elf Liason."

"There's nobody in that office right now?" Hermione asked, and Kingsley shook his head.

"We're still trying to rebuild our staff level, and up until now, House Elf issues have been fairly low on the list of priorities compared to other critical shortages. That's going to continue, and you'll likely be fighting for every employee you can get for several more years."

"That doesn't sound great, but the rest of the job is going to be brilliant," Hermione said, and smiled when she saw Percy checking his watch. "Are we running long?"

"Two minutes ahead," he answered, and Kingsley laughed.

"Whatever shall we do with all of the extra time?" he joked, then stood up, and held his hand out to Hermione. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, Ms. Granger. I'm looking forward to seeing big things from your new Department."

"Thank-you, Minister Shacklebolt. I'll do my very best," she promised, and then shook Percy's hand before he escorted her out of the office, and then invited a trio of Wizards into the office next.

Ginny was in Holyhead by then, and had taken a walk around the area near the Holyhead Harpies office. She walked into the office at ten to eleven, and was greeted by a pretty, smiling young Witch who invited her to take a seat and advised her that Glynnis and Gwenog would be with her shortly. The reception area was clean and neat, and while the office wasn't opulent by any means, it was well-appointed and as nice as or a bit better than any office she'd been in at the Ministry of Magic. She wasn't sitting down very long before Gwenog Jones came into the room from down the main hallway beyond the front counter and office.

"Thanks for saving me a week's worth of buying lunches," she said in greeting as she offered Ginny her hand. "Come on back, and we'll get right to why we wanted to meet with you."

They exchanged pleasantries while Ginny was following her to the last office along the hallway, and Gwenog didn't waste any time getting the introductions out of the way with Glynnis Griffiths. All three Witches were smiling, and Ginny's heart was racing with the excitement as she and Gwenog sat in the two chairs across the desk from the Manager of the Harpies.

"I've heard a lot of really great things about you Ginny," Glynnis began. "Enough that we sent a scout to watch all of your games this past season at Hogwarts." She laughed at the look of surprise on Ginny's face. "We weren't the only team with scouts at the game, which is why we're meeting with you this morning. We want you to come play for the Harpies as our new team Seeker."

"Your _team Seeker?_" Ginny asked, and watched as Glynnis and Gwenog both nodded.

"We've both watched our scout's memories of your games, Ginny, and you're easily good enough to play in the League right now, and be one of the very best," Glynnis told her. "Training camp opens three weeks from today, and we'll need to have you doing some work before that – photo shoots and different jobs related to marketing and endorsements between now and then, but if you take the job, you will be our starting Seeker this year." She handed Ginny a stack of parchment, and then stood up. "Read through that contract, the team rules, and the rest of the boring legal paperwork. I've got a few things to take care of while you're doing that, and Gwenog can answer any questions you have as you go along." Ginny had nodded her agreement as she took the paperwork, and Glynnis left her office.

"Are you on overload yet?" Gwenog asked after the door closed, and Ginny smiled, her eyes were flashing excitedly, and Gwenog laughed. "Guess not. Good for you. Better get started on going through everything there. It's going to take a bit, and you really do want to read every word, since the Harpies are a very demanding team to work for."

Ginny did that, and she was fairly sure that Gwenog was happy that she didn't ask any questions about the money side of the job offer, and instead asked questions about the training regimen, media, marketing, and endorsement requirements, and the details that even included a strict dress code, diet requirements, and personal conduct policies.

"Any questions for me?" Glynnis asked when she joined them again over forty minutes later, and Ginny nodded her head, handing Glynnis the signed contract. She'd already tucked the papers into her bag that Gwenog told her she was to keep and make sure she knew inside and out by the open on training camp.

"Just one. When do I start?" Ginny answered.

"She's quite possibly even more fiery than you were your rookie year," she told Gwenog, who laughed.

"I thought that she reminded me of someone I know," she joked.

"We've already got a photo shoot booked for tomorrow, so I'd like you to come to that – it'll be an all-day job, but now we'll be able to do the full team shots too," Glynnis told her. "I'll introduce you to Dana on the way out, and by tomorrow, she should be able to have a few other appointments for you, though we're not going to announce you, or the other new members of our team until training camp opens, so keep this in the family for now, if you can."

"I can and will," Ginny promised. "Thank you. This is definitely a dream come true kind of day for me."

"You're welcome, Ginny," Glynnis assured her. "I've got a feeling that the rest of the teams in the League aren't going to know what hit them this year."

Gwenog laughed again. "If I have anything to say about it, they'll know exactly what hit them."

"Let's go introduce you to Dana, and go have that lunch. I guess since I lost the bet with Gwenog, lunch is on me today."

The best part of that whole experience for Ginny was getting to spend an hour over lunch talking Quidditch with one of her heroes, and the Manager of one of the top Quidditch teams in the world – her manager and team, she had to remind herself several times. When she got home, Hermione was there waiting for her with some pretty great news of her own, and after Ginny hugged her mother and friend, they all sat at the kitchen table to talk about the news that both girls had. Hermione had already told Mrs. Weasley about her new job, so she gave Ginny the condensed version, and then it was Ginny's turn.

"We've got to wait three whole weeks before I can brag about my baby being the new Seeker for the Harpies?" she asked Ginny.

"We do," Ginny agreed. "I'm sure it's more to do with the marketing end of the business. I don't know what the other teams are like, but from what I saw in my contract, it's the endorsements and royalties from things like posters and toys that will be the biggest part of my income, so I'm going to pretty much just do whatever they tell me to do."

"That's probably a good idea," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "You're going to be brilliant, Ginny. I just know you will be."

Ginny hugged her again. "Thanks Mum. I really hope so."

"I wonder if Angelina and Alicia know yet?" Hermione asked. "Gryffindor's Witches are doing pretty well to have three players working for the Harpies."

"There was so much happening, I didn't even think to ask," Ginny admitted. "I'll ask Gwenog tomorrow. It'd be great if I could get them to help me out a bit before training camp starts."

Hermione laughed. "You've just cut your summer holidays down to three weeks, and will have to still work some of that, and you want to add some early training time in too? I thought that cutting my summer in half was bad enough, but you're not going to have any time to get rested up."

"With Harry working so much, I'd have been bored in a week anyway, so this works out great for me," Ginny told her. "I'd say my summer is going to be brilliant."

Hermione stayed and talked with Ginny and her mother for a while longer, but then headed for home. Ginny helped her mother clean up from the little snack and drink they'd had while talking, and then smiled at her.

"I can't believe I'm asking this, but what can I do to help around here? Harry's not coming over until after dinner; and I've got to do something with all of this extra energy."

The only problem with keeping busy for the rest of the afternoon was the fact that they'd cleaned the house from top to bottom just a day earlier. They did go out and spend an hour or so working in the garden, and Ginny went out and brought back a couple of ice creams for an afternoon treat after that, but other than helping out with the light dinner for three they were having, she had too much time and energy on her hands, and couldn't wait to tell Harry about her new job.

"Miss me?" Harry asked as Ginny nearly floored him with a hug and kiss as he walked into the kitchen. "Something really great happened to you today, didn't it?" he added when he saw that amazing, fiery look on her face.

"You're looking at the new Seeker for the Holyhead Harpies," she told him, and laughed when he picked her up and swung her around before sharing another brilliant kiss with her.

"Congratulations, Ginny!" he said excitedly. "This is brilliant – and so are you!"

"I have to do some work between now and then, but training camp opens three weeks from today," she told Harry as she led him to the kitchen table so they could sit down with her parents. "They've got me starting tomorrow with a photo shoot."

Harry grinned at her. "Put me down for an advance order of your posters. Teddy and I will want to get all of this year's Harpies action figures too, I expect."

"I wonder if Ron will stick with the Cannons now, or start cheering for the Harpies instead?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"He'll be a Cannons fan forever," Ginny predicted. "I'm not sure if it's dedication or just mulish stubbornness that keeps him going back for more."

"Are the two of you going to go out and do anything to celebrate?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and Harry laughed when he saw the look on Ginny's face.

"Yes, I think we're going out to the orchard for a little Seeker duel," he answered. "I thought you might want to do that anyway, and my broom's outside."

Ginny was off and running for the stairs to go get her broom, and they were soon out above the orchard, chasing the snitch and having a brilliant time. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had decided to just sit outside in the yard and enjoy the evening, so while they could catch glimpses of the action out in the orchard, they weren't really watching the battle, and let Ginny and Harry have their fun without a parental audience. After catching the snitch for the third time in a row, Ginny flew close to Harry, leaned in, and kissed him.

"I thought you'd be fired up too, and ready to give me a little competition tonight," she told him, and Harry smiled at her.

"Oh, I am fired up, but a little distracted too," he answered.

"What could possibly have you distracted?" Ginny asked, leaning close and kissing him again.

Harry sighed dramatically. "Well, I had some plans for this summer, and now that you'll be playing professional Quidditch, most of those plans just won't work anymore."

"What did you have planned that we can't still do?" she asked and Harry sighed again.

"Well, for instance," he answered, lifting a hand from his broom and making a small, velvet box appear in it, "I was going to ask you to marry me for your birthday, but now that you're going to be a famous Quidditch star that every single Wizard in the world is going to be in love with, I can't possibly wait until then to ask you." He smiled as he flipped open the ring box and his heart was pounding as he watched her eyes flash brilliantly and her face light up as she looked from him to the engagement ring and back to him again.

"I love you, Ginny Weasley, and want to spend the rest of my life with you, making you as happy as you always make me. Will you marry me?"

Now, to be fair, he probably should have considered where they were before asking that particular question to his fiery, impulsive girlfriend, but he hadn't, and when she rather forcefully threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, her momentum carried them both over and off of their brooms. Ginny screamed and laughed as they fell, and Harry quickly saved them from injury with a wandless, non-verbal cushioning charm, even as she was back to kissing him while they floated the rest of the way to the ground. The scream had brought Mr. and Mrs. Weasley running, and they were both laughing when they got there and found Ginny kissing Harry rather soundly where they'd landed.

"I don't believe I've seen that particular Quidditch play before," Mr. Weasley joked. "They appear to be more than okay, though, Molly."

"Harry just asked me to marry him," Ginny told them, kissing Harry one more time before getting up and holding her hands out to help him to stand too.

"Was knocking him off of his broom a yes or no?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and Ginny laughed again.

"It was definitely a yes," she assured her mother and Harry, who was still holding the ring and smiling happily.

"Then I guess we should put this on your finger," he suggested, and Ginny hugged and kissed him again before she moved her emerald ring over to her other hand, and let Harry slip the stunning diamond engagement ring on her finger.

"I'd say you get points for originality," Mr. Weasley told Harry. "Can't say I've heard of any proposals done in midair during a Seeker duel before now." He looked up into the sky above the trees and shook his head. "Not that I'm wondering why. That's taking falling for a girl to a whole new level."

"Let's go inside and have a drink to celebrate," Mrs. Weasley told them after hugging Ginny and Harry, and taking a look at Ginny's new ring. "I don't have to wait to brag about this, do I?" she asked Ginny.

"Definitely not," Ginny agreed. "Tell anyone you want about this. I will be."

They opened up a bottle of wine, and after getting drinks poured, went into the sitting room to get comfortable. Mrs. Weasley wanted Ginny to give her every detail of the proposal, and though it might not have been a long, drawn-out event, she'd had tears in her eyes, and had thought Harry had done just fine.

"We'll have to sit down and figure out a date for the wedding," Mrs. Weasley said after they'd finished the proposal recap. "May weddings are nice, but you could be into the playoffs, Ginny, and if you've got friends who are still in school next year, we should probably wait until summer, but before training camp opens for next season."

"_Next summer?"_ Ginny asked, and Mrs. Weasley nodded happily.

"Of course, dear," she agreed. "These things take time and a lot of work to put together. You know it took more than a year to get everything ready for Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"That's not going to work for me at all, Mum," Ginny told her in a tone that had her mother's complete attention.

"Why not?" she asked suspiciously; and Ginny smiled at her.

"Because I'm my mother's daughter," she answered. "If we can put a little, private family wedding together soon – like in the next few weeks before training camp starts and I have to get focused on my new job, that's fine with me, but if that's out of the question, then you and Dad are welcome to come be our witnesses when Harry and I elope."

"Your father's only going to get one chance to walk a daughter down the aisle," Mrs. Weasley told her, and there were tears in her eyes again. "I've dreamed about my baby's wedding since before you were born."

"I know, Mum," Ginny said gently. "So let's get a nice dress, invite my brothers and a few friends over, and have a wedding right here at the Burrow. Harry and I don't want or need any of the rest of the pomp and pageantry; and we definitely don't want some big state wedding like everyone would be pushing us to have if we waited until next year."

"You haven't said anything, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said. "What do you think?" Harry opened his mouth, and closed it again, looking helplessly back and forth between Ginny and her mother.

"Molly, that's not exactly fair putting him in the middle of this between his fiancée and future mother-in-law," Mr. Weasley pointed out. "This is obviously what Ginny wants, and while I might wish to keep our baby around with us for another ten or fifty years; we can't. If we're just going to have a small wedding, there really is no reason why we couldn't put everything together in two or three weeks."

"What if everyone can't come on such short notice? Charlie might not be able to get home from Romania, and it's the summer, so some of our friends are bound to be doing vacations or other things," Mrs. Weasley tried. "You won't have time to go on a honeymoon either."

"We'll be happy to share the day with whoever can come, Mum," Ginny told her, "and miss the ones who can't make it." She squeezed Harry's hand and smiled at him. "You didn't have a honeymoon, and I'm sure that we can manage without one too; or just go on one in a year or two when we can make time for that."

"This is just happening a bit too fast for me," Mrs. Weasley said, and Ginny got up and went over to her, kneeling next to her Mum's chair and hugging her.

"Is that what Grandma said when she found out you and Dad had eloped?" she asked and her parents both laughed.

"Our families had a lot to say, but that wasn't one of them," Mr. Weasley said with a laugh.

"You win," Mrs. Weasley told Ginny, and laughed when she was hugged again. "If you insist on it being before training camp, then let's go with the Saturday before it starts – July tenth - so I at least have the most of three weeks to put this together, and give your brothers and our friends a chance of being able to come to the wedding."

"Thanks Mum," Ginny said happily, hugging her one more time before going back to sit down next to Harry again.

"You've got that photo shoot tomorrow, so we shouldn't stay up late tonight," Mrs. Weasley said, "but we'll need to get started on this tomorrow after you get home, and I'm going to need all of the help I can get."

"Harry and I will do whatever you need," Ginny promised. "I'm sure Ron and Hermione will help too." She suddenly thought of something and turned to smile at Harry.

"Not that this hasn't been brilliant enough, but before you proposed, you said that my new job was going to mess up your plans for this summer. What other plans did you have?"

Harry laughed and hugged her. "We'll definitely have to skip the vacation I was going to suggest in August, and there were some other day or weekend trips I was thinking about that we might not be able to do now. Then there were these," he said, handing her an envelope that hadn't been in his hand a moment ago. "We can keep two of them, since Teddy and I are going to want to come see you play as much as we can, but why don't you just give the rest of them to your Mum and Dad? It seems you won't have any use for them." Ginny opened the envelope, then hugged and kissed Harry before taking out four of the six season tickets for the Harpies and getting up again so she could take them over to her mother.

"Season's tickets?" Mrs. Weasley asked incredulously. "This is too much, honey."

"I think it works out even better this way," Harry told her. "Ginny would have taken you to a lot of the games anyway, and now she'll get to have both of you there for the games you can get to, and have at least a couple of other friendly faces along too."

"Thank-you," Mrs. Weasley told them, hugging Ginny before she went to sit down with Harry again.

They talked weddings for nearly an hour, and then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed, leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the sitting room for a while before Harry would need to get home, and Ginny needed to go get some sleep.

"Are you okay with this?" she asked, and Harry smiled. "I didn't really give you, Mum, or Dad much of a choice, but I am not waiting more than another year to marry you."

"You said yes, so after that, I was pretty much good with whatever you want for our wedding, and I don't have any problem with getting married this year instead of next. I don't want to wait that long either, and dragging it out would have just distracted you from concentrating on your new career."

"We are both going to need to get some sleep soon," Ginny told him, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him. "Tomorrow's soon enough to talk weddings, and right now, I'd really like to spend what time we do have left on a little goodnight snogging. Thanks for making this my best day ever so far, Harry."

She didn't give him the chance to answer – at least not for a while - though he would thank her later for making the day a best ever for him too. Harry hadn't told her yet, but had one of those flashes of insights when they'd been flying that had him taking that moment to ask her to marry him, though the insight hadn't included any advanced warning that he'd be getting knocked off of his broom with her answer. It didn't warn him that she was going to insist on getting married much sooner than he could have ever hoped would happen, and that had been thrilling and brilliant too. Ginny had only been home for three days, and if what had happened so far was any indication, she was definitely going to make life exciting and brilliantly fun for her soon to be husband.


	18. Harry and Ginny Get Married

Chapter Eighteen – Harry and Ginny Get Married

"Are you grinning like that this morning because of your girlfriend's big news yesterday?" Ron asked quietly as he flopped into a chair; and Harry laughed.

"I'm grinning like this because of my fiancée's big news," he answered and waited until his comment clicked in with Ron. "Your Mum wants you and Hermione to come for dinner if you can so the girls can talk weddings, and while I am more than happy to let them have at that, I would like you to be my best man, if you're not busy two weeks from this Saturday."

"You're getting married in less than three _weeks?"_ Ron exclaimed loudly enough that Harry was sure everyone in Auror Headquarters heard him, and certainly saw where the shout was coming from, since Ron had jumped to his feet. Harry laughed as first Neville, and then Christine, Josh, and Nathan came over to his cubicle to see what was going on.

"While Ron's deciding whether to agree to be my best man or pound me, I'd like you to stand up with me too, Neville," Harry told his friend.

"I'd be honored, Harry," Neville assured him. "Thank you; and congratulations." Harry had stood up too, since Christine had come around his desk to hug and congratulate him, and Neville hugged him too.

"So how come you're having the wedding so soon?" Christine asked him.

"This is Ginny's compromise with her Mum and Dad. She threatened to elope if they tried to have the wedding next summer." He laughed again at the look that was still on Ron's face. "I can't tell whether that's a yes to being my best man any more than I was sure Ginny had said yes when she knocked me off of my broom last night when I asked her to marry me."

Christine laughed too. "While Ron's figuring that out, you've got to tell us the story behind that comment, Harry." He did that, and by the time he'd finished entertaining and amusing his friends, Ron seemed to have come around, and was smiling and laughing with everyone else.

"That would be a yes to being your best man, mate," he told Harry. "I'll reserve the right to pound you later if you don't take care of my sister and make her happy."

"If I mess that up, I'll stand there and let you pound me," Harry promised. "Thanks mate."

"That's so touching, in a seriously weird way," Christine joked. "Now let's all get back to work. We've got a lot to do today."

Ginny had breakfast with her Mum and Dad, and after taking a long time to get ready, took her equipment bag, and headed for Holyhead. Gwenog was in the front office with Dana when she got there and Ginny wasn't surprised when she spotted the new ring at first glance.

"Congratulations, Ginny. I take it that our job offer is now just the second best thing that happened to you yesterday."

"It is, but only by a little bit," she agreed. Pulling an envelope out of her purse, she handed it to Gwenog. "I'm supposed to notify the team in writing of any changes in my personal status. Harry and I are getting married on the tenth, so I thought you should know that I'll have a different last name by the time training camp starts."

"There goes our marketing hopes for the hottest young, single Witch in the League," Gwenog joked, and Dana and Ginny both laughed.

"I was already off the market, and we all know that my new last name will probably be even more marketable," she answered.

"That's true," Gwenog conceded. "The other girls should be here soon, so take a seat. I'll give this to Glynnis, and make the introductions when we're all here. The photo shoot is at Exmoor Stadium, which is why we wanted you to bring your broom, since we'll be airborne for some of the shots."

While Ginny sat down and talked with Dana while she waited, Gwenog went back to Glynnis' office and was laughing a moment later as her manager and friend read Ginny's letter. Glynnis added the sheet of parchment to Ginny's file, shaking her head as she looked up at Gwenog.

"I should have never doubled down on that lunch bet with you," she said, and Gwenog laughed again. "How'd you manage to guess that right?"

"You'll know the answer to that after you've met Harry in person for the first time, and see the way he looks at her. Ginny's a bright girl; and she's not afraid to go out and get what she wants. I don't even need to ask to know she's the one pushing to have the wedding before we start training camp."

"Hopefully having a newlywed on our team won't be a problem," Glynnis said. "It's been an issue in the past."

Gwenog smiled, and her eyes were flashing. "Want to double the bet again? I'll put my lunch money on Ginny to be even better than we'd hoped with Harry there to support her."

Glynnis stood up and came around her desk, putting a hand on Gwenog's shoulder as they both went to leave her office. "No, I've learned my lesson losing two bets. The Harpies are all-in betting for Ginny now, not against her."

"We're all going to be really happy that we did," Gwenog predicted.

Ginny hadn't needed to wait for the introductions as the other members of the Harpies team arrived. This was her favorite team, and she knew all of the players – though there were two surprises.

"You're both on the team this year?" Ginny exclaimed as she hugged Angelina and Alicia. "That's brilliant!"

"We think so too," Angelina told her, "and we're really excited about having you on the team. We heard you were amazing this past season at Hogwarts."

"How's Harry doing?" Alicia asked. "We haven't seen him since that Cannons game he, Ron, and your parents were at last fall."

"Pretty great as of last night," Ginny answered; her smile bright and eyes flashing. "Did you hear he's getting married in a few weeks? He and his fiancée seem very happy, and I think they're going to have a really brilliant life together." Angelina and Alicia both immediately looked down at her hand, and then had more hugs for their former and new teammate.

"Congratulations, Ginny," Angelina said enthusiastically. "You're getting married right before training camp?"

"Mum wanted to have the wedding next summer, but I told her I wasn't waiting that long. We're just going to have a small wedding with family and a few friends."

"Harry must be happy about that plan," Alicia suggested. "That's probably for the best too. By next summer, you'll be nearly as famous as he is, and if you'd gotten married then, the whole thing would have been a circus."

The three Witches left that discussion behind as the rest of their team joined them, and Ginny was introduced to Valmai Morgan, who was the only Chaser returning from last year's team, Trish (Patricia) Murray, their talented Keeper, and Lysa (Lysandra) Horton, Gwenog's Beater partner. They were all ready to go when Glynnis and Gwenog joined them, and they left right away for Exmoor Stadium.

"I love you, Robin," Ginny told the Witch who'd been doing her hair and makeup. "Would you consider a side job to do this again the morning of my wedding on the tenth? You're amazing!"

"If you can get in to my shop, I can probably manage to fit you in," she agreed. "Your hair is great to work with, and I'm really glad you let me play with the style. I think at least a couple of your pictures today are going to make it into my best styles portfolio." She looked at her watch and then smiled at Ginny. "Time's up. You need to get out in the stadium, so get your team robe on; and head on out there."

She'd been getting that thrilled, excited feeling a lot over the past couple of days, and it was back in full force when she put on the dark green robes with the golden talon on the chest for the first time, somehow making the dream seem just a little more real. Grabbing her broom, she hurried out into the stadium, the last member of the team to be ready, since she'd been the last in line to get her hair and makeup done.

"Whoa!" Gwenog exclaimed when she got her first look at Ginny. "Robin deserves a bonus for this makeover," she told Glynnis. "You look awesome, Ginny. Think about keeping that style – it definitely works for you."

"I'm going to do that," Ginny assured her. "Thank you. What's next?"

Gwenog told her what they'd be doing for the rest of the day while she watched Angelina, Alicia, and Valmai being photographed – the trio of Harpies Chasers, and she found out that some of the individual photos had been finished already, but they still had a lot of work left to do. She'd never thought of getting pictures taken as being work before, but by the time they wrapped up the photo shoot, and their photographer, Mila, had been given a number of hugs, she was pretty much tired out from the whole experience and ready to go home.

"If you think that was bad, wait until our first practice," Angelina told her. "I could barely walk each night after practice the first two weeks with the team."

"Maybe we can get together a few times between now and then and you and Alicia can help me get ready for that," Ginny suggested. "Even with a wedding to get ready for now, I'm still going to get Harry to train with me every day, if we can manage to do that."

"Let's see what Dana has set up for us, but we can probably do that," Angelina agreed. "Alicia and I are doing some workouts too."

What Dana had for Ginny when they all got back to the office was a Gringott's letter with the first of what would be five signing bonus payments spread out over the five-year term of her contract, which Gwenog had informed her was standard Harpies policy since they'd lost Wilda Griffiths to Puddlemere United. Her schedule for the next three weeks was pretty light, with one meeting that she, Angelina, and Alicia were all to attend where they'd be modeled for their Harpies action figures and dolls, and three other meetings over the following two weeks to meet with the Harpies' major sponsors. She, Angelina, and Alicia added in one training session a week, and then Ginny hurried home, where her Mum had dinner ready, and her Dad, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were all in the kitchen, ready to sit down to eat and begin talking weddings.

"You look gorgeous," Harry whispered as he hugged her in greeting. "When those posters come out, I'll buy the lot."

"I love you," she whispered back before kissing him. Hermione had a big congratulatory hug for her, and wanted to see the new ring, and Ginny had hugs and kisses for her parents and brother before she sat down at the table, and they all started filling their plates. They'd all wanted to hear about her day first, and then they moved on to talking about the wedding, and everything that needed to be done in the next three weeks.

"You're way ahead of me, asking Ron and Neville to be in the wedding party already," Ginny told Harry when she found out he'd taken care of that. She smiled at Hermione. "Luna's been my best friend for years, and I'm going to ask her to be my Maid of Honor, but I hope you'll be my bridesmaid and help me out with all of this, since she'll be away on her expedition with Rolf. I'd better stop in to see her about this soon, and we were supposed to set up a lunch or dinner with them before they go too."

"We could do that in the morning," Hermione suggested, "and I'd love to be your bridesmaid and help you out with everything. Maybe we can even get dresses out of the way before Luna leaves."

"Are you just going with two each for the wedding party?" Mrs. Weasley asked and Ginny nodded after getting a shrug from Harry.

"We are shooting for small and intimate," she answered. "We'll each have our two best friends, so that works."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, and handed her a sheet of parchment. "I jotted down a list of names for everyone I've thought of so far that we really should invite. It's not maybe as small as you'd like, but there are quite a few people – like the members of the Order, some of your Professors, and other friends who should at least get the invitations, even if they can't make it on short notice. Hermione and Ron helped with adding the members of your old Dumbledore's Army and Quidditch teammates. Is there anyone else you want to invite?" Ginny held the parchment so she and Harry could both look it over. They didn't count the names up, but it looked well on the way toward one hundred, counting the 'and guests' – not exactly small and intimate.

"I'd like to invite Josh, Nathan, Christine, Reggie, Dan, and maybe Emma," Harry told her. "Some on the list will be doubles, like Neville and Hannah, and the other couples on the list, but I think you've got all of our friends covered."

"This looks fine to me," Ginny agreed. "I'd like to ask the rest of my new teammates to come, but other than maybe being able to get away with having Gwenog come, I doubt we could do that without word about me being on the team getting out before they want it to at training camp."

"We'll send an invitation to Gwenog, and she can decide for herself about that," Mrs. Weasley suggested, taking the list back from Ginny again, and quickly writing down the few additions. "Since you've got tomorrow off, we could get the invitations ready and sent out by tomorrow night."

"Let's go see Luna first thing after breakfast," Hermione said, "and then we can come back here and start on doing that with your Mum."

That really just got the discussion going, and they continued making plans while they ate, and the girls worked at the table while Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Harry took care of the cleanup. From there, they moved into the sitting room to continue the planning meeting where they could be more comfortable while they worked, and Mrs. Weasley finally, by a little after nine o'clock, decided they'd gotten enough done for one night.

"No wonder you and Dad eloped," Ginny told her mother. "If all of this goes into a small wedding, I can't imagine doing this for over a year to get a big wedding pulled together."

"It wasn't like this the whole time with Bill and Fleur's wedding," Mrs. Weasley told her. "We've just got a lot to fit into a short time."

"Starting with a fair bit of shopping for the rest of this week," Hermione added. "That's going to be fun."

"Yes it will be," Ginny agreed happily.

Mrs. Weasley stood up, carrying the quill, ink, and sheets of parchment she'd been working with. "Well, I'm off to bed," she told them. "Don't stay up too late, Ginny. You and Hermione will be busy tomorrow, and the boys both have to work."

"I won't," Ginny promised. "It's been a long day, and I'm about ready for some sleep too." Mr. Weasley went up to bed too, and Ron and Hermione only stayed to talk for another ten or fifteen minutes before they left Harry and Ginny on their own in the sitting room.

"Hermione didn't exactly say she was going home there," Ginny mused, grinning at Harry.

"I noticed that too," he agreed. "Could it be that the phrase 'on our way back to London' might mean that they're both going back to Ron's flat?"

Ginny laughed. "Could be, but what I'll be interested in knowing is whether she's coming from there when she comes over in the morning."

"I wouldn't place any large wagers against that," Harry suggested.

"Why haven't you tried to get me back to your place for an overnight yet?"

Harry leaned close and kissed her. "I have, or at least we have – every night starting two weeks from Saturday. Having you stay over before that wouldn't feel right to me for us any more than I could imagine you and I doing that feeding thing that Fleur does with Bill."

"I haven't seen her do that much lately," Ginny told him. "I suppose you're right – even if your morals and honor are getting in the way of what could be a lot of fun."

"Maybe," he conceded, "but I'm not going to do anything ever again that I'll regret when it comes to me and you."

"Which is one more really good reason I didn't want to wait a year for our wedding," she said pointedly, "though I don't think that reason would have worked out so well with Mum and Dad."

"Probably not," Harry agreed before leaning down to kiss her again – a long, deep kiss that led to a lot less talk and a brilliant goodnight snogging session.

Hermione met Ginny at the Burrow in the morning; and they apparated over to Luna's house. They didn't talk about it, but Ginny had no doubt from the look on her friend's face that she had definitely come from Ron's place, and felt a just a little pang of envy – would it really be all that bad for Harry to be just a little less noble and proper? Luna welcomed them with hugs and she'd seen the engagement ring right away and congratulated Ginny. After getting drinks, they all sat down around the kitchen table.

"We're getting married two weeks from Saturday," Ginny told her. "I'd like you to be my Maid of Honor. I know you'll be on your expedition, but could you and Rolf come back for the day?"

Luna laughed and hugged her again. "I'd love to be your Maid of Honor, and I'll come back for sure, even if we can't both get away," she promised. "You're not wasting any time with this, are you?"

"Sometimes a Witch has to take matters into her own hands, Luna. Harry didn't have a problem with him and Ron spending most of nine months living alone with Hermione, but seems to think doing the same with me without being married would be improper."

"That does seem terribly inconsistent of him," Luna agreed. "Rolf's a bit like that, but I'll have his mind changed about all of that nonsense before the weekend is out."

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed in mock amazement. "How could you?"

"If you don't know the answer to that, Hermione and I will get you a book so you can read up about it before your wedding night," Luna told her, and Ginny and Hermione both laughed, though Hermione was blushing a fair bit too.

"I've never seen this side of you before," Hermione told Luna. "It's – unexpected."

"Rolf will likely think so too," Ginny suggested. "Then he'll think she's brilliant, if he wasn't sure about that already."

They talked about all of the news Luna had missed since Friday, except for Ginny's new job – Luna's father did run a newspaper after all. When Ginny and Hermione needed to get going back to the Burrow, they'd set up going shopping for dresses on Friday, and having lunch with the boys on Friday too. Once back at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley had everything on the kitchen table and ready to go, so Ginny and Hermione sat down with her and started in on the wedding invitations; personalizing each one, and getting them into envelopes and ready to take to the Owl Post office for overnight delivery.

"We'll drop these off, and then stop in to meet with the florist, and then the caterer," Mrs. Weasley told them as Ginny and Hermione cleaned up and she started putting lunch together for them. "Hopefully we won't have any problems with getting either set up. I'm a bit worried about the caterer already being booked up."

"You do know that even if they are, Mum, they might just be interested in taking on the job anyway, right?" Ginny asked. "Having bragging rights for catering Harry Potter's wedding is probably worth a lot to a business."

"If we could tell them that you're the new Seeker for the Harpies, that'd be just as big for them," Hermione told her, "though I think you're right, and that news will just be an after-the-fact bonus for them."

Mrs. Weasley was happy to find out that the girls were absolutely right. Both the florist and caterer had been delighted to be taking on the small, prestigious wedding, though the exceptional service did take a little getting used to, and quite different from her experience while getting Bill and Fleur's wedding together. They had to book a second appointment for the flowers, but they were able to set everything up with the caterer right then, and had one big item on their to do list checked off much sooner than they'd expected.

While Ginny and Hermione had been busy working on the wedding, their boyfriends had spent the morning doing their usual Wednesday training, followed by lunch at the Three Broomsticks with Neville. Hannah had been thrilled to find out that Harry and Ginny were getting married, and had hugged and kissed Neville after he asked her to be his date for the wedding. In the afternoon, they were back to their ongoing investigation within the Ministry, which was coming along well, though they weren't making any arrests yet as they worked their way through what was proving to be an even more extensive network of insiders than they'd expected to find. Their plan was to take as much of that group down at the same time as possible once they had the case built against all of the participants.

When they were finished work for the day, Harry went home to clean up, and then apparated to the Burrow to meet up with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ginny and Hermione had waited until they'd gotten back to the Burrow in the afternoon to let Mrs. Weasley know that they were taking everyone out for dinner to celebrate their anniversary, and when they got to the Leaky Cauldron, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Julianne, Percy, Audrey, and George were already there waiting for them.

"Was getting engaged on Monday an early present for Mum and Dad?" George asked Ginny; and she laughed and hugged him again.

"No it wasn't," she assured him. "It is a bit funny that they got married on the Monday after they got out of school, and Harry asked me to marry him on the Monday after I finished."

"If you're following in Mum's footsteps, does that mean that you and Harry are going to have seven kids too?" Charlie asked; grinning at them while everyone else laughed.

"We definitely want to have kids, but seven might be too much for an Auror to handle," Ginny answered. "I'd like to remind you guys that it's Mum and Dad's special day, and they're the ones we're supposed to roast tonight."

"We're happy to multi-task and do both," Bill assured her, "but point taken. Let's sit down and order our drinks and food, and get to that."

For the next hour and a half, they had fun taking a trip down memory lane, mostly talking about Arthur and Molly from their kids' perspective. They opened presents after they'd eaten, while having drinks, and then it was time for a long round of goodbye hugs and kisses. Harry and Ginny were the only ones going back to the Burrow with her parents, and when they got there, they entertained them by playing Quidditch until it was nearly dark outside, with Harry winning their Seeker duel three catches to two. After that, they went inside, got drinks, and talked for another hour or so before they were all ready to call it a night, and Ginny walked Harry outside for a goodnight kiss. They spent a few minutes doing that, and then he apparated home, and she went upstairs to her room; both of them ready to get some sleep so they'd be ready for work in the morning.

Since Ginny, Angelina, and Alicia were the only new members of the Harpies, it was just the three of them at the meetings with the toy company who made the Harpies' action figures and dolls. While it was somewhat different that the photo shoot had been, there was still a hair and makeup session, and then they had to model the team robes, and several other outfits from another sponsor's clothing line that would also be optional outfits for the dolls. Getting to watch the process through to seeing the actual working prototypes of their action figures and dolls was really great, and they'd all had a fun day. They'd gone out to dinner after that, and then gone to the Burrow for a Quidditch practice with Ron and Harry.

"They're not playing too bad for a couple of Wizards," Angelina joked. She and Alicia were playing two against Ron, while Ginny and Harry had their usual Seeker duel.

"We did know they could play," Alicia reminded her. "What I'd like to know is whether Ginny's going to be using that kissing move on her Seeker opponents during our League games."

"Harry's managed to catch the snitch twice so far anyway, so maybe it's not that effective," Angelina countered, "though he does seem to like them quite a lot."

They'd been talking loudly enough for everyone, including the three spectators on the ground to hear, but Ginny and Harry were also busy chasing the snitch. Ginny was laughing, and her face was lit up with excitement as she spun her broom to block Harry, and scooped the snitch out of the air and then fought to bring her broom out of the spin. That was her third catch, and gave her the best of five win.

"Then again, with moves like that, she won't need to try kissing the other Seekers at all," Alicia said as they all returned to the ground, landing next to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione.

"The kissing and hugging is strictly reserved for Seeker duels with my fiancée," Ginny told them. "You're welcome to borrow the move to use against your Keeper or Chaser opponents if you think it'll work, though."

"Not against this Keeper opponent," Hermione said, giving Ron a push when she saw the grin on his face. "Keep that up, and we'll be having a long talk later, buddy."

"Promise?" Ron asked hopefully, his smile getting even more wolfish, and Hermione laughed helplessly, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

"So what did you think?" Ginny asked her two teammates.

"You and Harry are both way better than you were the last year we played for Gryffindor," Angelina told her. "This was still pretty much playing, though. Maybe next week Alicia and I will take you through one of the Harpies warm-up and practice routines, though we won't be able to do a game practice."

"That sounds great," Ginny said enthusiastically, and Angelina and Alicia both laughed.

"Let us know if you still feel that way after we're done with you," Alicia suggested. "You may not think so by then."

"We should get going, Alicia," Angelina told her friend. "Ginny doesn't have to do any of the PR stuff yet, but we've got work to do in the morning again."

"The good news there is that the media pressure will be off of us come opening day of training camp, and all on Ginny," Alicia answered.

"I'm sure that's good news from your perspective," Ginny countered. "Not so much so from mine."

Since they hadn't been playing with bludgers, they hadn't geared up with all of their equipment, so it didn't take long for Angelina and Alicia to pack up and leave after politely turning down Mrs. Weasley's offer to join them for a snack and drinks. Ron and Hermione decided to take that opportunity to 'get going back to London' too, so it was just Harry and Ginny joining Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for the snack and drinks.

"We'll be shopping for dresses in the morning," Mrs. Weasley reminded Ginny, going over her list as they sat at the kitchen table with their drinks and snacks. "You, Hermione, and Luna are having lunch with the boys, and then we've got some more shopping to do, including picking out a wedding cake." She flipped a page, and looked at the list she had for 'the boys'.

"You don't have anything tomorrow, Harry, but you, Ron, and Neville are supposed to take care of getting dress robes on Saturday, if work doesn't get in the way of that, and I'm not sure why I put this down for Saturday instead of closer to the wedding, but you're supposed to get a haircut too."

"I think that was for the slim hope that my hair would settle down and not be sticking up on the top by then," he suggested, and Ginny laughed and hugged him.

Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded. "Now I remember." She jotted another note on the page. "You might want to suggest that your best man see about getting his hair cut too, since he might prefer taking care of that himself rather than having me do it."

"We'll mention that to him," Ginny promised.

"The replies from the invites should start coming back by tomorrow morning," Mrs. Weasley continued. "I'll need some help keeping up with them."

"Ginny and I can help you with that," Mr. Weasley suggested. "I expect that the three of us can keep up with most of them just by doing that while we have breakfast each morning."

Nodding, Mrs. Weasley made another note. "The biggest job I have for you boys is a thorough cleaning of the yard, garden, and orchard, which you should probably get started on this weekend, and not leave to the last minute. They'll be putting the pavilion up two weeks from tomorrow, and I want this place looking its very best by then." She gave Mr. Weasley a stern look. "That means no getting distracted playing with that airplane of yours," she warned him, and he smiled and patted her hand.

"No playing with my toys until all of the work's done," he agreed. "Got it."

"That's it for now," Mrs. Weasley decided. "We can go over what we have coming up next week on Sunday." They talked until they'd finished their drinks and snack, and then Ginny walked Harry outside to see him off for the night.

"I've had the money you and I talked about moved over to your family vault today, so don't be surprised tomorrow," Harry told her quietly once they were alone.

"You're leaving me with facing Mum over that?" she asked, and Harry laughed and hugged her.

"You're braver than I am," he joked, and Ginny laughed too. "I don't know how to tell her that five thousand galleons really isn't a big deal to me without it coming out all wrong. Getting her to agree to a couple of hundred galleons a month when I was living here was hard enough, and I'd gladly give them a couple of million if they'd let me."

"Which they won't, and we both know it," Ginny added. "We'll just have to help make things better for them a little at a time instead. I'll deal with Mum tomorrow, but be prepared for one of those big hugs when you come over tomorrow night." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him rather seriously.

"Speaking of that; if you're not working on Saturday; maybe you should stay overnight here tomorrow. With work and everything going on this week, we are definitely falling behind on some me and you time." The next kiss was all fire and promise, and when she let him go again, he was a bit dazed as he looked into her beautiful, brown eyes.

"I'm fairly sure that the answer is yes, though I'm having some trouble remembering the question," he said, and Ginny laughed and kissed him again.

"I love you," she told him in between that kiss and the next. "Have a good night, and don't stay up reading that training manual until all hours."

"I love you too," he assured her, "and other than maybe taking a very cold shower when I get home, I'm planning on going straight to bed." Ginny laughed again, and then gave him a couple more fiery goodbye reasons to take that cold shower before he apparated home and she went back inside to say goodnight to her parents and go up to bed too.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she and Ginny walked into their family vault.

"We did agree that Harry would help out with the costs of the wedding, Mum," Ginny told her, and held the hard look her mother now turned on her.

"Help out, yes," she agreed. "Pay for it several times over? No, we didn't agree to that."

"Not all of this was from Harry," Ginny told her. "Part of it is from the first installment of my signing bonus."

"And how much exactly is 'not all of this'?" Mrs. Weasley asked, not letting Ginny off the hook for a second.

"Five thousand," she admitted, though she still met her mother's gaze steadily, and stepped closer so they could talk without being overheard by the Goblin waiting for them outside of the vault door.

"Mum, you and Dad must know that Harry is quite a bit better than well-off. He's the sole heir to both the Potter and Black family estates. He's going to be your son-in-law in just over two weeks now; he loves you just as much as you love him, and wants to do this for all of us. This will make it so that we can do a few nicer things for the wedding than we might have done otherwise, and he wants us to be able to do that without having to worry about spending every knut and sickle you and Dad have worked so hard to save."

"You have seriously got to start working on learning how to tell that boy no," Mrs. Weasley told her, and Ginny laughed and hugged her, knowing that she'd won this round.

"Probably," she agreed. "Christine suggested that I try a color change charm on his eyes and see if that helps."

"That might be worth a try," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Hermione and Luna are waiting, though, so let's get what we need and head over to Gladrags."

Harry might only rarely use his fame to his advantage – like getting top-notch Quidditch World Cup tickets, and it wasn't like Ginny was interested in exploiting that fame either, but it was nice to have doors open up to her that wouldn't have been if she wasn't Harry Potter's fiancée. The Witch helping them at Gladrags had looked at her four new customers incredulously when they'd informed her that the wedding was two weeks from Saturday, but when she'd found out that Ginny was marrying Harry, suddenly anything was possible, including getting a gorgeous wedding dress brought straight over from their store in Paris that the woman had been right in assuring Ginny would be perfect for her.

They'd also picked out dresses for Hermione, Luna, and Mrs. Weasley, and took care of first dress fittings by noon, when the three younger girls went off to have lunch with Harry, Ron, and Rolf. Mrs. Weasley was staying in Diagon Alley for lunch too, though she was meeting up with Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur at one of the cafés instead.

"I take it that you had fun this morning," Harry said after Ginny had shared a fairly extraordinary hug and kiss with him.

"Yes we did," she agreed, letting him go so that he could hug Hermione and Luna too, while she hugged Rolf, Ron, and Neville, who Harry had invited to join them.

"Other than having a last fitting on the Thursday before the wedding, we've got the dresses taken care of," Hermione told the boys, "and I don't mind admitting that you, Harry, and Rolf are going to have three of the most beautiful dates there," she added, smiling at Ron.

"Isn't that the way it's supposed to be at weddings?" Neville asked.

"That should depend on the perspective of the Wizard," Hannah told him as she hugged and kissed Neville before waving everyone to sit down so she could take their orders. "You, for instance, can agree that the bride is beautiful, but your girlfriend had best be your personal choice as the hottest Witch there."

"Or else," Ron joked. "I'll be right there with you, mate, since my sister can not possibly be the hottest Witch at the wedding."

"You're going to think that Hannah's the hottest Witch there too?" Ginny asked; her eyes wide and innocent. "Whatever will Hermione say about that?"

Ron laughed and hugged his girlfriend. "Hermione will know what I meant, even if I didn't say it quite right, and stop trying to stir things up – I get into enough trouble all by myself, without you helping me along."

"Yes he does," Hermione agreed, "and yes I did know what you meant," she told Ron, kissing his cheek. Hannah took their orders and hurried off again; and Hermione turned to Luna and Rolf.

"Luna's been telling Ginny and I all about your expedition, Rolf. It sounds like you're going to have an exciting summer ahead of you."

That started Rolf and Luna off and running as they told their friends about the trip they'd be leaving on in the morning. Harry had seen the look in Ginny's eyes at Hermione's first comment, and several after that, but other than getting an 'I'll tell you later' look, had no idea what those looks had meant, and frankly, had a sneaking suspicion that he might not want to know. He was glad to find out that Luna would be coming back on the Thursday before the wedding for the final dress fitting, and staying through to Saturday, while Rolf was only changing around their expedition itinerary to cancel or move what they'd booked for the Saturday, and coming back on the morning of the wedding, since Luna would be staying with Ginny and Hermione at the Burrow overnight anyway.

Since the girls had more work to do for most of the afternoon, lunch only lasted a bit over an hour, and then it was time for them to split up again for the rest of the day. Mrs. Weasley had them taking care of picking out the wedding cake first, and then they moved on to taking care of a dozen other little shopping details that needed to be done before Luna and Hermione both left for home, and Ginny and her mother went back to the Burrow to make dinner for four.

"So what were all of those looks about at lunch?" Harry asked. They'd just finished the post-dinner cleanup, and he and Ginny were walking out to the orchard for another Seeker duel. It was the first time they'd had alone where he could ask her about that. Ginny laughed, and stopped to hug and kiss him.

"I'm fairly sure that you really don't want the rest of the details about Luna's plans for their expedition," she told him, "but let's just say that she has quite a bit more adventure planned for Rolf than he suspects." She laughed and kissed him again when Harry started blushing furiously.

"You're right," he agreed. "I really don't want to know any more."

"That's so cute," she said before kissing him again. "Let's go play, and no holding back tonight like you did last night when Angelina and Alicia were here. I'm trying to keep getting better, not impress my teammates."

"Okay, but remember that you did tell me to play my best," he warned, his eyes flashing, and a match for the fiery excitement that lit up her face at his implied challenge.

They played through until it was nearly dark, and Harry did manage to win what ended up being five of eight catches before they went inside to have drinks and a snack with Ginny's Mum and Dad before they went up to bed, and Harry and Ginny went into the sitting room to stretch out on a sofa under a blanket, and enjoy some overdue snuggling time. Ginny had serious intentions about snogging Harry senseless, but by then, they were both tired out after a really long day, and she really only managed some soft, tender kisses and caresses before falling asleep in his arms.

The sun was just coming up when she woke again, thrilled to find out that she was still comfortably wrapped up in Harry's arms. She watched him sleep for a while, but when she heard her mother start moving around upstairs, she leaned in and kissed him, the soft brush of her lips against his deepening as he woke and the fire and excitement flared between them.

"Can one of us go back to sleep so we can try that again?" Harry asked, and Ginny laughed, kissed him again, and then extracted herself from his arms and stood up.

"Not today," she told him. "We've both got a busy day ahead of us, starting with the Owl Posts that are going to be here at breakfast." She held her hands out to him, and he stood too, but then wrapped his arms around her waist, and shared one more incredible kiss with her before they went upstairs to start getting ready for the day.

They'd had fun over breakfast going through the small stack of replies, and checking them off against the invited guest list and seating plans that Mrs. Weasley was working on. Harry helped with the cleanup after they'd finished eating, but then he was off to Diagon Alley to meet up with Ron and Neville to be fitted for new dress robes.

"I suppose you just went right along with that order to get a haircut," Ron groused after Harry had passed on his mother's instructions. "It's totally ridiculous – I like my hair fine just the way it is."

Harry shrugged. "Suit yourself, but I actually do need a haircut, and I'd prefer not to go through what Charlie did before Bill and Fleur's wedding, so yeah, I'm just going to do what I'm told."

"Don't look at me for help," Neville warned him. "I've loads of experience in doing exactly what Gran tells me to do, and Hannah's pretty much got me wrapped around her little finger, though for some reason, I'm usually a lot happier to do anything she asks of me."

"You're both impossible," Ron told them. "When you both get your own frog cards, the description is going to say that you're war heroes, famous Aurors, and total wusses."

"Maybe, but we'll be very happy wusses," Harry predicted, "while you'll be sneaking out after dark to re-grow your hair the night before the wedding. Charlie's got some experience with that, so you might want to ask him for advice."

"You're just a font of hilarity today aren't you?" Ron asked as Harry and Neville both laughed. "What was the point of moving out on my own if my Mum's still going to run my life for me?"

"I'm fairly sure you've already found at least one or two benefits," Harry suggested. "Especially since Hermione got home from school."

"And I'd guess his Mum's not running that part of his life either," Neville added.

Getting fitted for their new robes didn't take all that long, and while Ron complained the entire time, he did join Harry and Neville and get a haircut too, though he only had the barest of trim jobs done, which Harry suspected was still tempting fate with his mother. After they were finished with those two errands, Harry went back to the Burrow to have lunch with Ginny and her parents, and then spent the afternoon working around the yard and garden with Mr. Weasley while Ginny and her Mum worked inside the house until dinnertime.

"Yes!" Ginny said excitedly when she made her third snitch catch of the evening to Harry's two, winning their Seeker duel for the night. Flying over next to Harry, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him for a long, searing minute. "I really love winning."

"Did I lose?" Harry joked. "It doesn't feel like I did."

Ginny laughed and kissed him again. "Yes, you did lose, but before you go home tonight, I'll make sure that you're over the disappointment."

Their evening Quidditch play and a snogging session that went past midnight were the highlights of the weekend for both of them. They spent most of the day on Sunday working around the Burrow, though Harry did go home for dinner, and then spent the evening there working in his own yard and gardens before doing his housework and laundry, while spending most of that time wishing he was somewhere quiet and alone with Ginny instead.

Between work, wedding, and Quidditch training, Harry and Ginny didn't get much alone time at all during the two weeks leading up to their wedding. Harry worked long days, and half the time, he ended up going straight from work to the Burrow, where he split his time between helping with the continuing cleanup outdoors, update meetings with Mrs. Weasley, and nightly Seeker duels with Ginny. He ended each night with at least an hour or two of work around his own house, mostly getting everything ready for the change from 'his house' to 'their home'. She'd had meetings with sponsors on Monday and Thursday, and they both got a taste of what was involved in a Harpies workout on Tuesday night when Angelina and Alicia led them through a grueling hour and a half long session that Ginny had absolutely loved and thought was brilliant.

Mrs. Weasley had Ginny and Hermione running pretty much non-stop all day on the days Ginny didn't have Harpies appointments, and Ron, Hermione, and Neville all pitched in to help out on the weekend before the wedding. The week of the wedding, at least from Monday through Wednesday, was so packed full, that Harry and Ginny both pretty much ran from the time they woke up until they dropped off to sleep each night. That had included a lot of shopping, more work around and inside of the Burrow, and dealing with last minute changes to the wedding plans and the guest list.

Thursday was Harry's last day at work for the week, and while he hadn't told Ginny, he was taking most of the week after their wedding off so that he could spend it taking care of her while she started training camp with the Harpies. While he was busy at work, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Mrs. Weasley all had appointments to keep them running all day, including the final dress fittings, and last meetings with the caterer and florist. With her training camp starting up on Monday, Ginny did get Harry to do one last Seeker duel with her after dinner on Thursday night, but other than doing that for a bit less than an hour, they spent the rest of the evening working on wedding decorations, little gift baskets for their guests, and ending their night with a short, but very sweet snogging session out in the yard, under a brilliantly starry sky.

"Remind me again what's first on the agenda for today," Harry said after sharing a good morning hug and kiss with Ginny and then sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Moving day," Ginny answered with a bright, happy smile. "Did you remember to make some space for my things?"

Harry nodded. "That's probably why I'm a bit fuzzy this morning. I finished up by around three o'clock or so. That must mean that the final once through on the cleanup is this afternoon."

"It is, and we're doing that later so we'll be out of the way of the workers putting up the pavilion this morning," Mrs. Weasley told him. "Dinner's at six-thirty tonight, and everyone except George and Percy will be here for that."

"Is that it for today?" Harry joked. "What will we all do with the extra time?"

"We'll have more as we go along," Mrs. Weasley said as she looked over her list. "Have you got the gifts wrapped for your wedding party? You'll want to give those out later tonight sometime before the boys have to be out of here."

"Already done," Ginny confirmed. "I've got them in my room."

Mrs. Weasley made a check mark on her list, and nodded. "Okay. You have until no later than lunchtime to move your things over and get as much unpacking done as you can, but then we're doing a light lunch here, and after that, we'll all get to work around here. I'll let you know if anything else comes up that we need to deal with."

"Thanks, Mum," Ginny said, standing up again. "We'll get started upstairs, if you can send Hermione, Ron, and Luna up when they get here." Harry got up again too; and they went upstairs together, where Ginny started their work out by sharing a much more serious sort of kiss with him than the one they'd exchanged in the kitchen.

"One more day, and you're going to be all mine," she breathed in his ear, sending a thrill through both of them. Harry hugged her tightly; and they kissed again before stepping apart.

"I guess we'd better get started or we'll never get done by noon," he suggested regretfully, since spending an hour or two snogging Ginny seemed like a really great idea right then. "If we don't get finished today, though, I guess we could always finish up unpacking tomorrow night or Sunday."

Ginny laughed. "That is not going to happen," she advised him. "I've got plans for you and me for the rest of the weekend once we get home after the reception."

"Okay, we get the work done this morning, then," he agreed. "Where do you want me to start?"

"You could start with packing up everything in my dresser, starting with the underwear drawer," she suggested, then laughed and hugged him when he immediately blushed bright red. "I'm just teasing, but that was too fun to resist. Why don't you start with packing up everything I have stored in the closet, like my old toys and everything else?"

"Is your old stuffed kneazle Harpy in there with all of your old toys?" Harry asked, and smiled when Ginny nodded.

"Definitely,' she agreed, "though she's quite a bit worse for wear, I just can't bring myself to part with her."

"I'd ask how you know it's a her, but then the Harpies do only hire Witches, so that makes perfect sense." Opening the closet door, he took a look at the neatly organized space. "This is going to be a lot better than it was moving Ron's things to his flat."

"Hopefully you think everything about this move will be better," Ginny told him pointedly, and Harry grinned at her.

"More like brilliant," he assured her.

They both started packing, and Luna joined them about fifteen minutes later, with Ron and Hermione finally getting there about a half hour after that. Ron and Harry started moving boxes over to what was about to be Harry and Ginny's house, and working over there to put some of the boxes into one of the storage rooms, and leaving others in the master bedroom for the girls to deal with when they were ready to start unpacking.

"Can I come live with you?" Hermione asked when the three Witches walked into the bedroom after Harry had sent the last load over. "You really have been busy, haven't you Harry?" He didn't get the chance to answer for a minute, as he was busy being soundly kissed by Ginny.

"I only made a few changes, and whenever you want, feel free to decorate however you'd like," he told Ginny.

"This is what you call a few changes?" Hermione asked.

There was now a small sitting area with a little table and two chairs by the window that overlooked the back yard and gardens, and while the girls could only see the new comforter on the bed, he'd replaced the king size mattress and box springs too. The closet door was open, and the girls could see that it was now a walk-in that looked to be about eight feet deep and six feet wide, with only a small space on the left taken up with Harry's clothes and shoes. There was also a beautiful new dresser with a large mirror for Ginny, and he'd done a little work in the master bathroom too.

"Do you like it?" he asked quietly after following Ginny into the bathroom.

"I'm way past liking all of this," she assured him, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he answered between kisses.

"Will you two stop that and get back to work?" Ron complained as he stepped into the doorway for the bathroom. "The sooner we get done the quicker we can get back to the Burrow and have lunch."

"Where was all of that enthusiasm for work earlier this morning when you and Hermione were running late?" Ginny asked her brother.

"I'd just eaten back then," he answered with a grin. "Now I'm starving."

Ginny, Hermione, and Luna took care of putting away Ginny's clothes, while Ron and Harry finished putting the last boxes away that Ginny wanted stored, and taking care of things like empty boxes, setting up Snowflake's cage next to Snowstorm's, and making room in the Library for the things Ginny wanted to have in there. They had everything finished up by noon, and hurried back to the Burrow for lunch.

"At least we'll be done with the work around here after today," Ron told Harry and Neville as they worked on one last de-gnoming of the garden. "We can take it easy tomorrow nearly right up until the wedding guests start arriving."

"Maybe you and Neville can," Harry told him. "I've got enough to keep busy with tomorrow."

"Doing what?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"Well, feeding you a couple of meals for one," he answered. "Then I'm going to pick up some wine and champagne, fresh groceries, and if I have time, bake a few treats for Ginny."

"We can help you with most of that," Neville offered, "though I wouldn't want me helping out with any cooking if I were you. That's apparently a skill that I really don't have any talent for at all, and you're probably trying to impress Ginny, not scare her off."

"Stop it, guys. You're scaring the kids," Ron told them. "Making Ginny happy is one thing, but doing all of this is just going to get me in trouble with Hermione."

"Not if you did a few things like that for her too," Neville pointed out, and Ron gave him a scathing look.

"Aren't you the one who just said you can't cook?" he asked, and Neville nodded.

"Yes, but I can grow some pretty amazing flowers that Hannah loves, and there are such inventions as bakeries and sweets shops to rescue those of us who can't cook."

"While we're shopping in the morning, you should both stop in to St. Mungo's. I'd like to make sure that what you've come down with isn't contagious, even if I'm fairly sure it's incurable."

The de-gnoming was followed by weeding the gardens, trimming the grass, and making sure that everything around the house, chicken coop, broom shed, and garage were all neat and tidy. By the time the boys all went to their respective homes to grab showers and change for dinner, Mrs. Weasley and her troops had the inside of the Burrow sparkling clean too, and the cooking well underway. By the time that Harry got back to the Burrow, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and Julianne, Ron and Hermione, Neville, and Luna were all there, and after a round of handshakes, hugs, and a few kisses, Mrs. Weasley invited everyone to sit down for dinner.

"Let the roasting begin!" Ron announced grandly, smiling at Harry and Ginny.

"Okay," Ginny agreed. "Where should we start? Maybe Mum, Dad, Bill, and Charlie can tell us all about your early days, and how your fateful attraction to orange left you hopelessly devoted to the Chudley Cannons."

"Nice try," Ron told her as everyone else laughed, "but you're not getting out of it that easily, and don't worry, Harry, I'm sure we'll have more than enough stories about you to keep us entertained too."

"Have at it," Ginny encouraged him. "I can hardly wait to find out how to do these roast things right so we'll know how when it's your turn some day."

That implied promise of future retribution didn't slow Ron, or any of the rest of their family and friends, from warming up to the topic, and chiming in with favorite stories about the happy couple. There were more stories about Ginny, and she was having as much fun with them as everyone else. Harry spent a fair bit of time either blushing or looking sheepish or rueful with most of the stories told about him – particularly when his so-called love life before Ginny was thoroughly dissected for the disaster it was. There were Ginny loves Harry but he's too dense to see that, and Harry loves Ginny but he's too dense to admit it to himself stories. The roasting wrapped up with the Harry and Ginny together stories, though there didn't seem to be nearly enough of those, or at least Harry didn't think there were.

"We'll make lots more of them from now on," Ginny whispered into his ear, and Harry returned her happy smile.

"Yes we will," he agreed, his heart beating a little faster just from seeing the look in her eyes.

The storytelling didn't stop when dinner was over, and continued through the cleanup, and for a couple of hours after as they all moved into the sitting room. Charlie and Julianne were staying with Bill and Fleur, and they went back to Shell Cottage by a little after ten o'clock, leaving Harry and Ginny with her parents and the four members of their wedding party for the last couple of hours before Harry would need to head home and not see his bride again until the wedding started.

"If you're all finished having fun with the Harry and Ginny stories, we'd like to hand out some thank-you gifts," Ginny told her parents, brother, and friends.

"That's a tough choice," Ron joked. "I'd say Hermione and Luna are leaning heavily toward the handing out gifts option, so I guess we're done with story time."

"Thanks, Ron. I'm sure the girls appreciate your sacrifice," Ginny said dryly. She had a bag with her, and started handing out the gifts. "Harry and I want you to know how much we appreciate everything you've all been doing for us to get everything ready for tomorrow on such short notice, for standing up with us tomorrow, and being our best friends." When she got to her mother, she knelt next to the chair she was sitting in and hugged her.

"There's no way we can ever thank you and Dad enough for everything you've done for us," she said quietly as she handed the gift to Mrs. Weasley. "I love you both very much."

"We love you too, honey," Mrs. Weasley assured her, hugging Ginny tightly again before letting her move on to hug her father and give him a gift too.

"Ginny, Harry, these are beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed when she opened the box with the diamond pendant and earrings set. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Ginny assured her. "Harry got me a set too, so that you, Luna, and I can all wear the same jewelry."

"Are we going to match too?" Ron asked, holding up the diamond tie and lapel pins.

"That's the plan," Harry agreed, "though I'm sure we'll pale by comparison to the girls."

"Are you going with red hair for your wedding again like you did for Bill and Fleur's?" Luna asked him. "I really think you shouldn't, and it would definitely be all wrong for Neville."

If Luna was having fun with him, she was getting quite as good as Ginny at acting, so while Ron and Neville both laughed, Harry just smiled and shook his head. "We're just going with matching dress robes and the pins," he assured her. "My disguise last time didn't work all that well, since you saw right through it, and tomorrow I definitely don't want any misunderstandings over who is marrying Ginny."

"That would be best," she agreed, smiling too. The look in her eyes had Harry nearly certain that she was sporting with him, and when he looked at Ginny, and saw her smile, he was positive.

They'd gotten Mrs. Weasley as slightly different necklace and earrings set, and the same tie and lapel pins set for Mr. Weasley, and after another round of hugs, they all sat down and Mrs. Weasley went over the schedule with them on last time. She and Mr. Weasley went up to bed shortly after eleven, and the six friends stayed in the sitting room and talked until about a quarter to twelve. Neville and Luna went into the kitchen to clean up the glasses they'd been using, Hermione took Ron outside to say goodnight to him, and Harry and Ginny were left alone in the sitting room for the few minutes they had left until Harry had to be sent home.

"This is a stupid custom," she told him. "We want to spend the rest of our lives together, but we have to be apart for two thirds of our wedding day."

"It's probably meant to be your last chance to come to your senses before it's too late," Harry joked, and Ginny put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"If you think that I went through all of those years waiting for you to come to your senses and fall in love with me only to lose you now, think again. Tomorrow's just a formality – we're meant to be together, and I know we're going to have a brilliant future."

"Yes we are," he agreed, kissing her again.

They didn't get to have nearly enough time for that goodbye before Luna and Hermione were sending Harry, Ron, and Neville on their way, and taking Ginny upstairs to get ready for bed and a little girl chat before getting some sleep. After getting changed in their own rooms, the three young Witches all sat on Ginny's bed, and the bride-to-be didn't seem to be blushing, nervous, getting cold feet, or any of the other reactions that were supposedly the norm now that they were down to just hours before the wedding.

"What do you think the boys are doing now?" Luna asked.

"I'll guess they're not all sitting on Harry's bed having a little heart-to-heart," Ginny answered with a laugh at the mental picture that had given her.

"More likely Ron's back to roasting Harry, and lamenting the impending loss of a bachelor," Hermione suggested. "You'd think that a brave Auror-trainee wouldn't be afraid of just telling his best mate how happy he really is to be getting him for a brother-in-law."

"What, and ruin his reputation in the process?" Ginny joked. "Ron couldn't possibly let that happen."

"He's a much better Wizard than he thinks he is," Luna told them with her usual knack for unfettered honesty. "Some day he'll figure that out, stop comparing himself to everyone else, and just be happy with himself."

"We can hope so," Hermione said with a smile. "Sometimes he can be positively dense."

Ginny laughed. "Doesn't that statement apply to every Wizard, at least sometimes?"

"Probably," Hermione agreed. "Aren't you getting nervous at all? If I was getting married today, I'd be a wreck by now."

"That wouldn't surprise me. You get nervous before every test," she teased. "Since I already know the right answers, I'm not worried at all."

"Harry has to get them all correct too," Luna pointed out, and Ginny grinned at her.

"He will – if he knows what's good for him."

"In more ways than one," Luna added.

The three friends sat up and talked until after one o'clock, and then Hermione broke up the little party with orders for them to all get some sleep, since their morning was starting early so they could all be ready and off to their hair appointments with Robin and her team of stylists. Harry, Ron, and Neville had stayed up for a while too, hanging out in the sitting room for a while, having a drink, and as Hermione had suggested, Ron had pontificated expansively on Harry's impending doom.

"You're making life with your sister sound fairly awful," Harry pointed out.

"And I'm sure that Hermione would find his insights into marriage as fascinating as Ginny would," Neville added. "Don't you think there's anything good about being married?"

"Sure there is," Ron answered. "Marriage gets one more Wizard out of the dating game. That's good for all of us single guys."

"But that also means there's one less single Witch too," Neville pointed out.

"I suppose," Ron conceded, "but in this particular case, that isn't a problem for me, other than the fact that the Witch in question here is soon going to have complete and utter control of my best mate. The really scary thing is that our poor, deluded friend is not just willing, but ecstatically happy about being hours away from losing his freedom forever."

"Why didn't you bring all of this up when we were still hanging out with your parents and the girls?" Neville asked, and Ron snorted.

"I may mess up a lot of thing, Neville, but I'm not mental enough to have this conversation around any Witch, and especially not around my Mum, sister, or girlfriend. If I actually thought that Harry would listen to reason, I wouldn't have this chat with him either, since Ginny would likely turn me into a bat bogey for a century or two if he broke things off and she found out it was because of me."

"Good thing for you that I'm blissfully happy then," Harry joked.

"Well, I'm happy for you," Neville told him, "but seeing Ginny turn Ron into a bat bogey might have been fun. If we even tried to play that joke on him tomorrow, though, I'd imagine that there'd be three bat bogeys instead of just one when the girls found out, so we definitely don't want to do that."

"We're not supposed to be at the Burrow until three, so what are we going to do until then?" Ron asked. "I still can't believe Mum didn't have loads of work for us to do."

"Do you vaguely remember me mentioning that we've got work to do around here that will take most of the morning?" Harry countered. "I've got to get everything ready around here; we'll need to do some shopping for fresh groceries, some wines and champagne; and I expect you'll want to eat once or twice tomorrow too."

Ron looked around the spotlessly clean room and shook his head. "What more do you need to do around here? If anything, this place is too clean."

"I've got a bit of yard work to get done, and I want to bake a few treats for Ginny, among other things," he answered.

"You're scaring me again," Ron told him. "Cut it out."

Harry may have been scaring his best friend and about-to-be brother-in-law at the time, but Ron was having no problem with digging into the massive breakfast that Harry put on the table in the morning that included some hot out of the oven muffins and croissants to go with pretty much all of Ron's favorite breakfast foods. He wasn't nearly as excited about the subsequent cleanup, but managed to get through it with minimal grumbling before they all went to get ready to go out for the shopping run Harry wanted to start out with.

Even as they did their running around, and then went back to Harry's house and worked there until about one o'clock, Ron continued to joke with Harry and Neville, and Harry was happy to have both the work and the entertainment going on to help make those hours go by more easily for him as his nervousness and excitement continued to build. They had lunch at one, and after another cleanup that Ron complained about, it was time for them to hit the showers and get cleaned up and ready for the wedding.

They apparated to the Burrow a few minutes before three o'clock, and Mr. Weasley took them in tow and led them out to the pavilion, where they met with the tufty-haired Wizard who had performed Bill and Fleur's wedding to get their final instructions, and then Neville left Harry in Ron's marginally capable hands while he joined George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill, who were all going to be helping with seating the wedding guests when they began arriving.

While the boys were either getting busy with welcoming their guests, or in Harry's case, wishing he was helping with that to keep busy, Mrs. Weasley was with Ginny, Hermione, and Luna as they all finished getting ready for the wedding, having moved on from controlling the bathrooms to now putting the last touches on everything. They were nearly finished when there was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley smiled at Ginny.

"That will be Aunt Muriel," she said quietly. "Are you ready?"

"Is that even possible?" Ginny asked, smiling too. Mrs. Weasley nodded to Hermione, who was already on the way to open the door, and Aunt Muriel seemed to fill the small room as she entered, carrying her prized tiara.

"Still haven't done a thing about that bad posture, I see," she told Hermione, her voice booming in the small space, "and it's a wonder you can walk on those skinny little ankles." Looking at Luna next, she nodded curtly. "You must be grateful that you got your mother's looks, and not Xeno's." Mrs. Weasley was next; and Aunt Muriel looked her up and down before nodding again. "You make a lovely mother of the bride, Molly. Stand up and let's have a look at you, Ginevra." Ginny smiled, stood up, and turned to face her great aunt.

"You do like those low-cut dresses, don't you? Not leaving much to a Wizard's imagination that way."

Ginny laughed and hugged her. "I'm not planning on leaving anything to my Wizard's imagination in a few hours," she said, and laughed again when she saw the gleam in Aunt Muriel's eyes as the old woman laughed too.

"Well, that may be, child, but let's put this on you, and maybe it'll help distract the eyes of the rest of the Wizards from all of that bare skin." She handed the tiara to Mrs. Weasley, and then spent ten minutes giving instructions before finally deciding that they had it in Ginny's hair properly – or at least the best they could with what they had to work with.

By then it was nearly time for Mrs. Weasley to go out to the pavilion too, so she escorted Aunt Muriel out of the room and down the stairs, which the now one hundred and nine year old Witch managed with amazing ease all the while complaining about how hard doing that was on a frail, old woman. Once they'd left the room, Ginny sat down again, and smiled at her two best friends.

"She's in good spirits today. Her commentary during the ceremony should be fun."

"Easy for you to say," Hermione told her. "She likes you, even if your dresses are cut too low and your hairstyle hides too much of her goblin-made tiara."

"Robin would be crushed," Ginny joked. "Especially since she took the tiara into account when deciding what to do with my hair today."

"Your hair is gorgeous," Luna assured her. "The tiara is a nice touch, but you look perfect with or without it. The only worry you might have is if Harry is so stunned when he sees you that he can't talk to manage the 'I do' by the time the ceremony gets that far." There was another knock on the door, and Ginny smiled happily.

"Time to go," Mr. Weasley said after Hermione opened the door for him. "The bouquets are in the kitchen, and the last guests should be seated by the time we make our way out there." Ginny stood up again, and laughed when she saw the look on her father's face. "You look beautiful, honey."

"I love you, Daddy," she told him, stepping close and leaning in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

Mr. Weasley held his arm out to her and smiled. "You're welcome, and I love you too."

Harry, Ron, and Neville had followed the tufty-haired Wizard to the front of the rows of chairs that lined each side of the purple carpeted aisle, and turned to face the pavilion entrance and their guests. He'd thought that the one hundred or so Witches and Wizards had seemed like a lot for what was to be a small wedding, but comparing that to Bill and Fleur's, Harry realized that it really was a fairly small group, and he liked the fact that he recognized nearly every face there.

"He's got a Witch for a best man?" Aunt Muriel exclaimed loudly, accompanied by a smattering of laughter. "Oh it's Ronald – his hair's nearly as long a Ginevra's. At least Augusta's grandson has a proper haircut, and Harry's managed to tame his hair for once. He probably had to charm it."

Ron was turning red; and Harry just winked at Aunt Muriel and grinned at her. He was shaking a bit now from the nerves, and her comments helped distract him a bit.

"Unca Haiwy!" Teddy exclaimed, and Harry laughed when his Godson escaped from Andromeda and ran up to him, and he'd needed to quickly catch the toddler and scoop him up for a hug.

"Hi Teddy," he said quietly, smiling as there was more laughter. "I'm sort of in the middle of something right now, so you need to go back with Grandma, okay?"

"K!" Teddy agreed happily and loudly. "Love you, Unca Haiwy."

"I love you too, Teddy," he assured the boy, then handed him off to Andromeda, her expression halfway between amused and mortified.

He watched them sit down again, but when he caught sight of movement at the pavilion entrance, his attention was drawn there. Hermione walked into the pavilion first, and she looked amazing in a soft, flowing gown, her eyes focused on Ron first, and her smile brightening at the reaction she saw in his face before looking from her boyfriend to the groom. They shared a moment of silent communication before he looked past her to where Luna was now making her entrance. The two Witches were wearing identical dresses, and Luna was just as beautiful as Hermione, and her ethereal smile heart-warming. The fact that she was practically dancing to the music as she walked had Harry laughing happily to himself before all thought completely vanished from his mind when he saw Ginny enter walking next to Mr. Weasley, her hand resting lightly on his arm.

When that fire blazed in her eyes and face as Ginny saw the effect she was having on Harry, it was all he could do just to stay standing and watch in awe and devotion as she made her way toward him at what seemed like an excruciatingly slow pace. He vaguely heard the sighs and a few sniffles, but other than that, for those few precious, incredible moments, she was everything, and the only thing in his world.

Hermione, and then Luna moved to the side as they reached the front, both Witches looking happy and a bit amused by Harry, though he was obviously incapable of taking his eyes off of his bride. Andromeda had a tight hold on Teddy now, but wasn't able to keep him quiet, and there were more laughs as he called out "Hi Ginny!"

Her smile brightened, and she waved her hand slightly as she passed Teddy, but her attention was all for Harry too until she and her father reached the front. She kissed him then, smiling gently as she saw the happy tears in his eyes and squeezing his hand before they both turned toward Harry, and Mr. Weasley put her hand in his before moving back to sit down next to Mrs. Weasley and putting a comforting arm around his own bride. Ginny now squeezed Harry's hand reassuringly, and everyone in the wedding party turned to face the tufty-haired Wizard.

"We are gathered her today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls," the Wizard began.

Harry remembered missing out on most of the ceremony at Bill and Fleur's wedding; and his ability to concentrate seemed even less today as he spent as much time admiring Ginny as he did looking at the Wizard marrying them. The contact between them was electrifying, and while his nervousness seemed to have disappeared the moment she took his hand in hers, the top of the roller coaster excitement was still there in full force.

"My tiara looks lovely, don't you think?" he, and everyone else, heard Aunt Muriel whisper. "I didn't know if it would work with that fiery mane of Ginevra's but it really is quite the combination after all."

Harry nearly laughed at the look in Ginny's eyes and the adorable twist to her smile her great aunt's words brought out; and she squeezed his hand again. There was more litany and words that sailed past Harry as he mind wandered happily but he was back when he heard the "Do you, Ginevra Molly take Harry James to be your husband, to love, honor, and cherish for all eternity?"

His heart pounded as Ginny smiled at him, her eyes ablaze as she answered. "I do."

"And do you, Harry James take Ginevra Molly to be your wife, to love, honor, and cherish for all eternity?" the Wizard asked Harry next.

"I do," he assured Ginny, and his spirit soared at the now triumphant look that was in her eyes.

The Wizard asked for the bride's ring next, and Harry looked away from Ginny for a moment as Ron handed him the gold ring with the diamond accents that matched Ginny's engagement ring. He had to let go of her right hand so he could take her left, and he was nearly lost again as he looked into her eyes once more and saw the love and joy shining in them.

"Ginny, I love you with all of my heart, and whatever joys and sorrows may lie ahead for us, I pledge to be there for and with you to share the happy moments, and comfort you through sad times. With this ring, I promise to love you now and forever." He slid the ring onto her finger, not taking his eyes from her while he did, and then it was Ginny's turn to take the ring a happily smiling Luna handed to her before she smiled at Harry again as she took his left hand in hers.

"Harry, in the years since I saw you for the first time at King's Cross Station, you've saved my life, and we've faced more than I could have ever imagined back then. With all of that, the most amazing gift you've given me is your love, and I love you with all of my heart too. With this ring, I promise to love you always, and try my very best to fill your life with as much joy and happiness as you've given me." There were tears shining in his eyes as she put the ring on his finger, but hers were clear, with that same fierce joy and love blazing in them. The Wizard took out his wand, and Ginny and Harry put their arms around each other, their faces just inches apart as they looked into each other's eyes.

"The rings have been exchanged, and the promises and pledges spoken," the Wizard said in his singsong voice. "It is my honor and pleasure to declare you bonded for life." Waving his wand high over their heads, a shower of silver stars fell over Harry and Ginny, spiraling around them as she pulled him into a sweet, tender kiss and embrace as the magic of the bonding suffused them with purest love and joy.

They both laughed when George whistled and led the applause, which ended the kiss, but they still held on to each other for another moment before the Wizard asked everyone to stand, waved his wand again, and got everything set up for the dinner and dance. Luna, Hermione, Ron, and Neville had congratulations for them first, followed by the tufty-haired Wizard, and then there was a long line of well-wishers starting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and the rest of Ginny's brothers, sister-in-law, and family.

Once Harry and Ginny got past the congratulations from Bill and Fleur, Charlie and Julianne, Percy and Audrey, George, and a very vocal Aunt Muriel, who seemed to think they needed some candid wedding night advice, the rest of the meet and greet that immediately followed the ceremony was a bit of a blur. Whether it was Minister Shacklebolt offering his sincere best wishes, having a little fun with friends like Seamus and Lavender and Dean and Parvati, or other special moments with Teddy and Andromeda, or Christine, Bryce, and Dawn, the hour or so until dinner started did go by quickly and keep everyone entertained.

Since Luna and Neville each had dates for the wedding, Rolf and Hannah sat at the Head table with Harry, Ginny, and their small wedding party. By the time dinner was served, they were all ready to have a little break in the action, and mostly through listening to the girls talk, Harry got to catch up on everything that had happened during the ceremony that he'd apparently completely missed noticing.

"Are you all talking about the same wedding?" he finally asked, and Ginny laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

"It's alright if you missed a few things," she answered. "You did get your part just exactly right."

"The way he looked when he saw you walk into the pavilion, I had my doubts he would," Hermione told them. "That moment was so worth all of the work this morning."

"Yes it was," Ginny agreed happily. "I'd say that all of our guys have been suitably appreciative of our efforts."

"We are," Harry confirmed, "but the wedding you're talking about sounds really great, so maybe you can show that one to me in a pensieve sometime so I can see everything I missed."

"Like that'd help," Ron told him. "Going through seeing this a second time wouldn't help me notice how cute so-and-so's shoes were, or how nicely some purse went with the Witch's dress, and I'd really hope that you wouldn't be able to either."

"I'd think that Aurors would want to notice every detail of what's going on around them," Luna suggested. "Things like that could be important things to know about when you're chasing fugitive Witches."

"She's got a point there," Neville agreed, earning him a look from Ron. "Christine and Emma both think that one of the reasons why Wizard Aurors don't do as well capturing Witches is exactly because we don't pay enough attention to what's going on, and end up missing something important."

Ron looked ready to take up the argument, but Hermione put a hand on his arm and smiled at him. "Let's not get talking about work, guys. I'm sure that we can come up with more entertaining things to discuss."

The girls had no trouble moving the dinner conversation off in other directions, and they did all have fun while enjoying the really great meal. The band came out shortly after the tables had been cleared, and Harry and Ginny were called out onto the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple. There were more happy sighs and tears as they danced, and more than a little laughter when Ginny shared a long, lingering kiss with her husband that lasted long moments past when the last notes of the song faded away.

They stayed out dancing as their wedding party, and then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and all of Ginny's brothers joined them during the next couple of songs. George hadn't brought a date, but Angelina Johnson had been happy to be his dance partner for those first songs, and the two old friends and former Gryffindor teammates did seem to be having fun together.

After those first few dances together, Harry and Ginny found themselves getting pulled apart a bit as they danced with other Witches and Wizards. There was an early pair of dances where Harry danced with Andromeda, and Ginny danced with Teddy before the little boy went home for the night with a babysitter while his Grandmother stayed for the rest of the party. Then Ginny danced with all of her brothers, while Harry danced with Fleur, Julianne, Audrey, Hermione, and finally with Angelina, who had still been keeping George company as they'd both been hanging out with some of the other DA members like Lee and Alicia. There were other dances with friends, and one memorable one for Harry with Aunt Muriel, who by then was maybe a bit on the tipsy side and had some rather shocking advice for the groom that was whispered to him in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

There'd been time to take a few short breaks together, though most of the time, instead of sitting down with drinks, Harry and Ginny would wander around to the other tables and visit with their guests, trying to at least spend a few minutes with everyone. At eleven o'clock, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Luna took Ginny with them into the Burrow to get changed into her going away outfit, and were back by about a quarter to twelve, ready to make a last round of the tables before it was time for the last dances of the night.

"I'm so happy for both of you," Hermione told Harry as they danced together while Ginny and Ron danced together. "This has been such a perfect day."

"Thanks, Hermione," he answered, taking a moment to hug her before continuing their dance. "Any words of wisdom for me? I've been getting a lot of advice tonight."

Hermione laughed. "From the amount of blushing I've seen you do tonight, some of it was probably quite interesting too."

"That's a nice way of wording it," he complimented her, and Hermione laughed again.

"Most of that advice is just for fun, and no, I don't have any for you, Harry. I'm sure that you and Ginny will have a lot of things to learn about being married, but you've already got everything you need to figure all of that out together."

They had a couple more minutes to talk quietly as they danced, and then it was time for the dances with the mother and father of the bride, and Hermione passed Harry off to Mrs. Weasley, while Ron handed Ginny to their father before escorting Hermione off the dance floor.

"I've been looking forward to this all night," Harry told Mrs. Weasley, and she smiled at him.

"Have you, dear?" she asked. "I'd have thought you'd mostly be looking forward to your last dance of the night with Ginny."

"Oh, that one will be pretty special too, but this is my very first ever dance with my mother, so it's right up there at the top of the list. I love you, Mum." They were both misty-eyed, and Mrs. Weasley had a long, bone-crushing hug for him before putting a gentle hand to his face and smiling at him again.

"I love you too," she assured him, "and your father and I are as proud of you as we are of all of the rest of our children."

When that song ended, Harry's 'I love you, Dad' as Mr. Weasley was trading dance partners with his son-in-law had earned Harry hugs from both of Ginny's parents, and then it was the last song of the night for the newlyweds, and they held each other close, swaying gently to the music, and again totally focused on each other.

"Is this last dance just meant to remind the happy bride and groom whom it was that they married during the ceremony?" Harry joked.

Ginny laughed and kissed him for a long moment. "Does that refresh your memory?"

"Yes it does," he agreed, leaning close to kiss her again. "I love you, Ginny. Thanks for making this my very best day ever."

"You're welcome, and I love you too Harry." Ginny's smile, and the look in her eyes, had Harry's heart beating faster. "This has been a wonderful day too, but your best day ever isn't even close to being over."

There were more soft kisses as they danced, and when the music ended, they made one last round to thank their guests for sharing the day with them and delivering the little gifts they'd put together for everyone. The dance would be continuing for a while longer without them, so when they were ready to leave, they shared a last round of hugs and kisses with their wedding party, and with Ginny's parents, brothers, and sister-in-law, and then they apparated to their house.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Potter," Harry said as he picked her up in his arms and carried her inside, stopping in the hallway to share a long, beautiful kiss with his bride.

"Why thank-you, Mr. Potter," she answered, smiling happily as he set her down. "It's really great to finally be home." She leaned close, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him again. "You're doing just fine," she whispered, sensing both the excitement that they both shared, and the nervousness that had him feeling indecisive and unsure.

"I've got a bottle of champagne on ice upstairs, and if you'd like to have something to eat, I'll be happy to make you anything you want."

"Let's go upstairs," she answered. "A little champagne sounds nice, but I'm not hungry at all." When he didn't move, Ginny smiled and leaned close to kiss him again before taking his hand and with a gentle tug; had him following her toward and up the stairs. There were several beautiful bouquets of flowers in vases around the room, and the air was sweet with the soft fragrance of the blooms.

"This is lovely," she told him as they walked into their bedroom. "Why don't you pour the champagne for us?"

She wandered around the room while he did that, and returning to his side once he'd finished filling the two glasses. His hands were trembling now as he handed one of the glasses to her, and she held on to it with both of hers for a moment before taking the glass. She tapped her glass to his, and then had him laughing quietly as she drained her glass and set it back on the table.

"Would you like a refill?" he asked, and Ginny shook her head, took his glass, had a sip from it too, and then put it on the table next to her empty glass. Putting her arms around his neck again, she pulled him into a deep, fiery kiss. When she leaned back again, her hands moved to the front of his dress robe, and she began helping him out of it.

"Am I the only one in this room who's scared and nervous?"

"Yes you are," Ginny agreed, leaning close and kissing him again. She'd tossed his robe over one of the chairs, and taking his hand, she led him over to the bed, gently pushing him to sit down, and then she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "I'm going to help you get over that, though," she added, smiling brightly at him. "I love you, Harry. Trust me – we are going to have a brilliant start to our marriage tonight."

Ginny didn't give him a chance to answer, and as she kissed him while her fingers worked on his tie and the buttons of his dress shirt, it wasn't long before she did have him well on the way to getting over his nervousness. Hours later, as Harry laid in bed with his arms wrapped around his amazing, beautiful, sleeping wife, his last thoughts before drifting off to sleep as the first blush of morning touched the windows of their bedroom was that their first intimate, unforgettable night together had been every bit as brilliant a start to their new life together as she had promised.


	19. Training Camp

Chapter Nineteen – Training Camp

Ginny woke up slowly, her mind not in any hurry to have her body start moving from the warm, happy place it was currently in, wrapped snugly in Harry's arms. There was a soft, self-satisfied little smile on her face, and when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the sweet smile, and a pair of sparkling emerald eyes that were looking back at her with love and more than a touch of wonder.

"Good morning," Harry said quietly, moving closer so he could kiss her tenderly. "Ready to get your first big day started?"

"I'd say the last couple of days were pretty big," she countered with a happy laugh before kissing him again.

"They definitely were," he agreed. "Maybe I should have asked if you're ready for the world to find out that Ginny Potter is the new Seeker for the Holyhead Harpies. I'm fairly sure this is going to be up there on your best day ever so far list."

"Maybe, but no matter how great today is, there's no way it's going any higher than third on the list after our wedding day and yesterday." Ginny laughed; the sound more like a throaty purr; and the gleam that came into her eyes had Harry's heart pounding. "If this is going to be a top three kind of day, though, we really should get it started right."

She'd kissed him again, and then they'd both been quite happy to share a seriously brilliant start to their day before they really did need to get up – out of bed – and get ready for Ginny's first day at training camp. They'd had quite a bit of fun doing that too, including a little multi-tasking in the shower, and after that, while Ginny was still busy getting ready, Harry went downstairs to the kitchen and began making breakfast for two.

That gave him a little time to muse over just how amazing the last couple of days had been. They hadn't spent the entire past thirty hours or so in their bedroom, but they'd spent quite a bit of it there. The only time they'd gone out of the house was to take an after-dinner walk in the back yard that had ended up with a blushing Harry learning to have a whole new appreciation for the great outdoors.

"I'll be lucky to get off of the ground with my broom after all of the great food this weekend," Ginny told him as she came into the kitchen and joined him at the counter for a long hug and kiss. Harry smiled, and she laughed happily at the look on his face. "Okay, I concede that we've probably stayed active enough to compensate for the extra food, but starting today, I've got to start following the team training diet."

"Have you looked at it yet?" Harry asked, still smiling, and Ginny shook her head.

"I just glanced at it," she admitted. "Why?"

"Because I did, and if anything, you're going to need to eat more than you're used to eating. There are some things you're not allowed to have very much of, but not really all that many." Harry waved at the breakfast he nearly had ready for them. "This is straight from the menu options for your morning meals."

"Seriously?" Ginny asked, and then laughed happily and hugged and kissed him again. "I thought the diet part of the job was going to be awful, which is why I didn't want to deal with it until I had no choice."

"Sit down and let's eat," Harry suggested. "You've got to be at Exmoor Stadium in less than an hour, and you do not want to be late today."

"No I don't," she agreed, taking one of the plates he had ready and carrying it to the table, where he already had drinks set out for them. "I wish you could be there for the press conference."

Harry smiled at her. "Okay."

"Okay, what?" she asked, and then laughed again when she saw the look on his face. "You're coming to watch?" she exclaimed, and when he nodded, she threw her arms around his neck and shared a fiery kiss with him.

"Did I forget to mention that I'm taking most of the week off?" he asked innocently. "Even though we can't get away for a honeymoon, I can at least try to make your first few days with the Harpies a little easier around here."

"I doubt you forgot, and I really love the surprise. Thank-you," Ginny said before kissing him one more time and then getting back to her food again.

There'd been a few more hugs and kisses before Ginny had left for Exmoor Stadium, and Harry had gotten to work on the breakfast cleanup. He still had an hour and a half before the press conference would be starting, so he was able to take his time, do a little housework and laundry, and then he went to pick up Teddy before going to the Burrow to meet up with his mother and father in law.

"Hi Mum, Dad," Harry said, smiling happily as he walked into the kitchen. It had been the first time he'd seen them since he and Ginny had left the reception, and they both had welcoming hugs for him.

"We're not going to get there with much time before it starts," Mrs. Weasley said, and Harry nodded.

"I'm hoping if we get there just as they start, the press will be too busy to notice us, since there really won't be a lot of spectators compared to a game day, and from what I'm told, the teams will be introduced in alphabetical order, so we won't miss anything important."

"Where Ginny?" Teddy asked, looking around for her, and Harry smiled at him.

"She's already left, Teddy. You'll see her a bit later this morning, okay?"

"Okay!" Teddy agreed happily.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were ready to go, so they all left for the Stadium, and they did manage to get seated just before the members of this season's Appleby Arrows were introduced. The team manager had been called out first, and he did the actual introductions to the press corp. and somewhere around five or six hundred spectators that were mostly family, friends, and some die-hard Quidditch fans. Teddy was excited, and bounced in Harry's lap as he watched the first players fly out into the stadium, fly around, and land on the stage after being introduced. The Appleby Arrows logo and colors covered the backdrop to the stage while they were introduced, and then after their team players and manager had been introduced, as they left the stage, the backdrop was changed, and the Ballycastle Bats were introduced by their manager next.

While Teddy was fired up and happy to watch all of the players, Harry and his in-laws were waiting excitedly for it to be Ginny's turn to be introduced. Their excitement continued to build, as the introductions for the Bats was followed by those for the Caerphilly Catapults, Chudley Cannons, and Falmouth Falcons before it was finally time for 'their' team.

"Here we go," Mrs. Weasley whispered nervously.

The dark green team colors, and the golden talon Harpies' logo was now displayed on the stage backdrop, and then Glynnis Griffiths was introduced as team manager, walking out onto the stage and waving to the crowd. She was smiling brightly, and looked really fired up as she stepped to the podium. Glynnis started with introducing team Captain Gwenog Jones first, and she flew out into the stadium, doing a wide loop before landing on the stage, looking just as excited as her manager did.

Her Beater partner, Lysa Horton was introduced next, followed by the Harpies' Keeper, Trish Murray, and while Harry had been sure that Ginny would be introduced last, he still felt ready to burst with the anticipation. Valmai Morgan led off the Chaser introductions, and then Harry was doing some extra cheering when his own former teammates, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet were called out for their official debut as team starters. Finally, it was time, and Harry held his breath unconsciously. There seemed to almost be a pause as the crowd quieted, especially among the media. There had been a lot of speculation by the Quidditch pundits over who the new Seeker of the Harpies was going to be, since that's the only thing the Harpies had confirmed – that they did have a new Seeker. Glynnis, and every member of the Harpies team were smiling now, and Harry could tell that they were all looking forward to what was coming next.

"I am personally honored, and the Holyhead Harpies are pleased and excited to announce that our new Seeker for the ninety-nine – two thousand season will be – Ginny Potter!"

There was a moment of stunned silence as Ginny roared out into the stadium, her hair flying behind her, eyes blazing with joy and her smile bright and excited. Then the crowd erupted with cheers, applause, and chatter, with most everyone getting to their feet.

"Ginny!" Teddy exclaimed. "'Dat's Ginny!"

"Surprise," Harry told him as they both waved at her. She wasn't able to pick them out of the crowd while she flew, but after landing next to her teammates on the stage, it only took her a few moments to find Harry, and her smile shot up a few notches when she saw that Teddy and her parents were all there too.

"Did you get a good picture or two?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and Mr. Weasley laughed.

"I'm not sure, since my hands were shaking so badly, but if I didn't, we'll just buy some from the media photographers or buy the posters when they come out."

Ginny's first moments of Quidditch fame didn't last long, and Glynnis led her team from the stage to make way for the Kenmare Kestrels team, though the press corp. as a whole seemed suddenly uninterested in the proceedings. There were still seven more teams to be introduced, and Harry sat down again, holding Teddy in his lap as they watched the rest of the ceremony. He'd enjoyed watching Oliver Wood being introduced as the team Keeper for Puddlemere United, and Teddy had continued to cheer for all of the players. It wasn't long after the Harpies left the stage that Harry was spotted by some members of the press, and he was fairly sure that he and Teddy were being photographed as often as the players were from that point on.

"What's next?" Mrs. Weasley asked after the Wimbourne Wasps had been introduced and the ceremony was over.

"Now the teams each have press meet and greets that'll probably last for most of the morning," Harry answered. "We can go get drinks and a snack, and there are booths set up with this year's lineups of souvenirs and everything that the team sponsors will be selling, like toys and clothing.

"Toys?" Teddy asked, picking up on that right away.

"You bet," Harry agreed. "We probably won't get a chance to talk to Ginny until the luncheon out here on the pitch, so let's go see if we can get some of those toys to play with."

They did that, and had a pretty entertaining hour and a half of shopping before getting drinks and a snack and going to sit down again while they waited for the luncheon to start. Mrs. Weasley was sporting a new gold Harpies pin and had a nice, warm Harpies sweater in one of the bags they had, but it had been the three boys who had picked up the most gear.

"Are you going to put all of those posters up in your bedroom?" Mrs. Weasley asked Harry. "Ginny may love the Harpies, but I'm not sure she'll like having a room full of posters of herself."

"I'll probably put one up in the Library, and another one is for Teddy. The rest are gifts."

"And the toys?" she asked, watching as Harry returned her smile with a boyish grin.

"The toys are definitely for Teddy and I," he admitted. "We got the Chudley Cannons action figures so our Harpies have a team to beat, and give Ron some toys to play with too. I'm sure that Dad got his action figures so he'd have some to play with Teddy when he's over at your house."

"Sure he did," Mrs. Weasley answered. Her little boy was sipping on his drink and playing with his Ginny Potter action figure. "Was there anything you guys didn't buy that had anything to do with the Harpies?"

"I don't think we bought any of the Harpies underwear at that one booth," Harry said with a laugh, "and I didn't get the Harpies hair clips, though I am thinking about going back for them, and getting a set for Nathan's daughter."

"Didn't you get her one of the Ginny dolls already?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"And several outfits to go with it," Mrs. Weasley added.

"Okay, so maybe I don't need to go back for them," he conceded.

They sat and talked until the buffet tables that had been set up started being loaded down with food and drinks, while all of the players and managers of the thirteen teams, along with the press corp. came out onto the pitch from where they'd been doing interviews in different rooms around the stadium. It took her a few minutes to get to them, but Ginny's first stop was to meet with her husband, parents, and Teddy.

"We can't all sit together," she told them, "but Glynnis would like you and Dad to sit with her for lunch," she told her mother. She laughed when she saw the reaction from both of her parents, and hugged them each again. "Harry and Teddy are stuck at a table with me and probably some other VIP guests, so you've probably got the better of the two deals."

"I'm sure we'll all have fun," Mrs. Weasley told her. "You looked amazing out there, honey. I'm really proud of you."

Ginny hugged her, laughing happily. "Thanks Mum. That really was a lot of fun." She looked at all of the bags they had with them, and smiled at Harry. "Maybe you should send most of this stuff home," she suggested, and then put a hand on his arm and leaned close when he was about to do that. "You might want to at least take your wand out to do that," she whispered. "There are a lot of people watching us right now don't really need to know you can do something like that without it."

Teddy wanted to keep his Ginny Potter action figure, and Harry kept the Angelina, Alicia, and Oliver Wood dolls and action figure out that he'd planned on giving his friends, and then sent everything else on to their home, while Mrs. Weasley did the same with the things she and Mr. Weasley had picked up, though he'd kept his action figure too, slipping it into his robe pocket. Ginny introduced her parents to Glynnis and all of her teammates before leaving them with her manager and then moving on with Harry and Teddy to fill up plates, get drinks, and then sit down at the table they'd been assigned. They had six very happy kids and teens with them for lunch, along with three parents and one grandfather, each of them executives or owners of sponsor companies.

Watching Ginny doing things like signing autographs for those kids, which she happily did along with sharing hugs and kisses too, had been a lot of fun for Harry. The kids had been a bit shy around him at first, but soon got over that, and he was happy to just be one of the guys at the table, while Ginny was the center of most of the attention. There was more mingling after lunch for another hour or so to give the players time to meet with as many fans as they could, and then the event wrapped up, and the teams would all be going on to begin their actual training camps at their practice pitches.

"Glynnis told us we'll just be doing a meeting this afternoon," Ginny told Harry as she did the round of goodbye hugs and kisses with him, Teddy, and her parents. "I should be done by around five o'clock."

"Since you're not actually doing a workout, why don't we have your Mum and Dad over for dinner, and I can see if Ron and Hermione would like to come too," he suggested.

"Count us in," Mrs. Weasley told them when Ginny looked at her with the unspoken question. "What time would you like us to come over?"

"Let's say five-thirty, and dinner at six," Harry decided. "That way Ginny will have time to grab a shower and change after work if she wants."

"That sounds great," Ginny agreed. "I've got to go now. Thanks for coming today, and I'll see you in a few hours."

"Have fun," Harry told her as she hugged him one more time too. "I love you."

"Love you!" Teddy added, as he giggled, since he was in the middle of that hug.

"I love both of you too," she told them, and then she really needed to get going, since the rest of her team was waiting for her now.

Harry dropped Teddy off with Andromeda after stopping at home first to go through the bags of purchases they'd made to get the rest of the things he'd gotten for Teddy, and the Harpies pin they'd gotten for Teddy to give to his grandmother. She'd thought the news about Ginny's new job had been great, and had sent Harry off with a hug to pass on to his wife. From there, he'd gone on to Auror Headquarters, where he'd dropped off the gifts he'd picked up for Nathan and Christine's kids, along with inviting Ron to the last minute dinner plans. Ron had used his two-way mirror to confirm that plan with Hermione, and then Harry had been off and running again, wanting to pick up a few things for that dinner.

"How does it feel to suddenly be famous and the most talked about Quidditch story in the Wizarding World, Mrs. Potter?" Hermione asked as Ginny invited her and Ron into the house and hugged each of them.

"It's been a bit overwhelming, but I am having fun," she answered. "Come on in. Mum and Dad are already here, and by the time we set you up with drinks, dinner should be ready. Long day at work, Ron?"

"Long enough," he agreed. "Once word about you being the Harpies new Seeker got around, I could hardly go anywhere without being asked questions. It was fairly annoying."

Ginny laughed. "Maybe you should have taken a couple of days off too," she suggested. "I'll be old news by the middle of the week."

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Ron asked, looking amused. "I'd guess that you'll be a top story at least for the entire season."

"That's a cheery thought," Harry told him, having heard the last comment as Ron and the two girls had walked into the kitchen. "Hopefully Ginny will have better luck with the media than I have."

"That wouldn't take much," Ron joked. "Hi Mum; Dad. How was your first official day as the proud parents of a Quidditch superstar?"

"We're the proud parents of all our kids," Mrs. Weasley told him, "and we've had a really good day." She smiled at Ginny. "Coming here for our first dinner at Ginny and Harry's house is taking some getting used to, but we are having fun."

"It's probably fun having just the two of you home at the Burrow too," Ginny suggested, and her mother and father both laughed, while Ron groaned.

"Oi, Ginny. Please stop that. We haven't eaten yet, and I'd hate to lose my appetite."

"Like that'd ever happen," Ginny countered. "Let's get you some drinks, and then we can sit down to eat."

Their first little dinner party wasn't anything big and fancy, but Harry and Ginny both thought that it went pretty well, and they'd all enjoyed themselves through dinner and during the short visit they had sitting outside in the garden until it was getting close to Ginny's training curfew bedtime. Ron, Hermione, and their parents had left for London and the Burrow respectively, and Harry and Ginny were in bed with ten minutes to spare.

"I'm all for this going to bed with you early every night, but you're supposed to actually go to sleep now, aren't you?" Harry asked as Ginny snuggled close to him.

"The rules don't say that explicitly," Ginny answered before sharing a very sweet, suggestive kiss with him. "I'm not at all tired right now, so maybe we should just find something to do that will help make me sleepy."

"We can definitely do that," Harry agreed before enthusiastically helping his beautiful wife to make that suggestion a pretty great reality.

Ginny woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen, and smiled happily as she took a little time to enjoy the moment before getting out of bed and going to bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work. It had taken quite a while before she had been tired out enough to sleep, and while she definitely hadn't gotten as much rest as she was supposed to, she was feeling great, and really fired up.

"You look amazing," Harry told her when she came into the kitchen and she went over to share a long hug and kiss with him. "Is calling in sick an option?" he asked. "I could keep you in bed all day and nurse you back to health."

"No, it isn't," she answered, "and while that would be a pretty great way to spend the day, I really am excited about getting started with the real training today." She kissed him again, and then laughed when he gently pushed her away.

"We'd better stop that, or you really might end up being late," he warned her, his smile and eyes both bright and amused. "Grab a drink, sit down, and breakfast will be served in a minute."

At that point, Ginny had about forty-five minutes before she needed to leave for the Harpies training pitch, and while they ate, she and Harry mostly talked about Quidditch and what the training was going to be like. When it was time for her to go, they shared a really great goodbye hug and kiss that Ginny was still smiling about when she walked into the Harpies' change room with her equipment bag slung over her shoulder. Gwenog was the only other Witch there so far, and she nodded approvingly.

"I couldn't get Glynnis to take another lunch bet with me, but I'm glad to see that you didn't let that new husband of yours keep you from being here early," she told Ginny.

"He did joke about having me call in sick," Ginny said with a laugh, "but if anything, Harry is more likely to be the one making sure that I get to work and do everything I'm supposed to do. I think he's memorized all of the team rules and the entire diet plan."

Gwenog nodded. "Good. Then you can concentrate on Quidditch. Why don't you get ready, and we'll go start warming up while we're waiting for the rest of the team."

Glynnis had told Ginny that she wouldn't be at the stadium for the first couple of hours each day. She worked at the office in Holyhead first, while Gwenog ran the team through their daily workout, and then joined the team for the rest of the day to work on the rest of their training. Ginny quickly put her equipment on, grabbed her broom, and went out onto the pitch with Gwenog.

"Let's see what you've got," Gwenog said, and they were both smiling as they got on their brooms.

Ginny didn't have time to answer, since Gwenog shot into the air, and she needed to take off after her. The smile never left her face, and her eyes blazed with the competitive fire that was always there when she played Quidditch. Both Witches were having fun as Gwenog used every trick she knew to try and lose Ginny, without having any luck.

"Is that the best you can do?" she called back, and Ginny laughed even as she poured it on, and passed Gwenog to take the lead and then try to shake her Captain from the chase.

They both lost track of time, and when Ginny finally did shake her with the one-eighty flip, they were surprised to hear the applause of the rest of their team, who were all on the pitch now, and looking like they were all really enjoying the show.

"Okay ladies," Gwenog shouted. "Playtime's over. Time to get to work."

She and Ginny both landed, and within a couple of minutes, Gwenog had her team starting the physical fitness part of their daily workouts. Angelina and Alicia had gone through it with Ginny, so she did know what to expect, but it was still a difficult hour-long routine. They had a five minute break after that, with orders to take in lots of water, and then Gwenog ordered them into the air for a flying exercise that was another hour of hard work, and Ginny loved every minute.

"If there isn't a team rule against smiling this far into the workout, I'd like to propose we add one," Angelina told her teammates, shaking her head at Ginny, who was the only Witch other than Gwenog who wasn't sitting on the ground sucking in air and water in nearly equal amounts as they caught their breath.

"Maybe compared to keeping, um, up with the most powerful Wizard in the world, this isn't that tough," Alicia suggested with a sly smile.

"I'd say that it's more likely that he has to work hard to keep up with her," Angelina countered pointedly while Ginny and the rest of their team laughed.

"There is probably nothing I can say to either of those comments, but I don't mind telling you that I have not been disappointed with married life so far."

"Those of us who are still single are glad to hear that," Lysa told her. "What hope would we have if even the Chosen One was a dud?"

"While I'm sure that talking about Ginny's sex life would be fascinating ladies, it's time for bludger practice, so get up, on your brooms, and in the air," Gwenog ordered.

There were a few groans as they got up, and more than a few groans going on by the time bludger practice was over forty minutes later, Gwenog ordering everyone to land after Glynnis arrived. Ginny was still smiling, and wasn't one of the women doing the groaning, though she did have a couple of bruises to prove that she hadn't escaped that part of the training unscathed. There was a reason why Gwenog and Lysa were considered two of the best Beaters in the league.

"Ginny and I started the day out with a little play time, so we're a few minutes short on the bludger practice, but other than that, the workout went about as expected for a first day," Gwenog reported.

"Your expectations were pretty low, so that's not saying much," Glynnis told her. "Stop groaning, keep drinking water, and catch your breath. We're just getting started, and it's a long season." She focused on Ginny and nodded curtly. "Apparently some of you are having too much fun. I'll see what I can do about that before we're done for the day."

Glynnis gave them a few minutes more, and then sent them up in the air to spend an hour and a half on a practice game. For most of the team, that included a lot of instruction on using or developing formations and plays, while Ginny and her reserve Seeker counterpart, Melissa Maddock, pretty much just had to deal with bludgers and competing against each other to find and catch the snitch. While Gwenog and Lysa certainly made life interesting for Ginny, the one thing she was not happy with was that Melissa was not nearly as competitive as she had expected that even a reserve Seeker would be for a professional team. In that hour and a half, Ginny outraced Melissa to the snitch four times, and for two of them, Melissa was nowhere near to even attempt to block her from the catch.

They were given an hour for lunch, and then spent the entire afternoon in the air except for two short breaks. That time was split up between working in groups, with the Chasers, Keepers, Beaters and Seekers each teaming up for different exercises, and another hour and a half long game practice where Ginny put up another three catches against Melissa, who hadn't caught the snitch even once all day.

"She's still smiling," Angelina said as they walked off the pitch after Glynnis finally released them for the day.

"We'll see how she is in the morning," Trish Murray suggested. The Harpies' Keeper wasn't smiling, and was limping slightly as they walked. "I can barely crawl out of bed most days for the first week or two of training camp."

"I'm exhausted and sore too," Ginny told them, "but this has also been one of those best days ever, so if they're all like this, don't expect the smile to be going away anytime soon."

Her smile was still there when she got home to find that Harry had dinner ready for her, and she told him all about her day while they ate. Then there was the long soak in the magical Jacuzzi, which had been wonderful, but by then, Harry had needed to help her get in and out of the tub, and help her dry off as the soreness she'd been warned about set in, and the exhaustion caught up with her. Harry helped her into bed; and the last thing she remembered was the first five or ten minutes of the massage he'd started before she fell asleep.

"Way to go," Harry complimented himself. "The good news is that you've got the beautiful, sexy girl that you love naked in your bed, but the bad news is that she's out for the count."

He marveled at the feel of her silky skin as he continued to massage and caress her, and while she wasn't consciously feeling the soreness anymore, he could feel it within her, and as he massaged her, he gently let his magic flow into her too, not really even thinking about it as he healed and restored her from head to foot. That hadn't been at all unpleasant for him, and while having a little play time with Ginny might have been more fun, he was content to wrap his arms around her after he'd finished the massage, kiss her goodnight, and drift off to sleep too.

"I hate you, Ginny Potter," Alicia said as Ginny landed after seeing Alicia and the rest of the team walking out onto the pitch. Gwenog had been there early too, but had been doing some paperwork, so Ginny had gone out to the pitch to start warming up while she waited for practice to start. "How can you possibly look so happy if you're even close to as sore as I am this morning?"

"That's easy," Ginny answered. "I'm not sore at all. In fact, I feel amazing, so that's probably why I'm looking so happy."

"Unless you give up your secret for that, the rest of us are going to hate you too," Lysa half-joked, and Ginny laughed.

"I'd tell you if I could, but I don't know. I was so sore last night that Harry had to help me in and out of the bath, and into bed. I fell asleep a few minutes after he started giving me a massage, and the next thing I remember is waking up this morning, and feeling great."

"That must have been some massage," Angelina suggested. "Would it be wrong to ask if we could all come over and find out first hand why they're so special?"

Ginny laughed again. "Yes, it would be," she confirmed, "and no, you can't all come over and get massages from my husband."

"Chat time's over, ladies," Gwenog told them. "Let's get to work."

While the second full day of training did have variations that kept the workouts fresh and interesting, the exercises were just as difficult, and everyone on the team, including Ginny, were again tired and sore by the end of the day. Ginny was happy and grateful to again come home to dinner, bath, and massages both on Wednesday and Thursday night, and she was just as happy and excited about her new job by Friday morning as she'd been all week.

"I'm going to miss all of that extra pampering now that you're starting back to work today," she lamented as she and Harry were having breakfast. "You're probably ready to get back to work, though."

Harry smiled at her, his eyes mesmerizing as they sparkled in the morning sunlight streaming through the kitchen windows. "I'd have no problem staying home and taking care of you forever," he countered. "Since that's not an option though, I will still find a way to fit in as much pampering for you as I can manage around both of our jobs."

"Do you expect to get teased much today?" Ginny asked, and Harry nodded and laughed.

"That's one of the reasons I wanted to go back today. Maybe by Monday they'll be done having their fun, and let me get back to work."

Harry left for work first, and while there weren't very many Wizards or Witches at Auror Headquarters yet, he was kept entertained right from the time he arrived. There were Ginny Potter posters in every cubicle, and several comedians had added the caption 'Desirable Number One' and put his own old 'Undesirable Number One' poster next to it. There were Ginny Potter action figures walking around on desks, or occasionally sent flying to buzz past him. Ron, Dan, and Reggie led the comedic assault on their fellow Auror, though by the end of the day, Harry was fairly sure that nearly everyone at the Ministry had enjoyed a laugh or two over the jokes and pranks that followed him everywhere he went. He did manage to get a little research work done at his desk, but by the end of the day, he was ready to go home, and enjoy the weekend with Ginny and their family.

"When we all get back here on Monday, I want everyone to put there toys away so we can get to work again," Nathan told everyone; smiling and waving toward the Ginny Potter doll – action figure – that was currently walking around on his desk as they started their wrap-up meeting. "We're ready to get started on the field work for this investigation, and we're all going to need to be very careful from here on in."

"Aw Dad, you're no fun at all," Dan complained. "We were expecting to milk this to entertain ourselves for the whole Quidditch season."

Nathan nodded. "I'm sure you still will – just don't plan on having that fun when we all need to get focused on the job. Christine, why don't you go over the assignments now, and hopefully we'll be out of here soon, and can get the weekend started."

"We've all got the latest updates for the files," Christine began. "Emma's approved our plan to work in pairs, though if anyone needs extra help with any part of your assignments we'll deal with that as needed. Josh and Neville, you've got the group in Wizengamot Administration. Reggie, we want you and Dan to take the suspects in the Magical Creatures department. Emma thinks that Harry and Ron are the only two of us crazy enough to go after the big guns, so we're going to let them, while Nathan and I are going to deal with the problems here in Law Enforcement."

"What about the other cases?" Neville asked.

"We'll move along with them as we can add them," Nathan answered. "You all know exactly what we're looking for now, and I expect we're going to all be putting in long days from now until we wrap this up and deliver it to Minister Shacklebolt."

"Which is an even better reason to enjoy this weekend; since it could be our last for a while," Josh added.

They spent another twenty minutes going over everything Nathan wanted them to discuss, and then he dropped the shields he'd used to keep their meeting private, and they all started getting ready to head home for the weekend. Harry straightened up his cubicle first, and picked up the files for the suspects that he and Ron had been assigned so he could read them again over the weekend, and by the time he left, Ron was long gone. He stopped to say goodbye to Neville, Nathan, and Christine, and then left for home too.

"You get the weekend off?" Ginny asked. Harry was just wrapping up telling her about his day while they worked together on making dinner; and he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, other than going over my case files, but this could be the last break we get for a while. I'm sure that Ron and I will be working long shifts starting on Monday. Do you have a lot of work to do?"

"I've got the team play book to study, and on Saturday, I'll be with the team doing an appearance for a team sponsor in the morning, and a press interview after lunch. We should be done that by three, and other than the studying, I have Sunday off."

"Why do I get the very strong feeling that we're going to be finding very little you and me time in our near future?"

"Because you already know what your job is like, and you've just realized that my schedule is going to be six and seven days a week too?" Ginny guessed, and they both laughed.

"I did happen to notice last year that Quidditch teams did play a lot of Saturday games, but I wasn't thinking about all of the work with your sponsors and the press."

"We'll be getting schedules each month for most of the commitments, so hopefully we'll be able to plan some 'us' time around that, and Gwenog did tell me that they try to take most Sundays off."

"Here's hoping that the bad guys cooperate, and I can take some of those Sundays off with you. Are we going with the early bath and bedtime again tonight? You look like you're just as sore as you've been every day since Tuesday."

Ginny smiled at him, and her eyes flashed excitedly.

"The bath and early bedtime works for me, but I've got other plans for you and me after the massage that definitely does not include going to sleep any time soon." That comment had both of them smiling, and though they did enjoy themselves while having dinner, and then cleaning up from their meal, the rest of their evening was another brilliant, remember-forever kind of nights.

In the morning, after enjoying some more bathroom multi-tasking and play time together, Harry went downstairs to cook breakfast, while Ginny got ready for her sponsor and media events. He was fairly sure that he hadn't stopped smiling since the last time he'd been in the kitchen making a meal, and when Ginny walked into the kitchen, that smile brightened considerably.

"Do you really have to go out today?" he asked, and Ginny laughed as she walked over to him, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. "When did you learn how to do your own hair like that? You look amazing."

"Robin doesn't have time to do our hair for every event we have, so she teaches us how to do our own hair, though we do have to keep the hairstyles she's come up with for us."

"I don't have a problem with that last part if Robin keeps coming up with styles that make you look so gorgeous," Harry told her, and she laughed happily and kissed him again.

"Neither do I," she agreed. "Gwenog told me that the only exception the team ever made to that rule was for a Metamorphmagus; and that was only because her best style was to never know what she'd look like from one day to the next. I guess that sometimes she even changed several times during a game just to try and mess with their opponent."

"I take it that was a while ago, since I don't remember hearing anything about that before now."

Ginny nodded. "It was, but there isn't anything that Gwenog doesn't know about the Harpies. She looked at her watch, and Harry smiled and nodded.

"I know, and breakfast is nearly ready to go. If you want to pour the drinks and set the table, I'll be done by the time you are."

"What are you going to do while I'm busy?" Ginny asked after they were sitting down and eating.

"I'm going to work around the house and yard, and then I'll probably go do some shopping for groceries and a few other things we need. Is there anything you'd like to do tonight or tomorrow?" He laughed at the fiery look in her eyes, and Ginny laughed too.

"Yes, and when we're not doing that, maybe you could see if Ron and Hermione would like to do dinner with us, or maybe go out tonight, and tomorrow, I'd like to play a little Quidditch."

"Isn't five days a week of that enough?" Harry joked, and Ginny laughed again.

"I've mentioned, probably several times a day, that I'm not all that happy with competing against our reserve team Seeker," she reminded him. "While I don't know how you and I stack up against the best Seekers in the league yet, I am sure that if I want to be ready to play, I need more competition, and if we can do it, come up with some new tricks for me to use."

"I'll check in with them and ask, and we can work on the Seeker practice tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have after that over the three weeks you have until the season opens."

Ginny didn't have much time before she needed to get to Holyhead to meet up with the rest of the team, so she ate quickly, spent a few really great minutes saying goodbye to Harry, and then left him to get to work, while she went to play with her new friends. Harry cleaned up from breakfast first, spent a little time with Storm and Snowflake, and then got started on the house and yard work. With nobody around, he could kick his magic into high gear, and by eleven o'clock, he had the house cleaned, the laundry done, the grass clipped, and the gardens weeded and looking great. He had another shower, got ready to go out, and headed to Diagon Alley to get started on the shopping.

"Hey Ron, Hermione," he said; smiling as he walked up to them in the store and then hugged Hermione. "You did know this was a grocery, didn't you?" he asked Ron. "I didn't expect to see you in here." Ron didn't look particularly excited to be there; and Hermione laughed.

"We're going to try something new, and Ron's actually going to have some real food at his flat, instead of just stocking the place with drinks and munchies. Don't fall down from the shock, but some cleaning and laundry got done there this morning too."

"No wonder you look like that," Harry joked, and Ron grumbled something under his breath that Hermione pointedly ignored. "I'm glad we met up. Ginny wanted me to ask you if you'd like to get together later today for dinner, or maybe go out somewhere tonight if you're not already booked. She's working 'til about three or so."

"We were going to see a movie tonight," Hermione answered. "Do you think Ginny would like to do that?"

"Probably," Harry agreed. "If you don't have dinner plans, why don't you come over to our place for around five, and we'll eat there, and then go to the movies after that?"

"I was going to do a cooking lesson with Ron, but since he's got that 'dodged a curse' look on his face now, dinner at your place sounds great too."

Ron laughed and hugged her. "Thanks mate," he told Harry. "The only part of today that wasn't looking bad for me was going to the movies tonight."

Harry laughed. "Really? Why do I have a problem believing that?"

Ron blushed and grinned ruefully; and Hermione laughed. "Time for a subject change," she decided. "Since we've met up with you anyway, I wanted to let you know that I've decided to take that flat on the second floor, so if you can get the paperwork to me, I'm hoping to get moved in by the time I start my new job at the Ministry."

"I've got them at home, so you can go over them when you and Ron come over later," Harry told her. "The good news is that you're about to have a new neighbor, Ron, and the bad news is that you and I will be drafted to help with the work whenever we can over the next two weeks."

Ron rolled his eyes and groaned. "You don't have to sound so happy about that," he complained. "What's the point of having a job and moving away from home if we just work all of the time?"

Hermione winked at Harry. "That's a really good point, Ron. Maybe I should forget about the whole idea, and just stay at home with my parents for a few more years."

Harry laughed, and after a moment, Ron joined in; knowing he'd just been conversationally check-mated. "Forget I said anything, and we'll help out whenever we can," he told Hermione, and she hugged and kissed him.

"Good choice, though I wasn't serious about staying at home. I love my parents, but living here, where we can do magic whenever we want without worrying about being seen by Muggles is going to be brilliant. Even living out where they are, Harry and Ginny have to keep their place protected with Muggle-repelling charms all the time."

"I'm happy with having a flat here too – especially the not having all of the yard and garden work to do like they have there, or back home at the Burrow."

"Flowers!" Hermione exclaimed, and Ron groaned. "That's what you need – some flowers for the front window and in the sunroom."

"When am I going to learn to keep my big mouth shut?" Ron asked himself. Harry and Hermione both laughed, and she hugged and kissed him.

"Hopefully not anytime soon," Harry told him. "These little moments are always very entertaining for the rest of us, and we'd miss them a lot."

They talked for a few more minutes, and then Harry got back to his shopping. The rest of his afternoon was pretty much all work, and after getting the groceries put away, he worked on his case files until Ginny got home. They both took a break and she told him about her day while they had drinks and a snack, and then, while she went upstairs to get ready for a movie night out, he got started on making dinner by shortly after four.

Ginny was ready and helping in the kitchen by the time Ron and Hermione got there, and for the second time in the day, Harry was wishing that he could just keep her to himself, and hadn't made plans to go out instead. The two couples did still have a lot of fun, and while Ron had a lot of jokes about The Mummy, and it had been completely unbelievable for any Witch or Wizard who knew what Mummies were really like, they had all enjoyed the show. Finally having Ginny all to himself after they'd gone home, and the play time they'd ended their night with, had been brilliant, though they'd both been exhausted and ready to sleep by the time they did snuggle close in their bed and get to that.

"Ready to play?" Ginny asked as she and Harry stopped near the back of their yard where they were going to have their little Seeker duel. He laughed and hugged her.

"Sure, but we could have stayed inside to do that," he joked.

"We'll make time for some more of that kind of playing later too," she assured him; laughing too. She held up the snitch she was carrying, and then let it go before putting her arms around Harry, and kissing him rather soundly. Jumping on her broom, she was laughing again as she took off, while he needed to take a moment to recover before getting on his broom and chasing after her.

"I'd think that the other Seekers will figure out a defense for the one-eighty flip fairly soon," Harry suggested after Ginny had done that, and caught the snitch. "The Beaters will definitely try timing a counter-attack, and you're vulnerable during, and just after, the flip."

Ginny nodded, and he smiled at the fire he saw in her eyes as she pulled her broom close to his. "Any ideas on what to do about that?"

"We've pretty much done this one way so far, and it may take a while for teams to come up with a counter until they've seen it for a while, but we should start working on it, and thinking, in three dimensions."

"And not always directly back toward the snitch," Ginny added. She put the snitch in her pocket. "Let's just try working on that for a while, and see what we can come up with."

They worked on that for about a half hour, and when they went back to chasing the snitch, Harry was able to pull the flip after a steep dive to make a catch. With both of them trying to do it, there were a couple of minor crashes too as they ran into each other, and in one attempt, Ginny went into a vertical flat-spin to block Harry while catching the snitch as she rotated around it.

"That's a great move!" he told her enthusiastically. "You should show that to Hermione, and have her work out the best angles to take for trying that one."

"Thanks, and I'll do that," Ginny said excitedly; flying close and then hugging and kissing him. "I'd like to try that a couple more times, and get at least one flip right, but then we can wrap it up for today."

Doing that took another forty-five minutes, and then they had a little more play time that was a lot wet, and more than a little wild before having lunch together at a table in the back yard. They spent most of the afternoon in the sitting room, with Harry going over his case files while Ginny did her play book homework, and then they went over to the Burrow to have dinner with their parents, and spending a few hours visiting with them. Ginny had a training curfew, and Harry made sure they were home with time to spare, though she had other ideas about what they should do once they got there that kept them both from getting to sleep on time. Since her ideas, and the reality, were quite brilliant, Harry had no problem going along with her alternate bedtime activities instead of the team approved program.

"You look way happier than I feel," Ron told Harry when they met up at Auror Headquarters just before six o'clock on Monday morning. "While I'm trying not to think about that, though, I do want to remind you that I never, ever want to know any details about why you're so happy, and you know what I mean by that."

"Yes I do," Harry agreed with a nod, "and I have no problem with that, or with you doing the same."

"Deal," Ron said with a relieved sigh.

"Why are you so out of sorts?" Harry asked.

"You mean other than because it's six in the morning?" Ron countered. "While some of us were playing Quidditch and having fun yesterday, Hermione wanted to get started on her place, and had me working or shopping most of the day."

"Two of your least favorite things to do," Harry added, and Ron nodded glumly.

"Exactly. Can you remind me again why I've got a girlfriend instead of being free and having fun like George does?"

"Because you love Hermione; she's one of the most amazing, beautiful, and brilliant Witches in the world; and you're as lucky to have her as I am to have Ginny," Harry supplied helpfully. "George would probably trade places with you in a second."

Ron laughed. "Oh yeah, that's why, and you're scaring me, since he's basically told me that a few times too."

"I'm sure he's mostly kidding," Harry said. "We should probably get started. I want to be in place before our suspect gets to his office. What are you going to do – and don't even think about being an office chair for one of the Witches."

"Darn; and I thought it was such a good plan," Ron joked. "My plan B includes some random disguises, hiding out in closets or storage rooms, and maybe using a pair of extendable ears to do a little eavesdropping."

"That works, and sounds like more fun than hiding under my cloak and probably doing nothing but standing around in offices or one of the courtrooms all day."

Ron nodded. "Probably," he agreed. "Maybe it'll get more interesting when we're watching him after work."

"We can hope," Harry agreed. "Let me throw my cloak on, and we'll get going."

He did that, and they got to work. Even though Harry expected a lot of the work in the next few weeks would be tedious, he really was glad to be doing surveillance again instead of digging through mounds of parchment. He and Ron really had been given the big fish to track, and they were starting out with Elder Anthony Timms. Gawain Robards had done nothing with the investigation into the Elder, and Harry, Ron, and their team had started from scratch with the case. They had a lot of suspicions and circumstantial evidence, but they needed more, and Harry promised himself that they would get it, and that Elder Timms would not get away with his involvement in trying to assassinate Kingsley, or any of the other crimes they were sure now that he'd been involved with – including things like accepting bribes to find defendants in his trials either innocent, or give them extremely lenient sentences.

Harry's plan was to shadow Timms, and though his office would be locked now, he didn't expect to have any problems getting into the room when Timms went in, or at worst, with his assistant or a visitor. He was a little surprised when the man showed up shortly before seven, but when Timms left the door open, and Harry was able to silently walk into the spacious room, and moved into an out-of-the-way spot along the far wall. Since the staff didn't normally get in until eight, he wondered what had brought Timms into the office so early, but it was only a few minutes before he found out the answer, when Pius Thicknesse joined them, and Timms closed the door and put up and imperturbable shield.

"I haven't found out anything new, but Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, and the others are still working on something that the other Aurors aren't being told about," Thicknesse said as he sat down in a chair. "They've been digging through paperwork all over the Ministry."

"So what?" Timms demanded. "Aurors are always doing that, and so ineptly that they couldn't find a clue with a wand in one hand and a torch in the other."

"So what if they're coming after us?" Pius shot back. "Why else would it be so hush-hush if they weren't looking for people inside the Ministry now that they'd picked off most of the others?"

Timms shrugged. "Let them. They'll get nothing on us or any of the others, and even if they tried, we can claim we'd been imperiused." He barked out a coarse laugh. "It worked for you and Yaxley. Not only did the Ministry believed you, but so did the Dark Lord."

"They did, and I didn't mind riding the money train then any more than I mind it now," Thicknesse agreed with a laugh. "Ideals and causes, on both sides, are for morons and fools."

"And those of us smart enough to figure that out make a lot of money regardless of who wins," Timms added with another laugh. "Don't worry about this – or the Aurors. What have we got set up for this week?"

Harry watched as the two Wizards discussed a number of different scams they had on the go; all of which seemed to be very lucrative for them; and for others in the Ministry. They wrapped up by a quarter to eight, and then Thicknesse got ready to leave just as some of the office staff were arriving.

"See you next Monday," Timms told him as they both stood up. "Try not to be too bored working in that cubicle they shoved you in after the war."

Thicknesse laughed. "The job works out perfectly, and certainly makes it easy for us to do whatever we want around here. Half the time, nobody even remembers that I'm still around."

"Which is just the way we all like it," Timms agreed.

Harry was pretty fired up about getting to sit in on that meeting, but that was just the start of a really great day. Timms was sure that he had everything under control, and he was very careful, but his defenses did not anticipate an Auror with a one of a kind invisibility cloak and a top-secret Animagus ability. He stayed in the office whenever Timms was there, and followed him to the courtrooms for two cases. There was a private lunch meeting out that was very interesting, and not nearly as private as Timms and his host thought it was, and after leaving the Ministry shortly after four, Timms did some more running around before heading home.

When Timms got there, Harry was finally able to give Ron a condensed recap of what he'd picked up so far, and then they'd done the dog and owner thing, and scouted the area around Timms' house before picking a stakeout location, and getting ready to watch the place for the evening.

"And you thought that my day was going to be more interesting than yours," Ron told him once he'd told Harry about everything that he'd been doing, and then gotten Harry to go over everything he'd found out again in more detail than they'd been able to do before.

"I'd say that you learned more than you wanted to – especially about some of those Witches, and what they do for entertainment on the weekend," Harry said with a quiet laugh. "Be glad that you're not working with Neville or Josh on their assignment if you think that a couple of conversations like that are bad. They could find themselves in some very uncomfortable situations."

"No doubt," Ron agreed. "So what's the plan now?"

"Let's just keep our eyes open for now and see what, if anything, happens around here," Harry suggested. "I'm thinking that a food run is in order too. I haven't been able to eat anything since breakfast. Want to volunteer for that?"

"Definitely," Ron agreed. "Hermione was going to be working on her place, so I'll stop in and see her, grab something from the café, and be back in a half hour or so."

"Sounds good," Harry said, and handed Ron some money for his food. "There's probably no hurry, since Timms will likely be doing dinner now too, and we haven't seen any guests."

Ron left; and Harry settled in for what he expected would be at least a few more hours of work. There had been no activity around him while Ron was gone, and that had ended up taking closer to an hour. After handing him the bag with a sandwich, some cold vegetables, and a chocolate square, along with a bottle of juice, Ron sat down beside him and got comfortable too.

"Thanks mate. You haven't missed anything. Do I want to know what took you so long, or would that be one of those things we talked about not wanting to know about this morning?"

Ron laughed. "Ginny was over helping Hermione, so I got something to eat for all of us and had dinner with them first. They're out shopping for furniture now, and in case you didn't know yet, you and Ginny are buying some of that furniture for Hermione for a house – or flat – warming present."

"I didn't, but that works, since we did want to get something for her anyway. Was Ginny sore tonight?"

"Hermione was worried that she was, but Ginny said it was a lot better than it was last week. We couldn't tell for sure whether she was just saying that so Hermione would let her stay and help or not, but she did seem to be moving around okay, and she was definitely fired up."

"I don't expect that to change for a while," Harry told him. "If we weren't having so much fun with our jobs, I might have liked giving pro Quidditch a shot."

Ron snorted. "You might have liked the game, but you'd have sucked at the media and sponsor work that goes with the job."

"That's true," Harry conceded. "Ginny is certainly better at that than I could ever hope to be."

"Except for that time she crashed into Smith," Ron said with a grin. "She might not want to try that one at a Harpies game."

They sat and talked Quidditch, and about what the girls were doing with Hermione's place, while Harry ate, and he was just finishing up when the first of several visitors stopped in to see Timms. Two of them were people that were being investigated by their team, and while they didn't know for sure, one or both of them might have one of the other teams following them. Those visits had been spaced out, and by ten o'clock, the lights in the house started going out, so Ron and Harry decided to call it a night. They went back to Auror Headquarters and filled out their reports first, and then Harry went home; getting there shortly before eleven.

"In case you were wondering, Auror stealth techniques do not work on their wives," Ginny said quietly, and Harry laughed.

"So much for not waking you up," he answered, walking over and sitting down on the bed next to her. "How was your day? Did you and Hermione have fun tonight?"

Ginny reached up to hug him and pull him close for a long, soft kiss before answering. "I had a great day at work, and those new moves we worked on yesterday were a big hit when I showed them off today during game practice. Hermione and I picked out her sitting room and bedroom furniture tonight, and she said to tell you thanks for the sofa, chairs, and tables. Her parents are buying her a dining set, and are helping her out with a little start-up loan."

"I didn't really think about that," Harry admitted. "We could have helped her out too."

"She's fine, and thinks you're doing too much already." Ginny smiled up at him. "Why don't you give me a backrub, and I'll try to stay awake while you tell me about your day?"

"So you were a lot more sore than you admitted to Ron and Hermione," Harry deduced, and Ginny laughed.

"Well, it isn't as bad as last week, like I told them, but I am still really sore."

Harry nodded. "I've been going for seventeen hours, so let me grab a quick shower, or you'll wish I had before your massage is done, and then I'll get right to that."

He'd only taken about fifteen minutes to do that, but Ginny was sleeping again by the time he joined her, and only woke into a lazy half-awake state while he worked his magic on her as he massaged the aches and pains away. When he was done, they snuggled close, and were both soon out for the count until he needed to get up early again and go back into work, while Ginny stayed in bed until she needed to get up and ready for another busy training day.

That was pretty much Harry's routine for the rest of the week, with the only change coming on Friday, when he and Ron decided to move on to their next suspect after Harry spent Thursday evening in Elder Timms' home, and picked up the last pieces of information they needed to nail down his case. While he was working long days, Ginny was busy too. She had long, tough workouts each day, and helped Hermione nearly every night of the week. Instead of going home and cooking for one, she had dinner out every night, including meals at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur, at the Burrow with her parents, and a meal at the Leaky with Hermione and most of her Harpies teammates.

Harry and Ron were working all weekend, though they did wrap up on Sunday in time to have dinner with the girls. Ginny had two sponsor store appearances, and a live WWN interview to do on Saturday, and then he'd continued helping Hermione when she wasn't working on Saturday evening and most of the day on Sunday. After having dinner together at one of the cafés in Diagon Alley, Harry and Ginny spent their only evening off in a week playing Quidditch until just before her team curfew, and then catching up on some long overdue adult-rated play time.

"You made it!" Ginny said as she met Harry in the front hallway to share a long hug and kiss with him.

"Ron's still on the stakeout, but nothing was going on, and I really wanted to go to St. Mungo's with you tonight. I'll need to get back there after we're done."

"I've got Neville's gift and the card ready, so let's go, and we can have a little visit with his parents before you need to do that. Have you had any new breaks?"

"Nothing big, but this is only our second day with this guy, and we are learning a lot," Harry answered.

"I was hoping you'd find a way to wrap up your investigations by Saturday, so we can celebrate your birthday."

Harry shrugged and shook his head. "I'd like that too, but I hope you didn't make plans, since we're not going to be done for a while yet, and Ron and I will probably be working all weekend again."

"That sucks, but doesn't surprise me," Ginny said, and he followed her into the kitchen, where she had Neville's gift and card on the table; which she picked up and handed to him before grabbing her shoulder bag. "I've got to work on Saturday too, but I was hoping for a little quality you and me time, even if we can't go out and celebrate."

"The job will get better, and we won't need to work day and night forever," Harry reminded her – and tried to convince himself that it was true. "We can't really start fixing things before we finish taking out the trash first, though."

Ginny laughed. "See what you can do about speeding that up a bit," she suggested. "We'll have a lot more fun around here once you have more time to spend with me."

"Sure, and then you'll be into Quidditch season, and be on the go all of the time instead," Harry teased, and Ginny laughed again and hugged and kissed him.

"I'm sure we'll eventually figure out a way to juggle everything and still have enough time for us too," she predicted.

They left the house, apparated to St. Mungo's, and were soon sitting in chairs between the two beds that Neville's parents were in. Alice and Frank were both sitting up, and while she smiled and watched them, he looked their way with unseeing eyes. Alice had held her arms out to welcome them with hugs; which the Witch in charge of the ward told them that she did regularly now.

"I expected it would be you." Harry and Ginny both looked around, and Neville's grandmother had just stepped into the room, and was walking toward them.

"Busted," Ginny whispered without moving her lips, and Harry smiled as he stood up and held out his hand.

"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom. How are you doing?" Ginny had stood too, and Augusta shook their hands, but was looking at them sternly.

"I'm not interested in the pleasantries, Mr. Potter," she answered. "What I do want to know is what happened – or what you did – to my son and daughter-in-law last year." He was glad that she'd at least decided to lower her voice so that only they could hear her, and invited her to sit in the chair he'd just vacated, while Ginny sat down again too. "Well?" she continued after sitting down next to Ginny. "I'm waiting."

Harry pulled out his wand, pulled the screens around the two beds, and put up an imperturbable shield before answering. "I probably won't explain this very well, and I hope you'll keep it between the five of us," he began. "Sometimes, I get these insights, and know that certain things are either supposed to happen, or I'm supposed to do something. That happened when Ginny and I came here last year to drop off the present and card for Neville's parents to give him, so I did what I could to help them."

"And what did you do?" she demanded. "How did you do something that the Healers still say is impossible and they can't explain?"

Harry shrugged. "That's the part I won't be able to explain very well, since I don't really understand the how myself. What I did, though, was piece together all of the memories they had of Neville from when he was a baby, right up to his last visit with them before we were here; connected them with Neville's name, and that he was their son, and restored those memories as best I could."

"If you could do that, could you restore their minds completely?" she asked; her expression hopeful and intense.

"Mrs. Longbottom, believe me, if I could give that to Neville, I would in a second, but I can't. I wasn't even sure whether what I did do would make any difference, though when Neville's Mom signed his card 'love Mum and Dad', I was more hopeful that it did help. What they've done over the last year is way beyond anything I expected. I was amazed with what they did last year when you and Neville went to see them on his birthday."

She sat and searched his eyes for a long minute, and he didn't look away. Finally she sighed and looked over at her son; her expression sad and disappointed. "I was so hopeful, and yet was afraid that would be the answer." She looked up at Harry and smiled faintly. "That's why I didn't go to see you and ask before now, and almost didn't come tonight either."

"I'm sorry," Harry told her earnestly, and she waved that away.

"Nothing to be sorry for," she said gruffly. "You did what you could; which was more than anyone else has been able to manage. Neville's lucky to have friends like you." She sighed again and shook her head. "Now if only I could get him to find a decent girlfriend instead of that waitress he's been mooning over – Helga or Hannah or whatever her name is."

"Hannah?" They all turned toward Alice, who was looking at Ginny in confusion.

"He's brought her here, Alice?" Augusta demanded. "Neville's brought Hannah _here?"_ Alice shrank back from her mother-in-law, and Harry and Ginny were both sure that Neville's grandmother said something quite inappropriate under her breath as she took a moment to collect herself. "I'm sorry, Alice. Does Hannah come visit you with Neville often?"

Alice smiled brightly. "Neville loves Hannah," she told them proudly, and Augusta muttered under her breath again.

"That boy and I are going to have a long talk when he gets home tonight. I do believe it's time to put my foot down, and put an end to that foolishness. There is no way that my grandson is going to marry a half-educated, Hogwarts drop-out, penniless tavern wench!" she said forcefully; making Alice shrink back from her again.

"No."

The soft, tenor voice was barely a whisper, and Harry had needed to turn completely around, since he'd reached out to reassure Neville's mother.

"Frank?" Augusta said, jumping to her feet. They could all see that he was looking straight at his mother, and seemed to be really seeing her.

"I-in l-love," he struggled to say, and Harry could tell that he really was fighting hard.

"Balderdash!" Augusta told him. "I'll make sure that your boy finds a suitable girl."

Frank shook his head, just slightly; never taking his eyes from her. "H-he l-loves H-Hannah," he said insistently. "L-let t-them b-be h-happy – f-for m-me."

"That's not fair," she told him; brushing at something that couldn't possibly have been tears on her cheeks.

"C-can't. H-hard. F-for m-me. T-thank-y-you." The thank-you was barely audible, and then Frank was again staring blankly at nothing.

"For me too," Alice said, and Harry, Ginny, and Augusta turned to her again. She was looking at her husband; a sad, wistful expression on her face. "Hannah loves Neville too. She looked at Frank again, and smiled. "Like us."

"I must be going mad to even consider listening to them," Augusta muttered to herself, and Ginny laughed.

"If you think this is strange, try being in love with Harry Potter," she joked, and Augusta looked at her, startled for a moment, and then laughed too. "Mrs. Longbottom, Hannah's a friend, so I am biased, but it's not her fault that her mother was killed by Death Eaters, and she had to leave school and fend for herself after that. She's from a fine, old Wizarding family, and even with everything that happened to her, she's still managed to stay a sweet, gentle, and loving person."

"Not to mention one that stood with all of us at the Battle of Hogwarts," Harry added. "She was one of the DA who answered the call for help."

"I didn't know that," Augusta admitted. "Maybe I should give the girl a chance after all."

"Yes," Alice agreed.

Harry looked at his watch and shook his head. "I'm really sorry, but I need to get back to work. Ginny, can you help Neville's Mum with filling the card out for his present?"

"Present?" Alice asked, and Harry smiled when she handed him a gum wrapper.

"Thank-you, Mrs. Longbottom."

Augusta shook her head. "You're as bad as Neville," she accused, and Harry laughed.

"These wrappers are pure love," he told her; tucking it into a pocket. "Neville and I think that's about the best gift anyone can give us."

"I'll walk you out, and then take care of the card," Ginny told him. She took his hand, and then went out into the hallway, though she needed to assure Professor Lockhart that she'd be right back, and would be happy to get the autographed pictures before she left for the night.

"That was amazing!" she breathed after kissing him.

"Yes it was," he agreed. "Do you think she'll listen to them?"

Ginny nodded. "It may take her a while to come around, but I think that she will." She hugged him tightly, and then kissed him again for a long minute. "I'll see you later when you get home. Be careful out there."

"I will," he promised. They shared a couple more quick kisses, and then Ginny went back into the room, where she spent nearly another half-hour with the Longbottoms, while Harry met back up with Ron at their stakeout, and got back to work.

Harry managed to stay awake long enough to grab a shower and give Ginny her nightly massage after he got home, but then it was lights out for the few hours of sleep he got before getting back to work again on Friday morning. There was a party on Friday night that the Elder they were following was attending, and while he was able to pick up a trove of information, it was after one o'clock on Saturday morning before he got home.

"Happy birthday Harry," Ginny told him. Her smile was brilliant, and her eyes were flashing in the moonlight coming through the bedroom windows as she sat up in bed when he walked into the room. Any traces of exhaustion fled when he saw what she was wearing, and he laughed happily as he walked over, sat down next to her, and they shared a brilliant kiss and hug.

"You're breath-taking," he whispered as he held her close.

"Do you like your present?" she asked, and he laughed again. "I love my present, but before I unwrap it, I should really take a shower."

"I'm fairly sure that your gift is waterproof, so that's not a problem. You can unwrap me – I mean it – in the bathroom instead."

They were both smiling, and Harry stood, and scooped her into his arms; kissing her enthusiastically as he carried her into the bathroom, and then she helped to make a couple of hours of best birthday ever memories before they both really needed to get at least a couple of hours of sleep.

"Did Ginny get you anything cool for your birthday?" Ron asked as he met up with Harry at their stakeout location. He rolled his eyes when Harry laughed and grinned at him.

"Only one that you'd want to hear about," he answered, and then pulled something out of his pocket that he held out to Ron. "Two if you count this."

"Nice collar," Ron said with a laugh. "What was the other gift you can tell me about? Dog biscuits?"

Harry laughed again. "No, but that's pretty funny. She got us a Quidditch set, and a couple of Nimbus brooms for if we have company over to play."

"Okay, that is a pretty cool gift," Ron conceded. "Any guesses on what we're in for today?"

Harry nodded. "We didn't talk about it last night, but Timms is having our guy, and probably the other elders, over to his place this afternoon for a meeting. I didn't catch all of the conversations, but did hear him make one other invitation. When we go over there, you can set up the stakeout in the same place we used before, and I'll go in under the cloak and sit in on that meeting."

"Sounds good. Anything else?"

"Since I know for sure that he'll be leaving then, I'm going to hang out over by the front entrance this morning, and maybe I'll get a chance to get in and see what I can find out in there."

"Alright, but I'll be mad at you if I miss out on following any pretty girls while you're doing that."

"Try to stick with following the pretty girl who's moving into the flat below you this weekend," Harry suggested.

"I'm dating, not dead, mate," Ron groused, and Harry laughed.

"That could change if Hermione catches you mooning over other Witches," he warned.

"Then I'll really have to make sure I don't get caught," Ron said; grinning at his friend.

"And everyone thinks that I'm the crazy risk-taker," Harry countered. "Go figure."

Harry pulled out his cloak, disappeared, and was on his way over to the Elder's house, where he waited for nearly an hour before he got a chance to get inside. He stayed there until their suspect left for the meeting at Timms' house. He spent three entertaining hours there, and then, after following their target and one of the other elders to the other Wizard's home, where the two men had dinner together, Harry joined Ron on their stakeout again after they returned to their morning stakeout spot at about seven-thirty.

"I vote for going back to Headquarters; I'll tell you all about what I found out today while we fill out our reports, and then we should knock off and go home," Harry suggested.

"All those in favor?" Ron joked; raising his hand. "Let's get out of here." Ron checked in with Hermione, and they found out that Ginny was at the flat with her, so when they finished writing their reports, they picked up a pizza, and met the girls there.

"This is a nice surprise," Ginny told Harry as she welcomed him with a hug and kiss. "Did you tuck your bad guy in for the night early?"

"No, I just hit my limit after spending most of the day under my cloak again, and some of the places I was stuck in were really hot."

"Well, come and sit down," she invited; taking his hand, and leading him into the sitting room. "Hermione and I were just opening a bottle of wine when Ron called. Would you like a glass?"

"I'd love one," he agreed. "The place looks great, Hermione. Are you staying here tonight?"

"Thanks, and yes, I am; though Mom and Dad are going to help me move the rest of my things over here tomorrow."

Ron had been busy sharing a long hug and kiss with her, and they were just walking into the sitting room. "You brought a television and DVD player with you?" he asked when he saw them on a stand in one corner.

"Along with the movies I have," she agreed. "I brought my computer too, though I haven't set it up yet. I'll put it in the office.

"Have you developed an appreciation for Muggle movies and television while staying with Hermione and her parents, mate?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded.

"I'd pick Muggle movies or television over Celestina Warbeck on the WWN any day."

"Other than Mum, and Celestina herself, who wouldn't?" Ginny asked. "Is pizza going to be the first food you've had since breakfast, guys?"

"If a muffin and a glass of juice count as breakfast," Harry answered. "Hopefully Ron was able to grab something to eat while I was busy eavesdropping on our suspect and his buddies."

"I only had a sandwich around lunchtime, and a couple of burgers and an order of fries for dinner," Ron told them, and Harry laughed.

"You should have ordered two pizzas," Hermione joked. While Ron sat down, she and Ginny went into the kitchen to get drinks for them, and then they all started in on the pizza, while the two girls told Harry and Ron about what they'd each been doing all day. After that, Hermione and Ron had a birthday present for Harry, and they sat and talked until nearly eleven o'clock. By then, Harry was done in, and after Ginny took him home and he had a quick shower; he was happy to end his nineteenth birthday by snuggling in bed with her, sharing a few soft kisses, and then going off to sleep.

Sunday was Bill and Fleur's second anniversary, but other than taking turns to pop over to the Burrow to congratulate them while they were having dinner with everyone else, including Charlie and Julianne, Harry and Ron had missed all of the fun while they continued their surveillance. There wasn't much action on Sunday, and they didn't get much new information, but if anything, that seemed to make it an even longer, tougher day to get through, and by the time Harry finished writing his report and putting it on Nathan's desk, he was definitely ready for another one of those quick shower and straight to bed and sleep nights.

While he slept, and wasn't thinking or dreaming about anything at all, Ginny was happily wrapped in his arms, but stayed awake for quite a while. For her, the opening weekend of Quidditch season, which was now just six days away, was the biggest thing happening for her personally, and she was getting more excited about that every day. There was a lot beyond that going on too in the coming weeks, with the first thing being Hermione starting her new job at the Ministry in the morning. Her own birthday was coming up fast, and one of the best things, for her, was the impending back-to-school on September first, which, for the first time in her life, would not be a big deal for her at all. As she drifted off to sleep too, she thought about how much had changed in her life, just since finishing school, and she was sure that, even with all of the work she and Harry were busy with, their life together was going to just keep getting brighter and more brilliant.


	20. Quidditch Season Begins

Chapter Twenty – Quidditch Season Begins

"Come in, Ms. Granger," Amos Diggory said as he welcomed her into his office, and shook her hand. "Sit down, and we'll get started."

"Thank-you," Hermione answered as she followed him toward his desk, and then sat down in one of the chairs in front of it, while he sat down behind it again.

She was a half-hour early for this meeting, and she thought that her new boss was pleased about that. He looked almost the same as the last time she'd seen him, though there was a shadow of sadness in his eyes now that reminded her a lot of what she saw in George's eyes. Mr. Weasley had talked with her about Amos, and while she did hope that they would be able to work together, she did expect to be challenging his views on Magical Creatures as she tried to do what she thought was best for House Elves.

"I'm sure that Minister Shacklebolt warned you that there is currently nobody assigned to the House Elf Relocation office, and obviously, House Elf Liason has just one employee as of right now," Amos told her, and Hermione nodded.

"He did," she agreed, "and he also warned me that I'd be fighting for anyone I could get for the office, and would be low priority compared to the needs in other departments."

"Including the other offices in our department," Amos agreed. "We're barely half staffed now, even a year after the war ended. I'm frankly surprised that the Minister wants to push this House Elf Liason through now, but then again, he's making a lot of changes around the Ministry." He paused for a moment, and shook his head slightly.

"Since you're here early, let's just get started." He handed her a file folder, and Hermione opened it up and started reading the top page. "Your first job will be to read up on everything about House Elf laws, and while I've had others take care of any emergency issues with elf relocation, there is a large backlog, and dozens of elves who are currently only temporarily assigned to places like Hogwarts or Azkaban. You'll need to start dealing with them, and in addition to that, Minister Shacklebolt wants a development plan and budget for your Liason office worked out, that I'll need to approve, and on his desk two weeks from today."

"I'm quite familiar with all of the laws pertaining to House Elves, and I've read the procedures and policies on relocations, so I can get started on them right away," Hermione advised him. "What exactly are you and the Minister looking to have included in the development plan, and in how much detail?"

Amos had been pleased with her advance preparation, and they'd spent about another fifteen minutes discussing everything, and then he led her to the new House Elf Liason office. It didn't take him long to show her around, since it was basically an oversized closet or small storage room, and then he left her there to get started on her work, and once she'd seen him out, she sat down at her new desk and stared at the messy stack of files that had pretty much been thrown there over what had probably been the last two years or more. Her 'new' desk, as well as the chair, and the rest of the office furniture in the small room was ancient, dirty, and what little of the top of the desk she could see was deeply scarred from decades or, more likely, centuries of hard use. The old chair had stuffing coming out of it, there was a definite forward and sideways lean, and at least one of the wheels didn't work.

"Welcome to junior management of the least important office in the entire Ministry," she said aloud, and then smiled. "If anyone thinks this will discourage me, then they've obviously never been in Ron Weasley's room at the Burrow or his new flat." She stood up, pulled out her wand, and her first act as the Head of House Elf Liason was to repair the old chair.

While Hermione was getting started with what she thought could be a fairly lonely job for however long it took her to rate getting new staff, Ginny was out on the Harpies practice pitch with her team, and Gwenog was about to get their morning workout started.

"Okay kids, settle down," she told them. "We're down to our last week before our season opener on Saturday, and if you think we've worked hard so far, you haven't seen anything yet!"

"Our rookie is smiling because she doesn't realize that you're not joking," Valmai told Gwenog, who nodded.

"She'll be sure by the end of the day today."

"And still smiling by morning again," Angelina predicted.

"Probably," Gwenog agreed. "Before we get started, I'd like to remind all of you that under no circumstances are any of you to say anything in the interviews we'll all be doing this week that the Wasps can use for motivation. No guaranteeing wins, putting down any of their players, or talking our team up too much. You know how we want to handle the press, so let's stick with the game plan. We'll be doing meetings every afternoon after practice, and you'll all be studying everything we have on the Wasps' players and their coach's past game strategies." She smiled at Ginny. "Yes, you will have homework every night, but curfew is still in effect too, so plan on studying pretty much all of the time you're not sleeping or training."

"Any chance we can adapt our training program to include husbands or significant others?" Ginny joked. "I am a newlywed, after all."

Gwenog laughed. "You're welcome to submit the suggestion, but while Coach Griffiths might find the idea amusing, I'm quite sure that your proposal has no chance of being approved. Now, before we all get side-tracked talking about that, let's get going, or we won't have our workout finished before Coach gets here."

Harry and Ron had been working for a couple of hours by then, and after going over where they were at with their investigation, decided to move on to their next target; setting up to watch her before she arrived at her office. While Harry listened in on her meetings and was even able to read some of the documents she worked with, Ron stayed close to watch his back, and managed to do a little snooping around too. As had been the case for a lot of the last two weeks, they didn't get to talk with each other at all until their suspect went home for the night, and they set up their stakeout.

"So now what do you do?" Ron asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"Lend you my cloak and let you sneak inside to watch her?" he suggested. "I'm sure you'd like to protect your sister's husband from seeing anything he shouldn't like you've done on all of our other stakeouts."

Ron laughed. "If she wasn't hag of the year ugly, I'd do that in a second, mate, but she's all that and then some ugly."

"The good news is that we don't need to make a decision on that yet. Until we know for sure that we have a chance to get in and out again, we'll just keep watching the place. Neither of us would want to get stuck in there all night."

"Okay," Ron agreed, and smiled as he pulled out Harry's lead and collar. "Ready to go check out the neighbourhood, Paddy?"

Harry nodded. "Sure, and then we can get something to eat, and talk about what we've each found out today while we watch the place."

By the time they finished writing their reports for the day and going home from the Ministry, it was after midnight. When Harry got home, he managed to have a shower and start moving the notebooks she'd fallen asleep reading from the bed to one of the tables before she woke up and welcomed him home with a warm hug and several soft, lingering kisses. While she drifted back off to sleep, Harry ended his day with giving her another healing massage before wrapping her in his arms and getting a few hours of sleep to.

That was pretty much their routine for the rest of the week, and they both worked from early morning until they dropped at the end of the night. The big news around Auror Headquarters was on Wednesday morning, when Emma had memos sent out to everyone inviting them to congratulate Susan Bones and Terry Boot on their successful completion of the testing that they'd done on Monday and Tuesday, and welcome their two newest Auror-trainees. The memo also went on to advise them that Christine would be training Susan, while Terry would be working with Rick Savage.

Outside the Ministry, the big news on Wednesday had been the Hogwarts Letters going out to the students, and the NEWT letters for the graduating class. The NEWT marks were usually sent much earlier in the summer, but with every department in the Ministry being short of staff; it had taken longer than usual to get all of the work done. Hermione earned O's in all seven of her classes, just as everyone had assured her she would, and Ginny was quite happy to have four O's in her best subjects; and E's in Potions and Herbology.

By Friday, though Harry was working as hard as he had all week, he was also getting really excited about Ginny's first professional Quidditch match on Saturday, and looking forward to being there for it with Teddy, their parents, and everyone else that would be at the game. He'd picked up extra tickets shortly after finding out about Ginny's new job, and this week, Mrs. Weasley had been happy to help him out with distributing those tickets to the rest of their family and some of their friends. The Witch they were following worked quite a bit differently than most of the other Elders they'd investigated, and rarely left her office, except when she needed to be in one of the courtrooms. Harry had gone into her house on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and was hoping that he and Ron could wrap up this part of their case by putting in a few extra hours, and then they could just take the whole weekend off.

"I thought we'd knock off early," Ron complained, when Harry suggested they just push through and get the job done.

"We can, if you want," Harry agreed, "but I vote for working late tonight, and then, except for doing our reports, we could take the weekend off, and start our last surveillance on Monday."

Ron brightened up at that idea immediately, and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, we'll do it your way. Hopefully Hermione won't be working on her job all weekend."

Harry shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be working some of it, but you know she'll be taking the time off to watch the game, and go out to dinner with everyone, and you probably both have as much to do as Ginny and I do to catch up on the work we haven't had time for all week."

"There isn't that much to do," Ron told him. "Other than getting a few hours of sleep there, I've barely even been at home to have time to make a mess."

"Neither have I," Harry said with a nod, "but the grass didn't stop growing, the weeds in the gardens are working overtime, and the laundry, grocery shopping, and the rest of the work in the house all needs to get done sometime."

"You're incorrigible," Ron complained. "We seriously need to find a way to spend more time having fun, and less time working our butts off."

"We're getting there," Harry promised him. "If we can pull this operation off, we'll be a lot closer to getting to that point."

"Then maybe we really should slow down, or we'll put ourselves out of work," Ron joked and Harry laughed.

"Don't expect to run out of bad guys in our lifetime, Ron. It won't happen."

They had some time to talk, Ron went to pick up some food for them, and then Harry headed into their suspect's house and got back to eavesdropping on her at first, and then going through her home office after she went up to bed, and continuing the work he'd been doing for the past two nights until he was sure that he had everything they'd need for this part of their case. When he left the house again, he met up with Ron, and after giving him a short recap, they split up and headed for their homes with plans to meet at the Burrow in time to head over to the stadium for the big game.

"You're taking the weekend off?" Ginny asked, and hugged him happily. It was after two o'clock, but he hadn't been able to have his shower and get into bed without waking her.

"Ron and I worked late tonight so we could finish this surveillance; and we'll wait until Monday to start the next one. I'm pretty sure that by the end of today, we'll both be ready to take a day off on Sunday."

Ginny nodded and smiled as she pulled him close for a long, thrilling kiss. "We will be," she agreed, kissing him again, and then leaning back to smile at him again. "I know we both need to get some sleep, but suddenly I'm not all that tired. Do you think that you could help me out with that problem?"

Harry's laugh was cut off by her next kiss, and he happily helped with both tiring her out, and, with a little magic and massage therapy, making sure that every ache and pain from her training sessions on Friday were nothing more than a distant memory. When they finally did fall asleep, with Ginny happily wrapped up in Harry's arms, there weren't even a handful of hours left before they'd both need to be up and running again, but by the time Ginny did wake Harry up with a brilliant good morning kiss, they were both well-rested and ready for her big day.

"Too bad you've got to work today while Teddy and I will be having fun at the big game, and have the day off," Harry joked when Ginny came into the kitchen. "The least I can do is make sure that you start off with a good breakfast. Come and sit down – everything's ready to go."

Ginny laughed and hugged and kissed him first, but then sat down at the table while he put plates down for both of them, and then sat down at the table too. "This looks and smells great. You so need to get your cases done so we can get back to doing things like this every morning."

"Aren't you eating like this every morning like you're supposed to?" Harry asked with a grin. "I'll tell Gwenog if you're not."

"No, you won't; and you know I'm not – except on the mornings I've gone out for breakfast, or eaten at the Burrow instead. I just can't get motivated to do all of this just for myself."

"We'll have to do something about that so you can eat better, though I can't say much, since I've mostly be having a muffin and a drink sort of breakfasts too every day too," Harry told her. "What will you be doing up until game time, and after the game?"

"We've got a team meeting and warm-up this morning," she answered. "After that, we'll do an early lunch, and then we'll go over to Exmoor for noon, where we'll have an hour to get ready for the game, including doing the whole hair and makeup thing with Robin and some of her stylists. After the game, we'll have an hour or so of interviews, a post-game meeting, and then, depending on how long the game goes, I'll be able to get to have dinner out with you to celebrate."

"And after that, you'll be ready to come home and sleep until Monday," Harry joked, and Ginny laughed, and her eyes sparkled with fire."

"I may be ready to stay in bed until Monday," she agreed, "but sleeping will definitely not be the only thing you and I will be doing on our day off."

They had nearly forty-five minutes to chat and eat their meal, and then Harry sent Ginny on her way to the Harpies' training pitch with a lengthy good-bye and good luck kiss that still had her smiling when she walked into the change room. As usual, Gwenog Jones was the only Witch there so far, and she smiled at Ginny too.

"Do I need to write you up for breaking curfew, or are you just really fired up about your first professional match?"

"No comment on the first, and I'm ready for one of those best ever kind of days today," Ginny answered with a laugh. "Does it feel like this before every game?"

"That seems to be something that's different for everyone," Gwenog told her seriously. "For me, though, it feels exactly like that every time, and I'm going to stop playing the day it doesn't feel like that anymore."

Ginny laughed again. "You'll still be playing when you're one hundred and fifty then," she joked.

"Wouldn't that be amazing?" Gwenog mused. "I doubt anyone could keep up with the work that goes into playing at this level for that long, but I'll definitely do something in Quidditch whenever I do stop playing." She laughed too. "Could you imagine me working a desk job at the Ministry?"

"Yes, but in a really funny way," Ginny answered. "They might get more work done there if you were there, bashing bludgers at anyone slacking off or doing their jobs wrong. I'm sure they'd all find that highly motivating to do their best – I know I do in my job."

"If they'd hire me to do that, I might change my mind about a job in the Ministry, though I'd still have a problem with the whole politics thing, and I'm fairly sure that Minister Shacklebolt, the Wizengamot Elders, and the Department Heads would not want to be around when I started sending those bludgers their way."

"I'm sure they wouldn't," Ginny agreed fervently.

She dropped off her equipment bag, and then she and Gwenog went to the conference room where they had most of their team meetings; where they both worked to get everything ready to go. When Glynnis walked into the room twenty minutes later, everyone on the team was there, and she got the meeting started right away.

Once Ginny had left for work, Harry cleaned the kitchen, and then got started on the yard and house work. By eleven o'clock, he had all of that done, and had showered and gotten ready to go pick up Teddy, with plans to take him out for an early lunch before going over to the Burrow. When he walked into their house, he laughed at the look of relief on Andromeda's face as she watched Teddy run over to Harry and get scooped up by his Godfather for a big hug.

"You look like you're as fired up as your Aunt Ginny is this morning," he told Teddy.

"Go see game now?" Teddy asked excitedly; and Harry hugged him again.

"We're going out for lunch first," he answered. "The game doesn't start for a while yet."

"His bag is on the counter, and he's pretty much been bouncing off the walls like this since he woke up," Andromeda told Harry. "Molly said that the seats for the tickets she gave me aren't that close to where your seats are, so unless we bump into each other around the concessions, I won't see you until we meet up again for dinner."

"Alright," Harry agreed. "Give your Grandma a hug and kiss, Teddy, and then we'll get going. We definitely do not want to be late for the game today."

Harry took Teddy to one of the cafés in Diagon Alley, and after having a quick lunch, they went on to the Burrow, where they met up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Hermione, and Bill and Fleur. Teddy had hugs and kisses for everyone, and Harry took the time for a diaper change, but then they all headed over to Exmoor stadium, and joined the heavy flow of Witches and Wizards making their way into the building. The game had been sold out since the day after the Harpies' new Seeker had been revealed, and everyone looked excited about finding out if Ginny would be the next big Quidditch star, or as some secretly hoped, a colossal fail.

"Hi Harry," Dawn said excitedly when they finally made it to their seats. She hugged him, and then held her arms out for Teddy. "Hi Teddy. Are you ready to have fun today?"

Teddy laughed and happily hopped into her arms for a hug. "Yes!" he agreed. "See Aunt Ginny pway!"

"Yes we will," she agreed. "I love your Harpies shirt. Come and sit down with me while your Uncle Harry is busy doing all of that hugging and kissing stuff."

Teddy had done that, but there were only a couple of hugs and kisses that Harry needed to take care of with Christine and then Dawn's sister, Kate. Since he'd bought the tickets for Dawn at the same time he'd bought the seasons tickets, he'd been able to get them in the row ahead, and Ron and Hermione switched with Dawn and Kate so they could sit next to Harry and Teddy. Bill and Fleur were in the row behind them; and were soon joined by Charlie, Percy, their girlfriends, and George and Lee. Those had been the only other seats near them that Harry had been able to get, so the block of tickets he'd bought for their friends was on the other side of the stadium, though those seats were nearly as good.

"How's your training going?" Harry asked Dawn as he sat down again after welcoming George and Lee. "Are you going to be Ravenclaw's next star Chaser?"

Dawn's smile flashed brilliantly and she laughed. "I don't know about that, but I do think I'm getting better, so maybe I'll have a chance at making the team this year."

"Ginny thinks that you'll have a really good chance," Harry told her. "Demelza's lost both of her Chaser partners this year – it's too bad you're not in Gryffindor."

Harry had fun with the three kids and their families while they waited for the game to start, and when the stadium announcer began introducing the teams, they were all on their feet once the Harpies players were announced, and they flew out and around the stadium.

"Hi Aunt Ginny!" Teddy called as he waved at her as she flew past. She wouldn't have been able to hear him over the roar of the crowd, but she had known where they were, and waved at them, her smile brilliant, and her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Look at her, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "That's our baby! Isn't she amazing?"

"Yes she is, and she looks gorgeous too," Mr. Weasley answered.

"Those dark green robes are perfect with Ginny's hair too," Fleur told them. "Some of the colors the other teams have would have looked terrible on her."

"Like Cannons' orange?" Bill joked loudly enough for Ron to hear him.

"Too bad she's not playing for them," Ron told his brother. "They'd be a much better team if she was."

Bill laughed. "They'd be a better team if you, me, Charlie, George, and Harry played for them."

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Wouldn't that be something to see Ginny and Harry play against each other!"

"We can see them do that every time they practice in the orchard or at their house," George reminded her, "though we do know what you mean, and it really would be pretty cool. You're right, Bill, but I'm happy with the job I do have, and Cannons orange wouldn't even look as good on us as it would on Ginny, so I'm going to pass on the idea."

"Says the guy who wears Magenta all day at work," Lee added with a laugh.

While her family was having fun as they waited for the game to start, Ginny had been having an amazing time. Flying around the stadium with her team, and seeing the fierce joy and love in her husband's eyes as he watched her fly past had been the best part of the day so far. She'd landed on the pitch, and stood next to Alicia during the pre-game ceremony until, finally, it was time to play some Quidditch!

"This is what it's all about," Gwenog told her quietly as they got ready to take off. "Go out there and show everyone what you can do."

"Thanks," Ginny told her sincerely. "For everything."

Her smile had been there all morning, and as she took off when the quaffle was thrown into the air, it was still there as she raced around the stadium with the Wasps' Seeker immediately there battling for position with her. She laughed when his Beater teammates set up a double attack on her – just as Glynnis and Gwenog had predicted – and she easily weaved and dodged her way around them.

"Not bad, rookie," her opponent told her as he flew close and bumped into her, trying to distract her as another bludger was coming from the other side. Hitting the brakes at the last second, her eyes shone with excitement as she watched the bludger hit him, and he grunted in pain.

"Thank-you," she answered as she then blasted past him again, and continued looking for the snitch.

The game plan they'd put together for the Wasps, while much more complex than anything Ginny had done with the Gryffindor teams, was really not that much different than what she'd done last year against Slytherin. That meant that she was very busy, and needed to stay focused all of the time on what she was doing, but she was also loving everything else that was going on too, from seeing things like Angelina's and Alicia's first professional goals to thrilling at the roar of the crowd with every big play that she or her teammates made.

Dawn's family, and the rest of the Wasps' fans didn't have much to cheer about, and they all soon realized that this Harpies team was a lot better than the one their team had beaten in last season's quarterfinals. The Harpies fans, on the other hand, had a lot to cheer about as Ginny proved to be more than a match for the Wasps' veteran Seeker, and while the Wasps' game plan had focused on beating the rookie Seeker, Gwenog and Lysa only rarely sent bludgers at Ginny's opponent, and instead gave their Chasers a lot of opportunities to make plays and score goals.

The Wasps abandoned their game plan shortly after the third hour started, when the score had reached one hundred and forty to forty for the Harpies. By then, their Keeper and one of their Chasers were playing injured, and they needed to start defending them better before they were too far behind for a Seeker catch to still win the game for them. As soon as she saw them do that, Ginny's heart began racing, and she began searching in earnest for the snitch.

"Come on," she said silently as she concentrated on keeping an eye on the snitch, trying not to give away that she'd spotted it to her opponent, and wait for Gwenog's signal.

Finally, she got that signal, and she tore of after the snitch, with the Wasps' Seeker immediately right at her side. He saw the snitch a moment later, and the race was on. He was bigger, heavier, and stronger, and tried to muscle her out of the way as they closed in on the snitch, but suddenly, she wasn't there as she seemed to bounce about four feet straight up just as he was blind-sided by the two bludgers that hit him from where she'd just been a moment ago.

The whole stadium erupted with cheers when the spectators watched the Wasp Seeker take two direct bludger hits, and then turned into a roar as Ginny did a barrel roll, and caught the snitch while inverted, and still in the middle of the roll to give the Harpies the two hundred and ninety to forty win. As soon as she came out of the roll, Ginny held the snitch high in victory, and immediately flew over to Gwenog and Lysa; hugging each of them, and then hugging the rest of her team as they flew over to join them while the crowd stood and cheered.

Harry was on his feet too, and he and Teddy were cheering as loudly as they could too as they celebrated with their family. "We win?" Teddy asked, and Harry laughed and hugged him.

"Yes we did, and your Aunt Ginny won the game for our team."

"Go see?" Teddy asked, and Harry shook his head.

"We'll see her later at dinner," he answered. "Aunt Ginny still has some work to do, and will be signing autographs for fans too before she can meet up with us again. I was thinking that we should go shopping and get her a present while she's busy."

"Pwesent! Yes!" Teddy agreed happily.

Harry only caught Ginny's eye once as she flew around with the Harpies before landing on the pitch, and as always, he loved seeing how fiery and alive she looked. Bill clapped a hand on his shoulder and leaned close so Harry could hear him of the cheers and crowd noise.

"You are one seriously lucky Wizard. Thanks for inviting us to the game. This has been a brilliant afternoon."

"You're welcome," Harry assured him, "and I know I really am lucky to be married to her." He turned and grinned at Bill and Fleur. "How cool would it be if after today people just say – Oh him – that's just Harry – Ginny Potter's husband."

Bill and Fleur both laughed. "That would be very funny, but I really doubt that'll ever happen," Fleur told him fondly.

They stayed in the stadium and celebrated together for a while as they waited for the first mad dash for the exits to wind down, and it was around four o'clock by the time they got outside of the stadium. Dinner at the Leaky wasn't until six, so they split up until then, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went with Harry and Teddy to Diagon Alley to wander around for a while, stop for a little ice cream snack, and pick out a little gift for Ginny. At a quarter to six, they went to the Leaky Cauldron, where Hannah had a group of tables reserved for them. Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Julianne were there, sitting down, and had drinks already, so they sat down with them, though Harry needed to take Teddy for a diaper change while Ginny's parents ordered drinks for all of them.

By the time they got back into the main room again, Ron, Hermione, and Christine and her family were there too, and being welcomed. Harry saw Ginny the moment she walked into the room, and he left Teddy with Andromeda and got up to meet her; lifting her up as he hugged her and they shared a long, fiery kiss.

"You were so brilliant and amazing today," he breathed into her ear. "I love you, Ginny Potter."

"I love you too," she whispered back, hugging him more tightly. "The list is getting a lot longer now, but I think this will be number three on my best days ever so far list."

Harry laughed, kissed her again, and took her hand. "That's funny – I was thinking it was top three or four on my list too."

Ginny squeezed his hand and smiled happily. "I'm good with that, as long as your top two are the same as mine too."

"I'm sure they are," he assured her. "Ready for the crush?"

He'd said that last comment softly as they were almost back with their family and friends by then, and Ginny didn't get time to answer as her mother gathered her up in a bone-crushing hug. Stepping back, he let Ginny enjoy the moment, and loved seeing their family and friends lift her up and help make the day just that much more special for her. He was talking with Christine, Bryce, and Dawn when Ginny joined him again; and she smiled at Dawn.

"While I'm still in Quidditch mode and thinking about it, Dawn, Harry and I have something we want to give you, and just in case we don't see you before September first, I'd like to do that now." She put an arm around his waist and hugged him. "Could you get it for me, please?"

Harry nodded, and after catching her meaningful glance to remind him to use his wand, he pulled it out, and a moment later, was holding a shiny, new Nimbus 2050. He handed it to Ginny and grinned as he watched Dawn's eyes go wide in astonishment.

"I think that you've got some real talent, and we'd like you to have this. You've got a few more weeks to get used to it, and then I'll wager that you'll be the Chaser to beat at your team tryouts this year."

Dawn turned to her parents, silently looking for advice, and didn't reach out to take the broom Ginny held out to her. Christine had been watching Harry and Ginny, and was smiling as she first got a nod and smile from Bryce, and then turned her attention to her oldest daughter.

"Well, even though Ginny and the Harpies did beat our team today, that would be a yes, sweetheart, and I'd say that some major thank-you hugs are in order." She laughed when she and Bryce were on the receiving end of Dawn's first two hugs, and then Dawn hugged Ginny and Harry before finally taking possession of the broom, and practically hugging it too. "Thank-you," she told Ginny and Harry quietly as she took a turn to hug them after Dawn had stepped back.

"You're welcome," Ginny answered for them. "I'd apologize for winning today, but there's no way I could honestly be sorry about that."

Christine laughed again. "Your team put on such a great show today, we were cheering for you as much as we were for our own team. Since we'll always be able to say we were there for your first big game, I'm not disappointed that the Wasps lost at all."

"Especially after seeing that move you put on to catch the snitch," Bryce added. "That one will get talked about for a long time."

Hannah was ready to start taking orders by then, and Harry and Ginny went to sit down at a table with Ron, Hermione, George, Lee, and Neville. Teddy and Andromeda were at the table next to them – the one that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting at with Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Julianne, and Teddy went back and forth between the two tables while they placed their orders and waited for the food to arrive.

"Are you missing a team party or anything?" George asked Ginny; and she shook her head.

"They're not allowed," she told him. "Everyone had family plans today for the first game, and going out for a drink or dinner after a game, but we can't do big, wild parties."

"Sorry Lee," George said; grinning at his friend. "No point in asking her for an invite to a party the Harpies don't have."

"Were there any Harpies in particular you were interested in partying with?" Ginny asked Lee, and he and George both laughed.

"If we tell her Gwenog and Lysa, do you think that'd get us in trouble?" George asked.

"You may have secretly had a thing for the Harpies' Beaters, mate, but would we really want girlfriends who could take our heads off with a bludger if we ever got them mad at us?"

"Gwenog wouldn't do that," Ginny told them.

"Of course not," Ron snorted. "She'd turn them into woodlice instead. You're not still trying to get Angelina to go on a date, are you?"

Lee laughed. "No, I have conceded that she will never, ever go out with me. I was hoping that it'd be something that would actually interest George enough to get away from work for a few hours, though."

"I'm away from work right now," George pointed out, and Lee nodded.

"True, and this is fun, but you and I need to get out more with some kids our own age more often, and soon, or all of the best Witches will be off the market, and we'll be out of luck." He smiled at Ginny. "Your sister's a perfect example of that. She was already off the market within a month of graduating."

As their meals were delivered, George and Lee led an entertaining discussion that started out with the dating scene, and moved on to talking about the game, George's store, work at the Ministry, and Lee's WWN show, which was now the most listened to nightly show. An hour and a half later, Harry and Ginny were at the center of the round of goodbye hugs and kisses, and were the last to leave after Harry took care of their bill with Hannah. They got home shortly after eight, and they were both smiling when Ginny led Harry up to their bedroom. They were lying on the bed, sharing some long, heart-pounding kisses that were interrupted when they both started laughing, and Ginny reached out to pick Arnold up.

"Did you miss us?" she asked him, and Arnold purred happily in agreement. "We're a bit busy right now, so if you don't mind, why don't you go lay down again, and you can cuddle with us later."

"I was wondering if that would ever happen with him," Harry said as he nibbled on her neck, and she reached up toward the head of the bed and set Arnold down on one of the big, soft pillows. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Maybe we should get him a girlfriend so he doesn't feel left out when we're playing," she suggested. "You know that George would be happy to take all of the baby pygmy puffs to sell in the stores."

"Ron would find that hilarious," Harry suggested. "I can already hear the 'his and her snowy owls and pygmy puffs' jokes now."

"Depending on how Crookshanks feels about Ron and Hermione, he might actually think that doing the same for her cat is a great idea." She kissed him again and then smiled at him. "I'm not really all that interested in talking about pets, Ron, Hermione, or really talking at all. We are way overdue for some alone time, so let's concentrate on you and me for a while."

Harry was happy to do that, and except for doing a grocery shopping trip on Sunday morning, taking care of the little bit of work they needed to do around the house, and having a Seeker duel in the afternoon, the rest of the weekend was all about playing and having fun together before it would be back to long workdays on Monday again.

The Harpies' amazing win on Saturday was the big news story around the Ministry, and Harry and Ron heard that Minister Shacklebolt had lamented that he'd missed that game while attending the rematch of last year's finals with the Tornados and United teams. Only the eight playoff teams had games on the weekend, and the Harpies were only in third place in the league on points, but everyone was sure that they were going to be the team to watch this year. Most of what Harry and Ron heard around the Ministry came while they were beginning their surveillance on the last Elder they were assigned to investigate, and many of the comments coming from him about the Ginny and the Harpies, and from the Witches and Wizards he chummed around with, made it very hard for Harry not to hex or jinx the jerk and just be done with him.

He resisted the urge to do that, and spent Monday and Tuesday following the Wizard all day, and watching his house until late in the evening. As usual, Ron went on the food and drinks runs for them when they got the chance to do that, and by early Tuesday night, they were watching the house and working on a burgers and fries dinner.

"Why do you want to start late tomorrow?" Ron asked him; and Harry laughed.

"Because I'd really like to make sure that your sister has at least a happy start to her eighteenth birthday, even if we'll both be working all day; and probably half the night too." Harry laughed again at the look on Ron's face. "I'm sure that Hermione has picked something up for her. You should think about writing these things down, mate."

"I would, but then I'd never remember to look at the list often enough to make any difference," Ron told him. "Hopefully someone will tell me about these things with enough notice that it's not too late for me to keep out of trouble."

"Hermione's birthday is in just over five weeks," Harry offered helpfully, and Ron laughed.

"I can't remember what I had for breakfast, mate. Do you seriously expect me to remember that for over a month?"

"I'll remind you a week or so ahead," Harry promised. "Anyway, let's go with starting tomorrow at eight-thirty. Maybe Hermione will take pity on you and make a breakfast for two that you'll be able to remember for more than half a day."

They continued chatting while finishing their food, and then Ron took Harry for another walk around the neighborhood. While Ron watched his back, Harry was able to follow a visitor in and out of the house and sit in on a fairly interesting meeting, and by ten o'clock, they decided to go into Auror Headquarters, write up their reports, and call it a night by shortly after eleven.

When Harry got home, he had some work to do to get Ginny's birthday present ready for her, and spent about two and a half hours doing that under cover of an imperturbable shield so he wouldn't wake her. After getting everything ready, he managed to grab a shower and get ready for and in to bed without waking Ginny, though she did snuggle close to him as he wrapped an arm around her and kiss her goodnight.

"Happy Birthday," Harry said breathlessly after Ginny leaned back from the long, enthusiastic kiss she'd woken him with. "I'll guess that you're a bit fired up about that."

Ginny laughed and kissed him again. "Yes I am," she agreed. "I thought you'd be gone off to work by now."

Harry wrapped his arms around her, and they shared another kiss before he answered. "Since we probably won't get to do a birthday dinner or anything together tonight, I wanted to get your birthday off to a good start."

"Then we should definitely do that," Ginny said before encouraging Harry to help her do exactly that for quite a while before they needed to start getting ready for work. Their morning play time hadn't ended until after a little bathroom multi-tasking, and Harry went downstairs to make breakfast for them while Ginny finished getting ready for the day. He nearly had breakfast finished when he heard her come racing down the stairs, and smiled as he watched her run to the back door, throw it open, and go outside.

"Happy birthday," he told her as he stepped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and nuzzled her neck. "I thought that the hottest Seeker in the league should have her own practice pitch. Do you like it?" They weren't far from the house, and the pitch was next to the trees that lined the back of their yard, but Ginny could see the goals at each end of the pitch, and the benches and bleachers along the side closest to the house just fine from where they were.

Ginny laughed, turning in his arms, and kissing him happily. "I love it! Thank-you! This is a brilliant surprise." She laughed again, and smiled at him. "I'm not sure that winning one professional game is enough to make me the hottest Seeker in the league, though."

"That might depend on your definition of hot," Harry countered with a grin, and Ginny laughed and kissed him again. "Come inside. Breakfast is almost ready, and you should open your other presents before we both need to leave for work."

Her other gifts had included a few more Nimbus 2050's and sets of equipment that visitors would be able to use, and they talked about playing Quidditch on the new pitch, and about what Ginny was going to do for the rest of the day to continue celebrating her birthday. They didn't have time after breakfast to try out the new pitch, but they did walk out to it so Ginny could take a closer look, and she had a few more long, thrilling thank-you kisses for Harry before she went to the Harpies training pitch, and Harry went to Auror Headquarters to meet up with Ron.

"So what did you get Ginny for her birthday?" Ron asked when Harry met him in his cubicle. "More jewelry?"

"I thought about doing that too, but just went with putting in a Quidditch pitch in the back yard, and getting some more Nimbus broom and some sets of equipment for visiting players," he answered, and laughed at Ron's reaction.

"When did you get that done, and how could you surprise her with something that big?"

"I bought the goals, and everything else, weeks ago; and built the pitch, benches and bleachers myself last night after we were done work," Harry explained. "I used an imperturbable shield so Ginny wouldn't hear me out there doing that. Now we just need to figure out a way to find time to actually use it."

"Your biggest problem, once word gets around that you have one, will be your grocery bill from all of the snacks, drinks, and extra guests you'll have for meals with everyone who will want to come and play at your house," Ron predicted. "What's Ginny doing for the rest of the day while we're working?"

"Lunch out with the team; and your Mum's having her over for a birthday dinner. I haven't heard how many others will be there for that, but if it works out, maybe you and I will take turns popping over there for a few minutes if we can."

Their current target had a court case at nine-thirty, so Harry and Ron decided to just work in their cubicles until just before then, and then got back to following him. The party at the Burrow had already gotten to the cake and ice cream stage by the time they had been able to each take a turn to drop in and spend a few minutes getting something to eat, and visit with Ginny and their family. Bill and Fleur, Hermione, Andromeda, and Teddy had all come over, and they'd had the party outside. Harry would have loved to just knock off for the night then, but since that wasn't an option, after sharing a too-short goodbye kiss with Ginny, he got back to work again.

Ginny hadn't been able to take the night off either, and when Harry got home shortly after one o'clock, she had her study material lying on the bed where it had ended up after she fell asleep reading again. She'd woken up and wanted to spend a little more quality time with him that had them both smiling and happy when they eventually did get around to going to sleep.

Thursday had been more of the same for Ron and Harry, but when they stopped in to Auror Headquarters to fill out their latest update reports, there were memos on their desks advising them that their team had a morning meeting with Emma at seven o'clock. Once he'd finished his report, Harry went home, got cleaned up, shared a few soft kisses with Ginny, and then snuggled close to her for the few hours they had before he needed to be up and running again.

"I think we're ready to move," Emma told the six Aurors and three trainees. She'd shielded the conference room they were using, and was sitting at one end of the table as she got their meeting started.

"What's the count?" Reggie asked her, and she smiled, though it wasn't with happiness.

"Thirty-four," she answered, and Reggie and Dan both whistled.

"We could keep at this for months longer, but the Minister and I have decided that we have more than enough to take down this lot, and that it's time to put them out of business instead of letting them to keep at everything they're doing." She waved her wand, and the stack of files on the table floated around the table, dropping a copy in front of everyone. "These Witches and Wizards, when you put it all together, are doing a lot of damage here at the Ministry, and hurting a lot of people. For the next few days, we're going to consolidate all of the evidence, and put together a plan to take them all in. I want to round them all up at once so none of them have a chance to escape."

"That'll be a neat trick with just ten of us in the loop," Josh told her.

"Twelve including the Minister and Under-secretary Weasley," Emma reminded him. "That's less than three to one odds."

"For the bad guys," Dan added. "Harry, Ron, and Neville might think that's good, but the rest of us know better. Sometimes, it's the quiet, sneaky ones who are the most dangerous."

"Harry and I know that well enough," Ron assured him. "We've had more than one rat to deal with before now."

"You're not being very kind to rats talking about the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters like that," Christine admonished them.

"Let's get started," Emma said, getting everyone's attention again. "We've got a lot to get done before we'll be ready. Hopefully, none of you have plans for the weekend."

There were a few groans, but they did all get focused on their work, and started by going through the files before discussing what they were going to do for the rest of the day. Harry and Ron had documented everything they'd done on their part of the case, but one of the jobs they all had on Friday was to bottle up their memories of everything from meetings to documents they'd seen, conversations overheard, and the locations of hiding places of everything from evidence of crimes to stores of ill-gotten money or other valuables. That had taken Harry until dinnertime to get done, so before getting on with the job at hand, he and Ron met up with Ginny and Hermione and had dinner at one of the Diagon Alley cafés.

"What are you doing for the rest of the night?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Ginny after she'd stood up to welcome him with a hug and kiss.

"I'm going to have a few friends over, and we're going to try out my new Quidditch pitch," she answered; smiling brightly. "My teammates didn't want to come and play, but Dawn, Demelza, and a few other girls were more than happy to help me out with that."

"Too bad we can't play too," Ron groused. "Are you going over to Ginny's house to play too?" he asked Hermione.

"Yes I am, though I'm just going to play spectator, and maybe snack and drink assistant," she told him.

"If we get time, I want you to play Quidditch Arithmancy with me too," Ginny advised her. "I think that the whole team could benefit from applying Arithmancy to how we play the game."

Ron snorted. "Only if you're talking about keeping track of points as the season goes along, and they've already figured out how to do that."

"You mean that you don't have to figure out things like how fast the Chaser is flying or the quaffle is moving; the angles between Chasers and your goals, or anything else like that?" Ginny countered; feigning wide-eyed astonishment. "I'd like to find out if Hermione and I could come up with a way to figure all of those little details while on the fly to help me defend better and take advantage of breaks that I might miss otherwise."

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes. "Great – they're going to bring Arithmancy to Quidditch matches. You'll suck the fun right out of the game."

"Have I mentioned before that I really like to win?" Ginny asked; laughing at Ron's comments. "If this could help, and we win games because of it, I'll definitely still be having fun with the game."

"And so will everyone on your team, and all of your fans," Harry predicted. "I think it's a brilliant idea, and you're just the two Witches to make it work."

Ginny leaned close to kiss Harry, and Ron groaned again. "Cut it out, guys. I haven't eaten yet."

They had a quick meal together, and then Harry and Ron headed back to Headquarters, while Ginny and Hermione went to pick up Dawn first, and then go home to play for a couple of hours. Harry had been working in his cubicle for about fifteen minutes when Christine came in and sat down.

"Ginny made Dawn's day by inviting her to go out to play with her," she told him. "That was all she could talk about while we were having dinner."

"She really wanted to try out the new Quidditch pitch, and it doesn't look like I'll get much of a chance to do that with her for a bit, so it works out for them."

Christine nodded. "We haven't had a chance to talk since Saturday, Harry, but I wanted to ask how you knew about the broom."

Harry looked at her for a moment, and then laughed. "I don't think we did," he answered. "Was getting a Nimbus on Dawn's wish list?" Christine nodded and laughed too. "Growing up in a family with seven kids, Ginny knows all to well about how much it costs to take care of a family, and good racing brooms were never in their family budget. She really wanted to help Dawn, since she loves the game as much as Ginny does, so that was really all there was to it. I'm sure it had as much to do with giving Dawn something that wasn't possible for her when she was younger."

"That's a really good reason," Christine said, "and yes, the twenty-fifty was Dawn's dream broom. She'd go and stand in front of the display at Quality Quidditch to admire it every time Bryce or I took her to Diagon Alley. He and I really appreciate you and Ginny doing this for her. With three kids starting at Hogwarts this year, you're right, and that was not something that could fit into our budget."

"You're welcome, Christine. That's the least I can do to even begin to repay you for all of the help you've given to me."

Christine laughed as she stood up to leave. "You've come a long way in the last year, Harry. I'm happy for you, and glad that you and Ginny are our friends. We both need to get back at it, though, so I'll talk to you later. Have a good evening."

Ginny was having a blast flying around her new Quidditch pitch. When Demelza came over to the house, she'd brought Vicky Frobisher and four other girlfriends with her, including Laura Madley and Alison Chambers, who was one of the Chasers on the Ravenclaw team. They didn't have any Beaters; played two Chasers a side, and Vicky and a fourth-year Hufflepuff girl were their Keepers. The only other Gryffindor that Demelza had brought along was a third-year girl who was hoping to be their new House Seeker.

"You're doing fine," Ginny encouraged her after she'd caught the snitch for the third time. "Let's just put the snitch away while everyone else plays on, we'll work on your flying, and I'll teach you a few tricks that'll help you compete against other Seekers."

She put the snitch in her pocket, and worked with the younger Witch for nearly another hour before they all decided to call it a night, and landed next to the bleachers, where Hermione had conjured a table that she put drinks and snacks out on for them.

"Thanks for coming out and helping me try out my birthday present," Ginny told Dawn and the other girls. "This was a lot more fun than spending the night studying for my next match next weekend, and I can always do that tomorrow and Sunday instead."

"We should be thanking you," Demelza told her. "It's a lot different when you're training full time, isn't it? You're already way better than you were even back in May, and I thought you were brilliant then."

"It's a lot different," Ginny agreed. "From what I hear, not all teams work as hard as the Harpies do, but I'm working as hard or harder than I was last year taking six NEWTs and doing all of the work with our team. This is definitely not a nine-to-five job."

"No, but it's one of the coolest jobs in the world," Dawn told her, "and you're playing for the best team in the world too."

Ginny laughed and hugged her. "Well, you and I think so," she agreed. "I'm sure that the other team's fans have a different opinion."

After taking their little break, Dawn helped Hermione and Ginny clean up after the other girls left, and then they took her home. Ginny talked Hermione into going out for a drink before calling it a night, and then they each went home with plans to do a little work before bedtime. Friday and Saturday nights on non-game weekends were the only times that the Harpies didn't have a curfew, but by the time Harry got home from work, Ginny had fallen asleep while reading in bed, and only woke up long enough to kiss him good night and snuggle close when he got into bed with her.

Harry was at Auror Headquarters for most of the weekend, though he was at least able to start a bit later in the mornings and have breakfast with Ginny, and they had lunch and dinner together both days too, including lunch on Sunday the Burrow. Emma had a final, long meeting with everyone after dinner on Sunday, and they finalized their plans before going home to get some sleep so they'd all be ready for what was sure to be another very long and exciting day on Monday.

"Are you ready to go?" Kingsley asked Harry, Ron, and Percy. Ron and Harry had just followed Percy into the Minister's office; and all three men nodded. "Good. Let's get this over with. Percy and I will have your backs this time; though I hope we'll avoid any unpleasantness."

Harry and Ron were in charge of arresting the twelve Wizards and Witches who Kingsley had been conveniently kind enough to invite to a special meeting that was to start at eight o'clock. Everyone else had been assigned to take care of other arrests around the Ministry. Emma was personally leading Josh, Neville, Reggie, and Dan on a sweep of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and would be arresting nine Witches and Wizards, including one Auror and three Hit Wizards. Nathan, Christine, and Susan would be swooping in on the Departments of International Magical Cooperation, Magical Games and Sports, and Magical Creatures, where they'd be taking nine more people into custody. Before getting to the Ministry, everyone except Emma had gone out in four teams, each of them arresting one Wizard or Witch at their homes, though they were now temporarily being held outside of the Ministry until they were finished making all of the other arrests.

"Thank-you for coming this morning," Kingsley said as he walked into the conference room, and all eyes were only on him until they saw Harry and Ron coming in with the Minister and Percy. He walked to the head of the table with Percy, while Ron went the other way around the table, and Harry stood by the door after closing it behind them.

"What is this all about?" Elder Timms asked, and Kingsley smiled at him.

"You've all been invited here so that we could all save a lot of time and energy by arresting all of you at once, instead of hunting each of you down one at a time."

"Arrest us?" Timms exclaimed; jumping to his feet. "Have you gone mad, Kingsley? Arrest us for what?"

"Mr. Potter?" Kingsley said, waving toward Harry.

"In your case, Elder Timms, the list is quite long, but the top charges include conspiracy and aiding in the recent failed attempt to assassinate the Minister of Magic, and four counts of being an accomplice to the commission of murder," Harry advised him.

"That's preposterous!" Elder Timms shouted. "What proof do you have? None, I'd warrant!"

"I'd say that we have a great deal of proof, including some memories I have of some fascinating meetings that you've had – especially the Monday morning meetings with former Minster Thicknesse. You'll have the same opportunity that everyone here will have to review the charges and evidence against you, and offer defense during your trials," Harry answered. "For now, though, Auror-trainee Weasley and I are here to advise you that you are each under arrest. Please surrender your wands, and come with us to Auror Headquarters for processing. We are going to be very busy there today, and would like to get you moved to Azkaban before nightfall."

"Azkaban!" Timms screamed. "I'm an Elder of the Wizengamot! Minister, this is outrageous!"

Kingsley locked eyes with the other Wizard; and his expression was hard and a bit angry. "What's outrageous is that six Elders of the Wizengamot, three Wizengamot Administration employees, two trusted members of my own staff, and a former Minister of Magic would all forgo their Oaths to serve the Ministry and all Wizards and Witches and commit the multitude of crimes you've all been involved in." He'd looked from face-to-face as he spoke, and shook his head sadly. "The fact that most of you have acted solely to gain power or profit makes your crimes even worse. Hand in your wands and go with Auror-trainees Weasley and Potter. Oh, and by the way – you're all fired."

"I won't stand for this!" Timms spat. "Let's go, ladies and gentlemen. We'll call an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot." He glared at Kingsley and smiled coldly. "I do believe it's time for us to find ourselves a new Minister of Magic."

Pius Thicknesse and the other five Elders stood up immediately, and the other five Wizards and Witches began following their lead uncertainly. Timms led them to the door, only stopping when Harry didn't move.

"Get out of our way, Auror-trainee. That's an order," Timms spat.

"You've just been sacked, former Elder Timms, and I don't take orders from you," Harry answered. He held out his hand. "Surrender your wands and come with me."

Timms stepped back and pointed his wand at Harry. "When we're finished taking care of replacing Shacklebolt, you'll be next to go, Potter. Maybe we'll even see how you'd fair in Azkaban with all of the Wizards and Witches you've sent there."

Harry smiled at him. "Should I take that as your refusal to surrender?"

"You should take it as a warning and get out of our way before it's too late," Timms retorted.

Harry sighed theatrically and raised his wand. "Last chance, sir. We'd really prefer not to have to arrest you by force."

Timms jumped back – or went as far as he could, surrounded by the other Witches and Wizards. "You wouldn't dare!" he exclaimed; pointing his wand at Harry's face. "I've had enough of this. If you won't get out of our way, we'll throw you out of the way."

Harry didn't find out until later which Wizard cast the first spell, but in such a comparatively small room, it was a very short, ugly fight. While they were outnumbered three to one, Timms and his group were not match for three trained Aurors and the best Wizard in his year. When it was over, Harry and Ron had their twelve captives, though four of them had minor injuries and would need medical attention.

"That was incredibly stupid and pointless," Kingsley told them, "and now I'm probably running late."

"Six minutes late," Percy confirmed, and Harry had to force himself not to laugh. "If the Auror-trainees don't need us anymore, we really should get going."

"We've got this lot under control, sir," Ron told his brother. "Thanks for the help."

"You're quite welcome," Kingsley assured him as he put his wand away. Harry had opened the door, and he looked out into the main office, then smiled at Timms again. "We've got quite a crowd looking on now," he told them. "You're all likely going to really wish that you'd surrendered your wands and gone quietly." He left the conference room; nodding once to Harry as he passed him; and Percy followed him out.

"Let's give them the chance for a little dignity," Harry told Ron. "We'll switch them all to upper body bindings only; and let them walk with us to Headquarters. We'll be a bit crowed in the lift, but we can manage well enough."

"Alright," Ron said loudly. "Get ready to go, but if you give us any trouble, it'll be back into the full body bind, and we'll float you along the rest of the way."

It took them about ten minutes to get from the conference room to Auror Headquarters, and it was near-chaos in there. Wizards and Witches were screaming and shouting, and they'd needed to get through an angry crowd outside of the doors that were temporarily being guarded by four burly Hit Wizards. Emma was there to meet them, and she looked at their group of prisoners critically.

"Problems?" she asked, and Harry and Ron both nodded at the same time that Timms started yelling at her.

"Order your lap dogs to release us immediately," he demanded. "When we're done getting the Wizengamot together, Kingsley will be out of here, along with anyone else fool enough to go along with this insanity!"

"That would be yes," Harry joked. "As you can tell, Former Elder Timms and the others did not choose to come quietly. Have the Healers we requested arrived yet?"

"They're here, and treating three others. How many injured to you have?"

"Four," Ron advised her. "Where did they set up? I'll take them to be treated if you'd like."

"In the conference room, and that's fine," Emma answered. "I'll help Auror-trainee Potter with the rest of your group until you can join us again."

"You're making a career-ending mistake," Timms told her, and Emma shook her head.

"I've seen all of the evidence, Mr. Timms," she began to say.

"Elder Timms!" he shouted at her, and Harry smiled too.

"Minister Shacklebolt made a point of firing all of our prisoners," he advised Emma helpfully, and she laughed.

"That's good to know. As I was saying, Timms, I've seen the evidence. I'm quite surprised that you resisted arrest, though. How could you possibly claim to be imperiused as a defense after this? What did he tell Mr. Thicknesse? That they could do that since it worked so well to fool everyone at the Ministry and the Dark Lord too?"

"That's close enough," Harry agreed, and they watched Timms' face pale considerably.

"Is something wrong, Timms? Should we have the Healers see you?" Emma asked. "If you think that's bad, you're going to hate it when you find out that we know about the vault." Timms' knees buckled and he landed hard on the floor, losing his balance and falling over on his side since his upper body was still firmly bound. "Oops. I was going to save that little surprise for later. Please help Mr. Timms up again, Auror-trainee Potter, and we'll start processing this group while we wait for the others to be treated."

"Were there many other troubles?" Harry asked as he and Emma took their eight prisoners over to where nearly every Auror was busy dealing with all of their prisoners.

"Two of the Hit Wizards gave us a hard time, and Nathan, Christine, and Susan had a runner who didn't get far, and a Goblin Liason officer who didn't want to surrender, but other than that, everything went about as well as we expected. I'm disappointed that your group decided to be difficult. Now I owe Christine a lunch. I didn't think they'd actually try anything with the Minister right there with you."

Harry laughed. "What was your bet? The lifts?" Emma's smile was all the answer he needed. "If it helps, that was my guess too."

"That'd only help if you were in on the bet and paid half."

It took until noon to get all thirty-four prisoners processed, and once that was done, Harry and Ron grabbed some lunch after going to assure Hermione that they were fine, and then they were out in the field again. Their job for the rest of the day was to go and pick up all of the physical evidence that Harry had found out about from offices and homes of their prisoners. That had included Timms' vault, and all of the other Elders had similar hiding places. Everything was brought to Auror Headquarters, where each item was documented, and all valuables were sent to Gringotts to be stored in the vault the Ministry had there for such purposes. They made it back to Headquarters with their last load at about ten o'clock, and when they were finished dealing with that, Emma got everyone together for a wrap-up meeting that started shortly after eleven.

"I'd like to thank everyone for all of your hard work," Emma began. "We managed to pull this off with no Auror injuries; and no serious injuries to our prisoners." She smiled as she looked around at some of the Aurors who hadn't been in on the raid until after it had been sprung.

"By now, I'm sure that you all know why this investigation was being handled by such a small group – especially when we had one of our own to worry about. I'll be sending each of you a copy of the full report once it's completed. I know that we're all getting tired, but before we go home, I have assignments for everyone, and most of them will start first thing in the morning."

A half hour later, Harry was in his cubicle, and getting started on the report that he wasn't going to have time to do in the morning. Ron came in carrying two drinks, and put one of them on the desk before slumping into a chair and sighing heavily.

"We'll be here for hours working on those reports," he complained, and Harry nodded.

"A couple of hours," he agreed. "The good news is that you and I are on guard duty for the next two weeks."

Ron snorted. "What's so good about being stuck with guard duty? That's one of the most boring jobs out there; which is why the five Auror-trainees are stuck with it while everyone else gets the fun jobs."

"The good part is that we'll start at eight, be done by five, and have at least the next two weekends off," Harry answered. "We can go to Ginny's game on Saturday, and you'll be able to catch your Cannons games tomorrow night and a week from Saturday."

Ron sat up and was grinning now. "That really is brilliant. Do you want to go to the game tomorrow night?"

Harry shook his head. "Sorry Ron. I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting someone to go along, but I really need to spend some time at home, and with Ginny, for a few days of down time. You should take Hermione to that game a week from Saturday."

"That's okay. I'll get Dad to go with me," Ron told him. "I was going to give him the tickets if I couldn't go anyway."

"Let's see if the girls want to go out for dinner tomorrow night, and we can both catch up with them before you have to get to the game," Harry suggested, and Ron nodded and stood up.

"Works for me. I'd better get at it while I'm still awake enough to write my report. Talk to you later."

By the time Harry finished his report, went home, took a shower, and climbed into bed with Ginny, it was after two o'clock. She woke up, hugged him tightly, and shared a soft, sweet kiss with him. "Hermione let me know that you and Ron were okay when I called her while I was on lunch. She said that everyone at the Ministry is a bit wild about the raid."

"They are," he agreed. "I'm sorry I couldn't time a chat with you. The good news is that Ron and I are on guard duty for the next two weeks, so we'll be able to have breakfast together, I'll be home by shortly after five, and have the next two weekends off, unless something else comes up. Before I forget, Ron and I are hoping you and Hermione will be interested in going out for dinner tomorrow after work before he goes to his Cannons game."

Ginny hugged and kissed him again. "I'd love to, and it's going to be so great to have you here, even though I'll have to do some work in the evenings anyway."

They snuggled close, and talked for a few minutes before Harry fell asleep, and Ginny kissed him again and went back to sleep too. Getting to have breakfast with Ginny had made for a great start to the day, and since the Wizengamot had decided to hear Auror Timms and Pius Thicknesse's cases first on Tuesday, the day just kept getting better as he, Ron, Neville, Susan, and Terry got to enjoy watching both Wizards transformed from the self-aggrandizing loudmouths they picked up from Azkaban in the morning to a pair of gibbering, sobbing babies by the time they were dropped off to begin their matching life sentences. They had brought two other Elders along for their trials, and while their sentences had been shorter, they wouldn't be getting out until they were very, very old, and were every bit as devastated as Timms and Thicknesse were.

"Cheer up, Hermione," Ginny told her as they all sat down at a table in the Leaky Cauldron. "You're the only one who doesn't look happy to be here."

"Maybe she wanted to go with Ron to the game tonight," Harry suggested. Ginny laughed, but Hermione shook her head and only managed a half-hearted smile.

"I've got loads of work to do instead," she advised them. "That's my ongoing problem; and today I found out, thanks to your little cleanup job yesterday, that I won't be getting help anytime soon. Every department was already short of staff, and now we've got thirty-four fewer, and every Head and Department manager is screaming at the Minister for help." She laughed. "They even gave the Wizard who'd been put into the Centaur Liason office a promotion, and that's usually the job they give you before they sack you at the Ministry. My big plans for House Elf Liason won't go anywhere if I can't get anyone to work for me."

"Hire outside of the Ministry," Harry suggested, and Hermione looked at him skeptically.

"The Ministry's hired everyone who graduated with us and was will to come work for them, and it's not like there isn't a shortage of workers everywhere else since the war ended. George is probably the only store owner who doesn't have a problem getting staff, and that's all because of how much fun it is to work there."

"I can think of a few possibilities," he countered. "Madeline Starkey, for one."

"Are you mental?" Ron exclaimed, and Harry laughed.

"Who's Madeline Starkey?" Hermione asked, and Ron answered.

"She's one of the Witches who were injured in that raid gone bad. I'm pretty sure I told you about her. Harry let her daughter sleep in the bed with her the first couple of nights she was in St. Mungo's."

"And as soon as anyone finds out she was there, they either throw out her application, or fire her if she's already started," Harry told them. "She wouldn't be Liason officer material, Hermione, but I'd wager she'd make a great office clerk or assistant. I've got her information if you'd like to meet her. I can think of other places to look for help that most Wizards at the Ministry wouldn't even consider too. Can't you?" He grinned at her. "Does 'September First' give you any hints?"

"Moms with kids gone Hogwarts?" Ginny asked with a laugh, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry laughed with her. "You might even be able to find mothers with younger kids looking for work, but just need a little schedule flexibility."

"That's an idea," Hermione said thoughtfully as she warmed up to the idea. "It's not like there's a law that says everyone who works at the Ministry has to work full time, or day and night like some of us do." She smiled at Harry. "Are you sure about Madeline Starkey?"

Harry nodded. "If she brings as much love and compassion to House Elf Liason as she has for her little girl and husband, you'll have exactly the kind of employee you're looking for to help the elves. I can drop off her information to you in the morning if you'd like."

"Well, it can't hurt to meet her, and maybe you guys are right, and I just need to get a little creative to get what I need."

"We should talk about that later," Ron suggested with a Wolfish grin.

Hermione laughed and leaned in to kiss him. "We can do that, but what if what I need from you is a few hours of time spent cleaning your flat?"

"Then I'd say you'll need to come up with something really, really creative to get what you need."

For the rest of the week, Harry enjoyed having some quiet, uneventful work days - except for the failed escape attempt that one of the former Hit Wizards tried to get away with on the way back to Azkaban. He'd been stunned, in more ways than one, and Ron, Harry, Neville, and Terry had all laughed and congratulated Susan on a job well done as Ron fished the Wizard out of the water next to the ferry dock where he'd fallen after Susan stunned and bound him. When he wasn't working, he was happily taking care of Ginny while she studied and got ready for her second game of the season.

He cooked them breakfast in the mornings, they made dinner together each night after getting home, and split there time in the evenings between having a nightly Seeker's duel, Ginny's studies while Harry worked around the house and yard, and ending each day by making some really brilliant bedtime memories together.

The game on Saturday was at Yorkshire Stadium, and the Harpies were playing the Kenmare Kestrels. Harry and Ginny pretty much repeated the same routine they'd followed for her first game, except that Harry and Teddy were only going to have Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione going to the game with them. They picked up the game programs, drinks, and snacks at the concessions, and then had about fifteen minutes before game time to sit down and relax after working their way through another sold-out crowd of Quidditch fans.

Teddy had been fascinated with the Kestrels'' mascot Leprechauns, and with their harp-playing fans, and Harry loved seeing all of that through his wondering eyes and comments. When the Harpies were announced, and flew into the stadium, he was on his feet, with Teddy in his arms, and they were both cheering loudly for Ginny and her team. While season tickets couldn't have the exact same seats in the different stadiums, they were always some of the best seats available. Ginny had known where to look for them, and waved and smiled brilliantly at her family as she flew past them.

"Aunt Ginny seed us!" Teddy exclaimed happily.

"Saw us," Harry corrected gently as he hugged Teddy.

"Said 'dat," Teddy answered with a giggle. Harry caught Mrs. Weasley's amused expression and laughed too.

"And you went through things like this seven times?" he asked wonderingly, and she nodded knowingly.

"Fred and George were like that times ten, too," she told him. "I'm sure none of our kids would be surprised that Percy was the least trouble of the lot when he was a toddler."

"That's because he loved all of your rules," Ron declared. "Give him some rules and a couple of books, and he'd happily play by himself all day."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both laughed. "You're really not far off the mark about that," Mr. Weasley said, "and doesn't that pretty much still work for him?"

"Probably," Mrs. Weasley agreed, "though he has got some friends to play with now too."

They all turned their attention to the pitch, where the game was about to begin. Harry thought that Ginny's smile must be contagious. In their first game, most of the players on both teams had, for the most part, been fairly serious and focused on the job ahead, and Ginny had been the only player smiling, and openly showing how she was feeling. Today, Angelina and Alicia were both smiling brightly too, and even Gwenog had a noticeable curve to her mouth even as she tried to look like the fierce Beater she was.

From the moment the two teams took to the air, Harry might have been enchanted, and was certainly mesmerized as he watched his beautiful wife put on an amazing Seeker show as she battled against the Kestrels'' veteran Seeker, Aiden Kiely. The two teams were very closely matched, and their fans all had a lot to cheer about. The score was ninety to fifty for the Harpies when, at the one hour and forty-four minute mark, Ginny pulled her one-eight flip after Kiely had managed to block her attempted snitch catch. They'd been flying at close to one hundred and fifty miles an hour, and he'd turned hard, but by then it was too late, and all he could do was look on incredulously as he watched Ginny catch the snitch and raise it above her head in victory. Harry was on his feet, cheering along with their parents, Ron, Hermione, and Teddy, and he hugged his Godson happily.

"I wonder how many Seekers will crash over the next few weeks trying to learn how to do that once word gets around?" Mr. Weasley mused as he watched his daughter with a proud, excited expression on his face.

"Probably one or two," Harry answered. "Ginny told me that she saw her reserve Seeker try it when she thought nobody else was around, and she barely avoided wiping out in a really bad way."

"She makes it look simple," Mrs. Weasley said, "but I guess she's been working on it for quite a while now too."

"And you definitely don't want to get it wrong at those speeds," Hermione added. "What should we do know while we wait for our Quidditch superstar to finish work?"

"I don't know what the rest of you want to do, but while you talk about that, Teddy and I need to go take care of something before we get to whatever that is," Harry told them. "Do you want us to meet you back here, or come with us and wait while we deal with that?"

"We'll come along," Mrs. Weasley answered. "No point in having you fight back through this crowd again once you've gotten as far as the washrooms."

They gathered up their things, and as they joined the long lineups of Witches and Wizards making their way out of the stadium, Harry was able to watch Ginny down on the pitch with her teammates while they did the post game interviews until they were back in among the concessions and she was out of sight. Mr. Weasley went with Harry and Teddy, but Ron wouldn't have anything to do with diaper changes and told Harry that doing that in public was going to ruin his Auror reputation. Once that was dealt with, they went to Diagon Alley, where they started out by having ice creams, went to visit 'Unca George', and wandered around some of the other shops before they all went back to Harry and Ginny's place so that he could start making dinner for all of them while they waited for Ginny.

"Enjoy the game," Harry told Mrs. Weasley and Hermione; nodding to where Ron and his Dad were playing with Teddy in the back yard. They were in the kitchen, but could watch the three boys playing from the kitchen windows. "That's the only way the Cannons will be beating our Harpies anytime soon – with Ron leading his dolls in their game."

"Action figures," Hermione and Mrs. Weasley both said, and they all laughed.

"Arthur played like that with all of the boys when they were young," Mrs. Weasley said, looking a bit distant as she thought about those memories. She smiled at Hermione. "He was just like Ron at first when we had Bill, but eventually he came around. I think it was right about the same time that I threatened to hex him if he didn't start helping me out with the kids whenever he was home."

"Ron might prefer the hexes over diaper changes," Harry joked.

"Not from me, he wouldn't," Mrs. Weasley disagreed, "and not from Hermione either."

"Definitely not," Hermione agreed.

They were well on the way to having dinner ready to go by the time Ginny got home, and after sharing a round of hugs and kisses with everyone, she happily told them about everything that had happened since the game. The highlights of that had been signing autographs for the fairly large group of fans who had waited patiently for their Harpies team to be available to do that with them. For the first time, they had dinner in the formal dining room instead of the kitchen, and spent an hour or so having their meal before everyone else was set free to go outside and play, while Harry took care of the cleanup. Ron and Ginny took their brooms out to the Quidditch pitch, and had a little Chaser versus Keeper match while their parents, Hermione, and Teddy sat in the bleachers to watch the action.

"She could easily play Chaser for the Harpies too," Mrs. Weasley said as they watched the action, and turned when she heard Harry laugh as he walked up to them. "What's so funny about that?"

Harry smiled brightly at her as he climbed up into the bleachers. "Nothing, except that I was thinking that if the Cannons had Ron playing for them instead of the Keeper they do have, they'd have a much better team."

"He is doing fairly well up there too," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "You didn't bring your broom out."

"Ginny's already played a tough game, and once she's finished playing with her brother, I think she should take the rest of the night off instead of having a Seeker duel too."

Ron and Ginny played for about an hour, and then they sat in chairs in the back yard, having drinks, and mostly relaxing and chatting until nearly dark. Harry did run around with Teddy for a while when Teddy wanted to fly his toy broom, and when they wrapped up for the night, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley offered to drop Teddy off with Andromeda on their way home. Ron and Hermione left then too, and Harry and Ginny had a bit of cleaning to do before they went up to their bedroom and finished another amazing day by making a few more incredibly brilliant memories together.

Sunday was Percy's twenty-third birthday. He had other commitments for dinner and the evening, but had agreed to have lunch with his family at the Burrow. Harry and Ginny went over there by shortly after ten so they could help their parents with getting everything ready for that, so they were there when Percy and Audrey arrived. They were both smiling happily, and while they could all see that something was going on with the couple, Ginny was the first to catch sight of Audrey's new diamond ring, and she hurried over to hug each of them.

"Congratulations!" she told them happily, and grinned at Percy. "Is there a romantic hidden somewhere deep inside of you that we haven't seen before? I'd have never guessed that you'd decide that your best birthday present ever was a fiancée." Audrey and Percy both laughed, and Ginny hugged her brother again.

"I think it's wonderful, and very romantic," Mrs. Weasley told them as she took a turn to hug each of them. "If you're going to tell me that you want to get married in three weeks like Ginny did, though, we're going to need to have a little talk," she added with a laugh. "Doing that once was hard enough; and I don't think I could handle that twice in just a few months."

"Don't worry, Molly," Mr. Weasley told her. "Percy's an Undersecretary at the Ministry. They'll need to have something much more formal, and that'll take time to put together."

Percy laughed and grinned at his sister. "Not to mention that Audrey's Mum isn't nearly as big a softie as ours is, and she really wants a big wedding for her little girl."

"Our Mum a softie?" Ron asked with a snort as he and Hermione walked into the kitchen. "Surely you're joking, though that's a good thing coming from you, Percy. This whole getting married thing seems to be contagious. I'm thinking about seeing if the Healers at St. Mungo's have an antidote."

Hermione gave him a cross look for a moment, but then smiled brightly at Percy and Audrey. "I think it's wonderful. Congratulations."

She hugged each of them, and while they waited for Bill and Fleur, the girls got Audrey to give them all of the details from Percy's proposal. She'd needed to repeat the story for Fleur while they had lunch, they all talked a bit about weddings after that, and then moved on to discussing everything from Quidditch to what was going on around the Ministry of Magic and at Gringotts. Percy opened his presents after that, and then he and Audrey had needed to get going.

Ron, Hermione, Bill, and Fleur left then too, and Harry and Ginny stayed long enough to help out with the cleanup before moving on to do the grocery shopping and house and yard work they had waiting for them at home. While they did work all afternoon, Harry and Ginny did take the evening off to just have fun. That included a romantic dinner for two, an entertaining Seeker duel in the evening, and some quality play time for two after going to bed, but quite a while before they were ready to snuggle close and get some sleep.

There was about a week and a half left before school would be starting, and while some of the graduating students were probably feeling at least a pang or two of regret about that part of their lives being over, Ginny didn't have anything like that happening for her, and Harry was very happy that they wouldn't be facing another year of separation like they would have if she'd needed to repeat her sixth year like so many of her classmates had done.

While most of the Hogwarts students were getting excited about going back to school, Ginny, Harry, and their family were looking forward to more amazing Quidditch adventures, celebrating special days like Hermione's birthday, and even their jobs, since they were all doing work that they loved. Ginny and Hermione had been done school for about two months now, but when the students went back on September first, it was really going to officially feel like the start of life after Hogwarts for them. With a lot of fun, and at least one or two surprises coming their way, there was no doubt that their first grown-up school year was going to be amazing.


	21. Life After Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty-One – Life after Hogwarts

"Thank you!" Hermione told Harry as she hugged him tightly. "Madeline is absolutely perfect for the job I hired her for."

Harry was about to answer, but he and Hermione both turned when they heard Christine's comment as she walked into his cubicle too. "I'm telling your wife that you're hugging beautiful Witches in your cubicle, Harry. It's a good thing you've got that bed at St. Mungo's paid for – you're going to need it."

They all laughed, and Harry invited them both to sit down. "Hermione gets a pass from Ginny on that general rule," he told Christine, "and I'm glad that Madeline is working out so well, Hermione. She and Scott could use a break after everything they've been through. The only reason she got caught up in that whole mess in the first place is because they'd do whatever they had to do to take care of Candice." He smiled at the look on Christine's face.

"Hermione's looking for help in her department, and since she wasn't likely to get any staff from within the Ministry, she's looking for other options. Have you had any luck with recruiting any mothers yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not yet," she answered. "I think that I may have a bit of a problem convincing Witches that I someone in the Ministry really is willing to hire part-time staff, or work around what they need for taking care of their children and families."

Christine laughed. "Since every Witch working here does have to give up a lot for the job, that's not a surprise. Are you really serious about trying that?"

"Yes I am, and the more I've thought about it, the better I've liked the idea," Hermione said enthusiastically. "It's really not that far of a leap to go from loving and protecting kids to wanting to do the same for House Elves and the rest of the magical creatures we should be caring for instead of exploiting."

"I've got to head home soon, but if you've got a minute, I may have a couple of suggestions," Christine told her.

"I'm sure that Ron can wait a few minutes for me," Hermione agreed.

Christine stood up and nodded. "Good. Let's go to my cubicle, and we'll talk. Have a good night, Harry."

"You too," he answered, and smiled as he watched them leave. He'd heard jokes around the Ministry that Hermione would be the first in Ministry history to start and end her career in a department that they were sure would soon be the next career-ending position like Centaur Liason was, but he knew that she was going to do brilliantly. He got back to work on his report, and had it finished by the time Ron and Hermione stopped in to say goodbye.

"It's really great to see that smile back," Harry told Hermione. "You must have liked Christine's ideas."

"I loved them," she answered. "This is probably going to be really shocking to you guys, but Christine seems to think that if I want to hire mothers, I should actually talk with mothers who would know where I could find Witches that would be interested in the kind of work and jobs I'm offering."

"What a radical idea!" Harry teased while shooting for wide-eyed amazement. "You'll turn the Ministry on its head doing things like that."

Hermione laughed. "Says the Wizard who has such wild notions about how the Aurors should do their job. What are you and Ginny doing tonight?"

"Probably the same thing you and Ron are," he answered. "Dinner for two, and then she'll have homework to do until curfew. I'll probably do a little studying too, since I haven't done any in weeks."

"We haven't had any training in weeks either," Ron pointed out, and Harry nodded.

"True, but I'm sure Josh will have us back to that soon, regardless of what we'll be working on next after we finish with our guard duty." He grinned at Ron. "Cheer up, mate. We've got less than two more years of training to go."

"You're on the seventh book, and we've barely started the training for the fourth," Ron told him. "It's not like you need to worry about falling behind."

"I'm about finished with Interrogation basics, so I'll be starting on advanced Interrogations soon." Ron groaned and rolled his eyes; and Harry laughed. "I know it's scary, mate. I scare myself sometimes, and Hermione probably wishes I'd been interested in working like that when she was busy trying to keep us from failing everything except DADA. From what I've learned so far about interrogations, though, I'm definitely going to have some problems with that when we get to that part of our training. There are some pretty awful things that we're currently allowed to do that I'll never be a part of, and am going to try and get Emma and the Minister to ban from ever happening again."

"That bad?" Hermione asked, and Harry nodded.

"If you thought that Filch and Umbridge had bad ideas about how to punish children, they'd have both loved what Aurors have done during interrogations in the past."

They talked for a few more minutes, and then Ron and Hermione went home, and Harry dropped copies of his report off on Josh's desk, and with Emma before going home too. He got home just ahead of Ginny, and had barely started working on dinner when she walked into the kitchen, loaded down with a large stack of files and books.

"Glynnis has lost her mind," she told him as she dropped them on the table, and then went over to share a hug and kiss with him.

Harry laughed. "United is probably your biggest team rivalry right now, so I'm not surprised that she wants to win this game more than others. It's going to be interesting to see how Angelina and Alicia do playing against Oliver Wood too."

"They're actually pretty fired up about that, and having a big rivalry game is one thing, but this is way more personal, and I'm not sure that it's good for Glynnis or our team," Ginny answered. "Mom and I have had our moments, but nothing ever like Glynnis and her daughter, Wilda. Gwenog is nearly as obsessed, and I think it's because she and Wilda were close friends before she went over to United."

"So their plan is to work the team until you're all too exhausted to play a week from Saturday?" Harry surmised, and Ginny nodded.

"That'd be my guess," she agreed. "Today was really tough, and they're putting a lot of pressure on us. The only time we should have a must-win game is during the playoffs."

"Or to make the playoffs," Harry added. "Why don't you get a drink, sit down, and relax while I cook? I don't know how much extra time I'll have starting next week, but this week, I'll take care of you while you try to keep up with your homework."

That's pretty much what he did for the next six days when he wasn't busy with guard duty at work. Ginny studied every night except Friday until curfew, and ended each night with magical Jacuzzi and massage sessions that Harry was more than happy to help her out with. She took Friday night off, and they had Teddy come and stay overnight with them. The two boys went out to do things like grocery shopping on Saturday morning while Ginny needed to work, and then they all went over to Christine and Bryce's house for a going back to school party they were having for Dawn, Jeremy, and Kate so that their family and friends could have a visit with them before they went back on Wednesday. Christine had been off since finishing work on Wednesday, and wouldn't be back to work until after the kids left on the Hogwarts Express.

After the party, Harry and Ginny took Teddy home again. From there, they went out to dinner in Diagon Alley with Ron and Hermione; where they got to hear all about the Cannons' second loss of the season, though Ron assured them that it had been a much closer game than the lopsided score suggested. An evening Seeker duel followed dinner on Saturday night, and then it was back to studying for Ginny. Except for another Seeker duel on Sunday afternoon, and an hour-long visit to the Burrow, studying was all that Ginny did on Sunday until she and Harry ended their weekend with a little after-curfew play, Jacuzzi, and massage session that had them both happy, relaxed, and ready to face another busy week.

"You'll all be working on the Montague case next," Emma agreed in answer to Ron's question. "They're not on the most wanted list, but have long been suspected of being Death Eaters. We've never been able to get even a misdemeanor on them, and I'd like to see what you can all come up with. Before you start on that with everyone else, all of my Auror-trainees are going to be spending the next two weeks doing your medical training at St. Mungo's."

"Why are we doing that?" Ron asked, and Emma laughed.

"In our job, basic first aid is a really good thing to know," she answered. "You, Neville, and Harry should have done that training in the first couple of months at the latest, but you were a bit too busy for that at the time, so I'll send you along with Susan and Terry for that now."

"We can do that," Ron agreed, "but I'm very sure that nobody will want me trying to heal them of anything."

Neville and Susan didn't look all that excited about this news either, and Emma smiled reassuringly. "Just do your best, like you've done with everything else," she counseled them. "I'd say that less than a quarter of the Aurors have any talent for this, and I'm certainly not one of them."

Harry wasn't worried about how he'd do with the training at St. Mungo's – he was just happy to find out that he was going to have two more weeks where he wouldn't be working seven days a week, or all day and half the night. That meant two more weeks he'd have the evenings and weekends free to spend with Ginny, and he was good with the plan.

"You're home!" Ginny said happily as she came into the kitchen and shared a long hug and kiss with Harry. "What are you working on to be able to do this?"

"Two weeks of medical training," Harry answered. "Emma told us we should have done it last year, so she's having Ron, Neville, and I do it at the same time Susan and Terry are."

Ginny laughed. "Ron must be hating that."

"He is, and Susan and Neville aren't that thrilled either, but Terry and I are doing okay. We saw Professor Lockhart when Neville and I stopped in to see his Mum and Dad at lunch time. I put the autographed pictures in the office if you want to get yours later."

"They could save a lot of money if the visitors he keeps giving those pictures to just hand them in on their way out," she suggested. "They could erase the autographs, and just keep giving them back to him."

Harry grinned at her. "Maybe you should sell them," he suggested. "I saw an advert in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago offering them for sale at five sickles each. Apparently they're a hot collector's item."

"They wouldn't be if everyone knew what a phony he was," she countered, "and that's pretty tacky if there's someone out there going to visit him just to make money by getting him to autograph pictures for them. How are Neville's parents?"

"They're still the same as the last time we saw them, though Neville's Dad didn't come around at all, and Mrs. Longbottom only said a few things to Neville." He smiled at Ginny. "I guess his Dad told his Grandma to shut it a couple of weeks ago when she went to see them with Neville and Hannah, and said something to Hannah that he didn't like hearing."

Ginny laughed. "I know that she really does love Neville, but someone needs to tell her that a little more often. Sometimes she sounds almost as bigoted as all of the hard-line purebloods do."

"She is a bit too much like that," he agreed. "I'm glad your Mum and Dad aren't like that, or I'd have never been allowed to even date you."

"Or hang out with Ron either. I'm fairly happy about that too," she said before hugging and kissing him again.

While he worked on dinner for two, Ginny told him all about her day, and the team workouts had gotten even harder now that they were down to days away from their game against United. After having dinner and cleaning up, they went outside to have what would be a daily Seeker duel together, and then Ginny worked on her game studying, and Harry worked around the house, did a little Auror training, and took care of a little business that he occasionally had to deal with personally.

Harry was happy to spend another week taking care of Ginny so she could completely concentrate on her work, but there was a lot happening that they really didn't get involved in at all. The kids going back to school on Wednesday was a big deal, though the story that even made the Daily Prophet on Thursday morning was that Old Tom had retired; he'd sold the Leaky Cauldron; and Hannah Abbot had been hired as the new Landlady. During the last half of the week, the action around the Weasley family was with George.

He had been working non-stop during the back to school rush, and now he needed to work even harder as he moved everything out of his flat for the remodel that would be starting on Monday; moving a few things to the Burrow, since he'd be living there for the next two weeks, and helping his Hogsmeade store manager, Lisa Turpin, with getting the new store ready to open for the first Hogsmeade weekend. Ron worked with him every night, meeting Fred at the store after he'd finished at the Ministry, and had dinner with Hermione, since she was bringing work home, and staying up late doing that too. She also had a couple of meetings that she'd set up with Christine's help, and by the end of the day on Friday, she had hired two part-time employees who would be starting in her department on Monday.

The Harpies had drawn Saturday games for their two matches in August because they were one of the favorite teams with the kids who were home on summer vacations. The Saturday draw again on the first weekend in September was because of the rivalry factor with United, and even with all of the Hogwarts students back at school, the Ellis Moor stadium was sold out for the game. Harry and Teddy went out for lunch again, and went on to the stadium from there, where they picked up a program, snacks, and drinks before going to find their seats. They hadn't tried to meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ahead of the game, and got to their seats about five minutes before they joined them there. Bill and Fleur were there this week; and they had some great news to share with Harry and Teddy.

"You're pregnant?" Harry asked, and then laughed, since they'd just finished answering that question. He hugged Fleur again, and then hugged Bill. "Congratulations! You're going to be amazing parents."

"Thanks, Harry," Bill said, and the bright smile on his face was all anyone needed to see to know that he was absolutely thrilled about being a father-to-be now.

"I guess Aunt Muriel will need to find something else to talk about with you this Christmas," Harry joked as he moved on to hug his parent-in-laws next. "Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa. Two engagements, a wedding, and now expecting your first grandchild – what will you do to top that?"

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Today we're hoping to watch our daughter win the big rivalry game for the Harpies, though even if she does that, I'm going to have to go with finding out I'm to be a grandmother ahead of that for the best news of the day."

"More like of the year," Mr. Weasley suggested. "And that's saying a lot, since we're having one of those best years ever."

They all sat down, and were talking about it when something Fleur said caught Teddy's attention. "Baby? Where baby?"

"How are you going to handle that one, Uncle Harry," Bill joked, and Harry laughed.

"I'm going to hand Teddy to Mum, and hope she can save me," he answered as he did exactly that. "I will take notes for future reference, though."

There wasn't much time before the teams were called out into the stadium, but Teddy kept them entertained while they waited. Harry thought that his Mum and Fleur did a great job explaining the whole concept of being pregnant to Teddy, though he, Bill, and Mr. Weasley weren't all that helpful – especially when they'd laugh at Teddy's questions. He'd been quite worried at first, when he thought that Fleur had eaten the baby, but they'd quickly assured him that it wasn't like that at all.

"Thank-you, Mr. Announcer," Mrs. Weasley leaned close and said quietly to Harry as they all stood to cheer for the Harpies as they flew around the stadium, and he took Teddy from her. "Can't say I've ever needed to have that particular talk with any of our kids while waiting for a Quidditch match to start."

"Ginny's going to love hearing that story later," Harry predicted, and they both laughed.

They all waved and watched Ginny as she flew past them before landing on the pitch, and when the game got started, Harry forgot about pretty much everything else except watching Ginny, the game, and taking care of anything Teddy needed. He knew how hard the Harpies had worked for the past two weeks, and they were playing a great game, but United was playing even better. Wilda Griffiths was putting on a real show, and had her team in the lead early, and kept them there. Both Keepers were playing great too, but Oliver Wood was playing just a bit better than Trish Murray was. He hadn't wanted to miss a minute of the game, but when Teddy needed a diaper change, Harry had taken him to the washroom to deal with that, and they'd barely gotten back to their seats when Ginny finally managed to put a brilliant move on the United Seeker.

The score was ninety for United to just forty for the Harpies when, at the two hour and twenty-six minute mark, Ginny tried something that she and Harry had been working on, and took a near vertical angle toward the snitch, while the United player dove in from the side, like Seekers normally did when attempting a snitch catch that was only about twenty feet above the pitch. Harry could see Mrs. Weasley out of the corner of his eye as he watched Ginny; and she looked about ready to scream. He was on his feet, though, and cheering before she did her one-eighty flip, caught the snitch on the way past as she slowed to a stop at about six feet off the ground, and then shot straight back up again; holding the snitch tightly in her hand and smiling brilliantly as she flew past her open-mouthed, incredulous opponent.

"I need to sit down," Mrs. Weasley told them, and Harry laughed.

"You are," he pointed out helpfully, and then leaned over to hug her. "Sorry about that. Next time we'll warn you ahead of time about the moves we're working on."

"I'd appreciated that a lot, but I'm not sure that know about that ahead of time would have helped," she answered. "She was brilliant, though, wasn't she?"

"Yes she was," Harry agreed.

They weren't in any hurry, especially since Teddy had just been changed, so they all sat down to wait until the first wave of spectators left the stadium. That gave Harry a chance to watch the Harpies and United teams while they did their post-game interviews out around the pitch. Ginny was getting a lot of press attention, and he loved watching her as she animatedly talked with the reporters about the game; the fire and excitement still shining brightly in her eyes and face. It looked like Oliver Wood was being teased by his teammates and some of the reporters after Alicia and Angelina both had hugs for him after the game, though he looked quite happy too despite the loss. One thing that really stood out to Harry was how Glynnis and Gwenog interacted – or more accurately, didn't – with Wilda Griffiths. He'd seen both Witches shake hands with, and congratulate the United Coach and the other players, but they both ignored Wilda completely. For her part, Wilda didn't attempt to talk with them, or show anything on her face other than obvious disappointment over losing the match, but Harry could see the hurt there, and felt sorry for all three women.

"Do you feel up to going out to dinner, Fleur?" Harry asked as they got ready to leave. "Ginny and I are going to be at a little team get together that Gwenog is having later, but if you'd like, we could see who's available to join us at the Leaky, and you and Bill can pass on the good news."

"That sounds wonderful, Harry," she agreed, and Bill nodded.

"Okay. While we're waiting for Ginny to finish work, Teddy and I can go see if George, Ron, and Hermione can come, if the rest of you can take care of any other invitations. Have your parents found out yet? Maybe they could join us too."

"We were going to send an Owl Post, but I don't see how they could come on such short notice," Fleur answered, and Harry grinned at her.

"Can I borrow this, Teddy?" he asked, and Teddy happily handed him the game program he was holding. Harry took out his wand and after a moment, handed the program to Fleur, then looked at his watch.

"We should be able to get out of here in ten minutes, and that portkey will take you, and anyone else touching it, to your Mom and Dad's place in fifteen minutes starting – now." He grinned at the look on her face. "Will that work for you? Thirty minutes after you get there, it'll bring you back. I can make another one after dinner if your parents need one, or whenever they want to go back home."

"Thank-you," Fleur said happily, and stopping to hug him before they all kept moving.

"Just don't tell Percy on me," Harry joked. "I really should only do things like that for official Auror business."

"We won't say a word," Mrs. Weasley promised.

They split up when they got outside of the stadium, and Bill's parents went with Bill and Fleur when they left for France. Harry and Teddy stopped at George's store first, and then Hermione's place, and they'd all been happy to accept the dinner invitation. Ginny met up with them by shortly after five, and they wandered around Diagon Alley until a quarter to six before going to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry took Teddy to change him while Ginny sat down with Ron and Hermione, who'd been the first to get there. By the time Harry got back, Bill, Fleur, and all of their parents were there, and it was clear that Fleur's parents were just as excited about the news as Arthur and Molly were.

"Thanks for letting me find out this way," Ginny whispered after she'd stepped back and made way for other members of their family to congratulate Bill and Fleur. Harry hugged her, and leaned close to share a short, soft kiss.

"You're welcome. Thanks to Teddy, by the time their baby is born, we'll be fully-trained, and ready to be his or her aunt and uncle."

"And he'll keep us two years ahead for every stage after that," she added.

"I wonder if your little niece or nephew is a late birthday present for you?" Harry joked, and Ginny laughed.

"I guess that's possible," she agreed. "You probably don't really want to ask for the details on that, though." Harry blushed and they both laughed. "It's so cute when you do that."

"Glad I can entertain you," Harry said, and Ginny laughed again and kissed him again.

Percy and Audrey weren't able to come, so once George got there after closing the store, they had twelve for dinner, including Teddy, and sat at two tables that they pushed together. Fleur and Mrs. Weasley told everyone about their little pre-game chat with Teddy as part of the dinner entertainment; and their conversation covered everything from babies to Quidditch. The Delacours had decided to come spend the weekend with Bill and Fleur, so Harry made them another portkey that would work for late Sunday afternoon, and then, after taking care of their bill with Hannah, he and Ginny dropped Teddy off with Andromeda, and then went home to get ready for their evening out at Gwenog Jones' house.

"Suddenly, I don't feel well," Harry told Ginny when she came into the office, where he'd been working on a couple of things while waiting for her to finish getting ready. She looked gorgeous, and he was thinking that keeping her here at home would be a lot more fun than going out for a few hours.

"Nice try, and thank-you," Ginny said before leaning over to hug and kiss him. She glanced at what he was working on, laughed, and kissed him again. "Why didn't you tell me about buying the Leaky?" she asked, and Harry grinned at her.

"You had enough on your mind over the last few weeks," he answered. "When you've got time, you're welcome to look it over, but it was a good deal, and it'll turn a nice little profit every year."

Ginny laughed again. "And help Hannah out with a nice little raise, and a flat that's included as part of the pay. How convenient." She kissed him one more time. "I love you. Let's get going, or we'll be late."

"Old Tom didn't leave that flat in very good shape," Harry told her, "but we'll get it fixed up. Being Landlady is going to be a tough job, but our property manager told me that Hannah was really happy, and she certainly looked happy tonight."

"She is," Ginny agreed, "and I think she'll do a great job too."

When they got to Gwenog's house, it looked like about half of the guests were there, including Angelina and Alicia, and after being welcomed by Gwenog and getting drinks, Harry and Ginny talked with them for a few minutes while Gwenog was busy welcoming other guests.

"If I'd known you were coming alone, I'd have invited George and Lee," Ginny told them. "Lee asked me about going partying with the Harpies when we went out to dinner after the season opener."

Alicia laughed. "Is Jordan still trying to get Angelina to go out with him?"

"That's exactly what we wanted to know," Ginny answered; laughing too. "He said he's conceded defeat, but thought that partying with the Harpies would be fun." She laughed again. "He seems to be afraid that all of the good Witches will be gone before he can get George to start going out again."

"George will start going out again when he's ready," Angelina said somberly. "If you see Lee pushing him too hard, hit him with that bat-bogey hex of yours, Ginny."

"It's been quite a while, Angelina," Alicia told her gently; putting a comforting hand on her arm. Angelina shook her head and looked away.

"For some of us, it's like it was yesterday still." Ginny handed Harry her drink, and she hugged Angelina for a long minute. "I'm sorry, Ginny," she whispered. "I know he was your brother too, but…"

Ginny nodded. "I know, and you're right about George. He'll come around when he's ready."

Alicia grinned at her. "Funny you should put it quite like that, Ginny."

"You're as bad as Lee," Angelina accused, but she and Ginny both laughed anyway. "Maybe the two of you should take your own advice and go out."

"He's cute, has a successful WWN show, and was always a lot of fun at school," Alicia told her. "I could do a lot worse that Lee Jordan."

"I thought that maybe you were sweet on Oliver Wood," Harry told her. "He seemed to like the hugs that you and Angelina had for him after the game."

Alicia shook her head. "Don't you keep your husband up to date on all of the gossip?" she asked Ginny before looking back at Harry. "Oliver's been stepping out with Katie Bell for months now; and I'll bet they're married by sometime next year."

"Ginny tries to keep me up to date, but I miss these little details sometimes when I'm stuck working a lot of late nights. Good for them, and I'm sure they'll be very happy together." He smiled at Ginny. "Don't tell Ron about that, or he'll be badgering the Healer who's training us for that antidote all next week."

"What antidote?" Alicia asked, and Ginny answered.

"He thinks that marriage might be contagious, and after finding out that Percy and Audrey got engaged, told us he should go get an antidote before it's too late for him."

They all laughed. "It's already too late for him," Angelina suggested. "It's just a matter of how long it will take before he figures that out."

"With Ron, that could be a long time," Ginny told them.

The three girls moved on to talk mostly about Quidditch, and Harry wasn't really all that surprised to find out that was what most of the guests wanted to talk about. There were only a handful of guys there, and Harry spent some time talking with them, or he and Ginny talked with the other couples. Gwenog mingled with all of her guests, while others, like Glynnis, spent most of the evening in one place, and let the other guests stop by to visit with them. Ginny had been pulled away to talk with a group of girls that included Dana, Alicia, and Angelina, and Harry ended up sitting down next to Glynnis while he waited for her.

"Would you mind if I ask you something about your daughter?" Harry asked her quietly so he wouldn't be overheard. Glynnis tensed, but as she looked at the soft compassion in his eyes, she found herself nodding for him to go ahead.

"Does it really matter that much that she plays for United instead of for the Harpies?"

"She betrayed us – betrayed me!" Glynnis whispered back fiercely.

"She loves you," Harry countered. "Maybe Wilda totally botched things, and maybe you both did – I don't know what happened, and I suspect that until you talk to each other, neither will either of you, but I saw her out there today, and I know what I saw in her eyes."

"And what did you see, Mr. Potter?" she asked so softly that he could barely hear.

"Harry, please; and I saw loss, pain, sadness, and so much love there that it broke my hear to see it. I'd give nearly anything to have even an hour with my Mum again, Glynnis, and that's what I saw in your daughter's eyes. Forgiveness is really such a simple thing, and yet could bring both of you a lifetime of happiness instead of what you have now." He reached out, covered her hand with his, and squeezed gently. She looked into his eyes, and he was smiling.

"Yes, that's exactly what I saw," he leaned closer and whispered. He squeezed her hand again, and stood up. "Can I get you a refill?" he asked conversationally, and Glynnis handed him her glass.

"Yes – thank you. Let's make it a double."

By the time Harry delivered Glynnis' drink to her, Ginny caught up with him again, and they stayed together for the rest of the evening. They stayed until shortly after midnight, and were soon home and in bed, where they didn't get around to their second favorite thing to do there until they were finished spending some quality time on their most favorite bedroom activity.

With no work-related homework for either of them, and since Harry had taken care of the house and yard work on Saturday morning, they took Sunday off and played all day. After sleeping in, they had brunch out in the back yard, went out to the pitch for a Seeker duel, and then went out for the afternoon. They did a little shopping, went for a walk on the beach, and had dinner at a café before going home for the night.

"Dawn sent this with our morning Owl Post," Christine told Harry as she handed him the letter on Monday morning. He'd stopped in there to do a little work before meeting up with the other trainees at St. Mungo's. "I imagine it has something to do with the news she had for us that she made the Ravenclaw team on Saturday."

"Good for her!" Harry said enthusiastically. "That's probably bad for Gryffindor this year, though, so maybe I shouldn't be so happy about this."

Christine laughed. "Maybe, but since I'm a Ravenclaw too, I don't have a problem with it – though I'll have to worry all year about my baby getting hurt."

"No more than I'm sure she worries about you working here," he pointed out. "Compared to my Quidditch career there, hers should be a breeze."

"If she could win three Quidditch Cups like your teams did, she'd probably think that was a fair trade. I've got to get to work. Have fun with your training, and I'll see you around."

By the time that Harry and Christine were wrapping up their little chat, Hermione was getting to work, and she smiled as she walked into her office. She'd made quite a few changes to it in the last five weeks, and that progress had really picked up since Madeline started working for her two weeks ago. She'd made the office four times bigger than it had been, and all of the furniture, while still ancient, was repaired, cleaned, polished, and looked great. She and Madeline had all of the files organized and neatly stored in cabinets, and there were now two neat rows of cubicles for the staff that Hermione hoped to have in the future.

"Well, we'll soon have twice the staff we had last week," she told herself. "In about a half hour, so I'd better get ready for them."

Madeline was in to work fifteen minutes early, and after checking in with Hermione, she went to her cubicle, which was next to her boss's, and got started. While they did have two more employees starting today, Hermione only had Rachel Aubrey coming in for the morning. She had been one of the two women that Christine had recommended, and helped her talk into coming to work in the new department. Her husband had been one of the Aurors killed in the same botched raid that Madeline had been injured in, and was having a tough go of it trying to raise and eight-year old girl and six-year old boy on her own.

Hermione had hired her to work mornings in the House Elf Relocation Office; and Lenore Cresswell was going to share that job with her, and work the afternoon shift. Both women were friends of Christine's, and it had been her vote of confidence in the young Witch they'd agreed to come work for that had been what had convinced them to accept the offers.

"Good morning, Rachel," Hermione said as she stood up to welcome the other Witch as she walked into the office. "Come on in. How are you this morning? Did everything go alright with the kids this morning?"

"I'm fine, Ms. Granger, and they were a bit out of sorts about me leaving them this morning, but they'll get used to it," Rachel answered.

"Hermione, please, unless we have official company," Hermione told her. "We're not going to be hung up on titles and rank in this office." Madeline had come out of her cubicle to greet and meet Rachel too; and Hermione smiled at her. "Rachel, this is Madeline Starkey. She's our office assistant, and a whiz at organizing and keeping track of files. Madeline, this is Rachel Aubrey." She stopped and her smile faded, which had both women looking at her in concern. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I honestly hadn't thought about the fact that you have a sad connection with each other. Rachel's husband was killed in the raid you were injured in, Madeline."

"You were there?" Rachel exclaimed; stepping back from Madeline in shock. Hermione quickly put a comforting hand on her arm; and Madeline's face had paled at the sound of anger and vehemence in the other Witch's voice.

"She was a servant caught in the crossfire, and a victim, Rachel, and her testimony helped put the Wizards and Witches who did kill your husband away. Madeline nearly died too; and it was months before she fully recovered. Once you've met her husband, Scott, and their little girl, Candice, I'm sure you'll understand why she did whatever she had to do after getting caught up in the trouble when that group of Death Eaters took over the house where she'd been working."

Rachel took a deep breath, and relaxed slowly. "I'm sorry, Madeline. It wasn't fair for me to jump to any conclusions." She held out her hand. "Can we start over? Hi, I'm Rachel Aubrey. It's nice to meet you."

Madeline smiled and shook her hand. "Thank you; and it's nice to meet you too."

Hermione inwardly sighed with relief. "Let's get you set up with a cubicle, and then we'll get started," she told Rachel. "We've started working on the backlog of relocations, but we still have a long way to go before we'll be caught up."

"I would have thought there would be a lineup of families willing to take on house elves," Rachel told her in surprise, and Hermione nodded.

"There are," she agreed, "but we're doing things a bit different now, and are going to make sure that the House Elves get placed in homes where they'll be taken care of too, so every family interested in getting a placement is going to be evaluated first."

"I'd guess that isn't popular."

Hermione laughed. "No, it isn't, but that is how it's going to be as long as I have anything to say about it, and doing this is just the start of what we're going to do here for the elves."

Hermione was fired up all day as she worked with Rachel; and then with Lenore in the afternoon. At the Harpies' training pitch, Ginny was having a great day too, and that had started out with a pair of hugs from Glynnis and Gwenog. Apparently, they'd had a long talk together after everyone else had left the party on Saturday night, and on Sunday, Gwenog had gone along with Glynnis, and they'd taken the first step to patch things up with Wilda. The hugs, she was told, were to be passed on to Harry; which the two women had decided she could take care of much more effectively than they could. That had been all that Glynnis had stopped in for before going on to the office, and Gwenog was all business again by the time that the rest of the team arrived. They'd be playing the Bats a week from Tuesday, and with only six training days to get ready for that game, she had them working hard all day, and loaded down with study material for the night.

Ginny spent some quality time right after work passing on those hugs, and quite a bit more, to Harry. That put a delay on his dinner plans with her, and though he certainly didn't have a problem with that, they did have to rush through their meal once it was ready, and then he had to hurry to meet up with Ron. While their girls were both busy with homework, Ron and Harry were going to the Cannons-Falcons game. The game lasted for less than an hour and a half, but Harry was gone for nearly four hours, after Ron had needed to go out and celebrate his team's first win of the season, after Galvin Gudgeon managed another improbable, lucky catch to give the Cannons a one-sixty to one-thirty win in what had been on the way to being another blowout loss. Even the Cannons' manager, Ragmar Dorkins, had collapsed in shock over the unexpected win.

"They won?" Ginny said in surprise when Harry walked into their bedroom. She was sitting in bed, propped up with pillows, and had books and rolls of parchment scattered around her.

"It wasn't looking good for them, but Gudgeon basically ran into the snitch, and then managed to make the catch. I'm sure he didn't even see it until after it hit him – in the face. He was sporting quite the black eye by the time we left the stadium."

"Ron must have been beside himself," Ginny suggested. "When was the last time they had a win this early in the season, let alone against the Falcons? I'm surprised he let you come home so early."

Harry laughed as he sat on the bed next to her. "The game ended two hours ago," he advised her before leaning close to kiss her for a long moment. "I'm sure he told me to the minute how long it's been since the Cannons were one and two to start a season, but you're breathtakingly beautiful, and I'm not really at all interested in talking about the Cannons, or Quidditch, right now."

The magic of love, some quality Jacuzzi and play time, and another amazing massage had all helped to make for a brilliant end to their day, and with Harry taking care of her every morning and evening while she mostly needed to work, the rest of the week was just as great for both of them. Harry, Ron, and the other trainees finished their training at St. Mungo's, and while there wasn't any kind of test to pass or fail, only two out of five of them had any real skill for first aid by the time they were done.

Ginny needed to spend most of the weekend working again, and the only breaks she took were to spend part of Saturday afternoon playing with Harry and Teddy, having dinner with them, and with her Mum and Dad, and having a Seeker duel with Harry each day to help get ready for the game on Tuesday. Whenever she was busy studying, Harry worked around the house and yard, had a grocery run to make on Saturday morning, and spent a couple of hours on Sunday helping Neville out with some heavy magical lifting that needed to be done in Hannah's flat at the Leaky Cauldron. For the rest of the day on Sunday, he alternated between doing a little studying in Advanced Interrogations and taking care of his wife.

By Monday morning, Harry found out that his reprieve was over, and when they had their meeting with Nathan, Josh, and the rest of their team, he and Ron were advised that they were going to be back on night-shift surveillance again. The meeting had lasted about an hour, and Harry, Ron, Neville, and Susan were brought up to speed on what everyone else had been doing so far, and what they'd all be doing in the coming weeks. When it was over, Ron followed Harry to his cubicle and flopped into a chair.

"You did say you wanted more excitement than guard duty or first aid training," Harry reminded him.

"True, but doing that on days would have been better. From what they've told us about the estate, there's not going to be much excitement for us."

Harry grinned at him. "You want excitement? Okay. Hermione's birthday is this coming Sunday. Are you ready?"

"What!" Ron exclaimed, sitting up, and Harry laughed.

"I did tell you a few weeks ago that I'd remind you with a week left, and you were apparently right that you'd forget by now. The good news is that you've got days off while she's working, and still have time to get ready to do something nice for her." Ron had wanted to talk about that for a while, but it wasn't long before they both left for home, needing to get some sleep before they'd need to get started on their first night shift.

"We knew that it wouldn't last," Harry told Ginny as he held her close. She'd woken him up with an amazing kiss after getting home from work on Monday, and had known why he was home, sleeping, instead of at work.

"I know, but it's not going to be quite the same playing tomorrow night without you there."

"Neville can still go, since he and Josh are on days, and maybe Hermione can use my ticket, unless you've got someone else you'd like to give it to instead."

"I'll ask her, but I still wish you could be there." She hugged and kissed him again, and Harry smiled when she leaned back again.

"The night games may be out for a while, but it does mean that I'll still be able to go to your Saturday games," he pointed out. "The Arrows game a week from Saturday will probably be a much better match too."

Ginny sighed, and stood up. "Well, hopefully you won't have to miss too many games. Do you want to sleep for a while longer? I can work for a while, and we can eat later if you'd like." She laughed breathlessly when Harry reached out, pulled her back into bed with him, and kissed her rather soundly. "Or not, she managed to say with a laugh before he kissed her again, and they made another amazing, happy memory together.

Five hours later, Harry and Ron were sitting outside of the Hogs Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Their assignment was to follow the Montagues, and stake out their estate through the night when they were at home. The couple, who were just a few years younger than Ron's parents, had been nice enough to discuss where they were going as they left their well-protected estate, so Harry and Ron had been able to follow them, and were now deciding whether Harry should go in and take a look around, or go in together in disguise.

"I think we should go in together," Ron told him. "It'd look suspicious if I go in alone while you use your cloak, and it won't be all that easy for you to move around in there without being bumped in to."

"Maybe Aberforth's cleaned the place up a bit," Harry suggested, and Ron laughed.

"The Montagues are there," he pointed out. "I'll wager it's exactly the same; or a bit worse for wear."

They took care of their disguises, and then went into the tavern, which, as Ron had guessed, was just as dirty as ever, and the few patrons there were barely more than indistinct shadows. Ron led the way to a table; and they ordered drinks from Aberforth. It was hard for Harry to look into those blue eyes that were so much like his brother's had been and pretend that he didn't recognize him, but he must have pulled it off. Aberforth did keep a suspicious eye on them the entire time they were there, since they were complete strangers, but Harry was sure that everyone else there was doing the same thing.

"Maybe I was wrong," Ron said in a low, hushed voice as he picked up the dirty glass and forced himself to take a drink from it. There were a couple of Wizards at the table next to them, and while Harry had known what Ron had meant, he took that opening to begin fabricating a conversation.

"Probably were," he agreed, "but he had it coming to him anyway, it's over and done with, and there's nothing you can do to change that."

As they went along with that, Ron was having fun, but Harry kept most of his attention on their targets. They were on the other side of the small room, and he couldn't hear their conversation, but once he'd located them, he was able to watch them. The couple was alone when he and Ron sat down, but they were eventually joined by three young Wizards who Harry did know. Their own son was first to arrive, and then Gregory Goyle joined them. They only had to wait a few more minutes before the last member of their group came into the bar, and Colby Warrington quickly made his way to their table, and sat down with them.

Harry smiled at that. Until he'd read the suspect file on him, he hadn't even known Warrington's first name, since he'd either been referred to by his last name at school, or called 'C' by his mates. He was three years older than Harry, Ron, and Gregory, and looked as thuggish and mean as Goyle and Montague did. He and Ron stayed and watched them surreptitiously while having two drinks, but decided that it was time to go after that, even though the Montagues, Goyle, and Warrington were still there.

"So what have we learned tonight, other than to avoid drinking at the Hogs Head if at all possible?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry answered, "though the fact that they were meeting their son and two of his buddies here instead of just doing that at home is interesting."

"That is strange," Ron conceded. "Especially since they'd have a lot more privacy behind their Estate defenses. There must be some reason for it."

Harry nodded. "I'm sure there is. We know they weren't at the top of Riddle's gang, but they must be two of the smarter ones to keep from getting caught so far. Even the Malfoys couldn't manage that, even if they were able to weasel their way out of any prison time."

"Maybe we should hire Draco and see if he can ferret the truth out for us," Ron said with a snort, "and I'd say it was their money as much as their pathetic claims to the Wizengamot that kept them out of Azkaban."

"They haven't gotten off completely, mate," Harry told him. "Their old buddies are dead or in prison; all of those families consider them traitors now; and I'm fairly sure that nobody on our side is showing them any love either."

"That's because you're the only one of us who'd even think about forgiving them, and even you're probably not quite ready for that yet."

"I won't be inviting Draco to a Harpies game anytime soon, no," Harry agreed. "Since we're just sitting here and waiting anyway, why don't you go pick something up for us to eat? If I'm not here when you get back, I'll meet you back at the stakeout spot we set up at the Estate."

"That works for me," Ron agreed. "Maybe some food will help with diluting the sludge we drank in there."

Ron didn't miss a thing while he was gone, and they'd finished eating by the time that the Montagues left the Hogs Head. They waited until after the three younger men left the Inn too over the next fifteen minutes, and then went back to what ended up being a very quiet, boring stakeout for the rest of the night.

Josh and Neville were working the day shift stakeout and tracking with Reggie and Dan so that they could follow as many leads that came up during the day as they could. The only exception to their new schedule was going to be on Wednesday mornings, since Emma had instructed them to get back to their scheduled training so they wouldn't fall behind. On Tuesday, Harry had slept all day after getting home. Ginny had already left for work by then, though with a night game, the Harpies would only be doing a light workout, and then would be working on their game plan for the afternoon. They were able to have dinner together, and then she was off to the Yorkshire stadium, and he went into Auror Headquarters to meet up with Ron, get the shift change update from Neville, and get over to the Montague Estate.

"Couldn't you lie to us and say it was a lousy game?" Ron complained, and Neville laughed.

"I could, but I'm sure that Harry would rather hear that his wife played a brilliant match; which she definitely did."

"What was the score?" Harry asked.

"Two-forty to thirty," Neville answered. "I haven't really been that much of a Quidditch fan, but if all of Ginny's games are going to be like the first one you got me tickets for, and the one last night, I could get to like the sport a lot."

"I knew we should have skipped work last night," Ron groused. "We missed the game, and all the Montagues did was stay in all night anyway, where we can't find out anything."

"I'll see what I can do about making your life more interesting," Josh told Ron as he walked into the room. "Let's start by finding out who did – or didn't – get ready for today's lesson."

Ron was soon reminded of the fact that 'skimming through' the chapters wasn't enough to keep up with the practical lessons, though he did still manage to muddle through. By the time they were finished, though, he and Harry were both ready to just go home and get some sleep. When Ginny got home from work, she let Harry sleep, and only woke him up with enough time to get ready for work and have dinner with her while she told him all about her game against the Bats.

For the rest of the week, and through the weekend, Harry mostly concentrated on work, and except for Sunday, he slept during the days when he wasn't either on their stakeout, or working in the office before and after each shift. Ginny was busy too, and on top of all of her work with the Harpies, she even spent a lot of Saturday helping George out at his store in Diagon Alley while Harry was sleeping anyway. She was putting in a shift there so that he could be in Hogsmeade for the grand opening of the store there. Ron had gone with him, and though he'd worked all night on Friday, he hadn't wanted to miss George's big day, and Lisa Turpin had been glad to have both Wizards there to help her, since their opening day was a monster hit with the Hogwarts students.

"Good morning – or night," Ginny told him as she woke him up after getting home.

"How was your day in the world of wheezes?" he asked as he reached for his glasses and put them on.

"We had fun," Ginny answered, and laughed when Arnold purred happily as she set him down on the bed. "I think Arnold liked hanging out with some of the other pygmy puffs."

"Are you sure that's Arnold? I can't tell them apart."

Ginny laughed again. "I can, and that's definitely Arnold. Maybe it's because I grew up with twins in the family. George told me to tell you 'thanks'. I guess the grand opening was a huge hit with the Hogwarts students."

"That's good. Hopefully these weekends will make up for when they're slower the rest of the time."

"I doubt Lisa will have many slow days," Ginny disagreed. "George has moved some of their mail order business up there, since he's got more than he can keep up with at the main store. Now he's started advertising that's targeted toward students at other schools like Beauxbatons so he can expand that part of the business."

"Maybe Fleur can help him make some French wheezes," Harry joked, and laughed at the look in Ginny's eyes. "He already has?"

She nodded. "Yes, and they sent a test box to Gabrielle to pass around at school."

"When did he have time to do that with everything else he's got going on?" Harry asked. "I thought that you and I worked hard, but he's going all of the time."

"He does get some sleep, but we both know that this is just how he's dealing with everything, and if it works for him, I'm okay with that for now."

"We should have him over for dinner sometime soon once he gets settled in his flat again. You could get him to help out with our Seeker duels by playing Beater against both of us too."

Ginny hugged and kissed him. "That's a great idea," she agreed. "I'll ask him and see what we can work out."

They ended up getting to ask George about that on Sunday. Ron had barely been able to stay awake on Saturday night after only getting about two hours of sleep, and when Harry had found out that he'd promised to help George with moving his things back into his flat, he'd told Ron to go home; take his girlfriend out for a birthday breakfast, and then get some sleep before he'd need to be up for the lunch he and Ginny were putting on for Hermione at their house. George had been happy to trade Ron's help for Harry and Ginny's – especially since they were much better at actually getting the work done, and keeping everything neat and clean in the process.

Harry went home by shortly after eleven so he could get started on making lunch for everyone who'd be coming over to celebrate Hermione's twentieth, and Ginny and George finished up a last bit of work before joining him there, and helping him with setting up the tables he'd conjured in the back yard, and then welcoming Hermione, Ron, their parents, and the rest of their guests.

"Happy Birthday," he told Hermione as she and Ginny came into the kitchen. "Are you having a good day so far?" She hugged him and kissed his cheek before answering.

"Yes I am, and I'll guess that's because you reminded Ron about it with enough time for him to get ready."

"It may have come up in conversation – a couple of time," Harry agreed. "Did he manage to stay awake until you finished having breakfast? He wasn't in very good shape when we finished work this morning."

"He did, but crashed as soon as he got home, and you look ready to have a nap about now too."

"I'll get to that after lunch," he promised. "Ginny and I had fun helping George this morning, and his place looks great now."

"That's what he was just telling us outside," Hermione said with a nod. "Maybe Ron and I will stop in and see it before he goes to get more sleep, and I go over to Mum and Dad's place."

"Hermione just came in to say hi," Ginny advised him. "What can I do to help next?"

Harry waved toward a basket of buns and tray of meats and cheeses. "They're ready to go out, and I'll have the hot dishes ready in about ten minutes. Everything else is already out there, except for the cake and ice cream for dessert."

Ginny leaned close and kissed him, and then she took the basket and tray with her, and followed Hermione outside again. When everyone was there, they sat down to eat, wrapping that up an hour later with the cake and ice cream. Hermione opened her presents after that, and then it was time for everyone to head out again, mostly because everyone knew that Harry really needed to get some sleep before work. After seeing their guests off, Ginny wouldn't even let Harry help with the cleanup, and instead sent him straight off to bed while she took care of that, and then spent the rest of her day studying for her upcoming game against the Arrows.

She let him sleep through until he absolutely had to get up, and they had a light dinner together before sharing a long hug and kiss goodbye. The last full week of September was busy, but mostly uneventful. The only time that Harry and Ginny got to spend together was for a few hours around dinnertime. They had three short Seeker duels to work on Ginny's game, and help her get ready for Saturday, but other than that, it was all work, all week for both of them.

Emma had an update meeting with Harry, Ron, and everyone else except Dan and Neville, who were continuing the stakeout while their partners attended the meeting. They were coming up on two weeks for the surveillance, and a month on the case, and it was time to review where they stood.

"I want to keep the surveillance going, even though we're not getting any results yet," she advised them, and smiled when Ron groaned. "The good news, though, is that we're not going to have all of you working seven days a week indefinitely. We'll keep the current stakeout teams through the weekend, but on Monday, I'll get three other teams up to speed on the case, and put them on the surveillance for a two week run. We'll switch back and forth if needed, or until we get other leads."

"I can't believe I'm actually thinking about volunteering, but getting Susan learning how to do surveillances would be a good idea," Christine told her. "Any chance we could get days; and maybe team up with Rick and Terry, instead of doing nights?"

Emma laughed. "There'd be a really good chance," she agreed. "We'll talk about that later with Rick and Terry. Let's go through everything we've got so far, and let Ron and Harry get out of her and get some sleep before they have to be back at it again tonight."

Harry hadn't gotten to sleep until after noon on Friday, and the night shift had been long and drawn out. He'd been able to have breakfast with Ginny on Saturday morning before she left for the team warm-up and meeting, and then slept until noon. That gave him enough time to have a wake-up shower, get dressed, and go pick up Teddy before going to the Bodmin Moors Stadium. They had time to pick up programs, snacks, and drinks, and had about ten minutes left before game time when they reached their seats. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already there; and Harry was a bit surprised to find out that Percy had gotten the time off and come to the game with Audrey.

"Mum and Dad gave us the game schedule, and we set this up over a month ago," Percy explained as Harry shook his hand. "Minister Shacklebolt is taking the afternoon off, and he's here somewhere too, though we haven't seen him yet."

"I'm glad you could come," Harry told him. "Hopefully we'll be in for another good game today."

Audrey wasn't a hugs and kisses kind of person in public any more that Percy was, so Harry shook her hand too, and then hugged his parents. They all sat down and talked together while they waited for the Arrows and Harpies to be called into the stadium, and then were on their feet to cheer Ginny on when she flew around with her team; her smile as bright and happy as it was at the start of every game.

"That was a great goal," Mrs. Weasley said enthusiastically after she sat down again between Harry and Teddy, and Mr. Weasley. "Valmai, Angelina, and Alicia are all playing great today."

Harry nodded. "They really are," he agreed, "and they've got the Arrows defense all messed up right now too."

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "I'd say that has as much to do with Gwenog and Lysa as it has to do with our Chasers. "It's really hard to concentrate on the quaffle when you've got bludgers coming at your head every time you look around."

"That doesn't seem to be bothering Ginny at all – or anyone else on our team," Mr. Weasley pointed out. "The Arrows Beaters are playing pretty well too."

The whole Arrows team was actually playing a good match, but the Harpies were putting on a clinic at every position, and really playing as a team. They'd jumped out to a quick lead, but then the Arrows tightened up their defense, and the fans for both teams had a lot to cheer about. For the first time since becoming a starting Chaser, Angelina was outscoring Valmai, and Alicia was happy to be making plays for both of her fellow Chasers, though she only scored two goals herself.

"Come on Harpies!" Mr. Weasley urged their team. "One more goal to be one-fifty ahead!"

Harry had been thinking the same thing, and apparently, so were their Chasers, who were forming up for another offensive attack; and the Arrows' Seeker, who spotted the snitch, wheeled around, and dove toward where it was speeding along about fifteen feet above the heads of the fans behind the Harpies' goals. While he'd gone low, Ginny had gone high, and on a much different attack angle. The Chasers were all but forgotten as nearly everyone in the stadium got to their feet, and were cheering their favorite team's Seekers on.

"What's she doing?" Mr. Weasley asked absently as they all watched, and Harry laughed.

"I'll guess that she's trying out some applied Arithmancy that she and Hermione have been working on," he answered, and then laughed again when he caught Percy's startled look before he laughed too.

They didn't have long to wait before finding out that was exactly what she'd been doing, and the Arrow's Seeker, who'd been reaching out for the snitch, and looking jubilant, suddenly found himself grasping at Ginny's broomtail as she blasted past him, and spun away from the Witches and Wizards below them, who all ducked as she blew by less than three feet above their heads.

"Oh dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, and Harry turned his attention back to the Arrows' Seeker. He'd been watching Ginny, and didn't see the man crash into the stands, but the sound of it was echoing across the stadium by the time he looked back.

There was so much going on then that it was hard to keep up. Angelina had scored another goal, but it was disallowed after determining that it happened just a fraction of a second after Ginny's catch. As soon as she heard the crash, Ginny had immediately flown back, landed, and done what she could to help out the Arrows' Seeker and the spectators who'd been injured. The rest of the players had landed on the pitch, and the team of Medi-Witches and Wizards hurried over to help treat the injured too.

"He should have paid attention to what he was doing instead of looking back around at Ginny," Mr. Weasley told them after they'd sat down to wait for the crowd to thin out and the commotion to die down. "Hopefully they'll all be okay."

"It looks like they're just treating the injuries here," Mrs. Weasley pointed out. She smiled and nodded toward Ginny. "I'd say that hugs are working fairly well to treat that little girl too."

"And earning Ginny another fan for life," Percy added.

"Probably more than one," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "When we get out of here, do you want us to take Teddy home for you?" she asked Harry. "You should try and get a bit more sleep before work tonight, even if it'll really just be a nap at this point."

Harry nodded. "That'd be great, Mum. Thank you."

When the worst of the rush was over, they made their way out of the stadium; stopping long enough to get Teddy changed, and then Harry apparated home. Percy and Audrey had plans for dinner; and Harry would find out later that Ginny's Mum and Dad ended up going out for dinner with Andromeda and Teddy. Ginny had woken him up in time to get ready and have dinner with her, and then he was sent off to work with a hug, kiss before going to meet up with Ron at Auror Headquarters. They had another quiet night on their stakeout, and on Sunday, after having breakfast, Harry had a very playful cuddle buddy in bed with him for a couple of hours before she let him get to sleep until later in the afternoon. He woke up in time to help with making dinner for three, and had everything ready by the time George got there after closing the store.

"This is way better than what we were having at my flat tonight," George told Harry and Ginny as they sat down to have dinner together. "If you always do meals like this, invite me over any time."

Ginny laughed. "We don't, but will invite you over more often – especially if you can help me with my training."

"Compared to training every day with Gwenog and Lysa, I don't see how I can help you much," George countered. "They're one of the best Beater pairs in the league, if not the best."

"They are, but when the team trains, they're working with all of us, while you'll just have two targets. Harry and I work on a trying a lot of different things; and you could really help us to make sure I don't try anything that's going to get me hurt with a bludger counter-attack."

"Do any of the other girls put so much work into their games at night and on the weekends?" he asked, and Ginny nodded.

"We've all got homework nearly all of the time, except for the Sunday after a Saturday game. I know that Gwenog does extra training at home, and Angelina and Alicia practice together too."

"And I thought that I was a workaholic," George joked.

"You are," Ginny advised him with a laugh. "We're both just lucky to have really brilliant, fun jobs."

"What about Harry and Ron's job?" George asked, and Ginny laughed again.

"They're not as lucky as we are," she answered. "Being really good at what they're doing doesn't make it fun, but somebody's got to take it on, and they're exactly the right Wizards for the job."

"Considering the fact that they quite possibly broke more rules that Fred and I did while we were all at Hogwarts, it's actually pretty ironic that they're both Auror-trainees now," George joked. "Since Ron keeps me updated on all of their work, though, why don't you tell me about your game yesterday? I've heard from a few customers that it was really great."

Ginny was happy to do that, and entertained her husband and brother for the hour they spent having dinner. They cleaned up together, and then went out to the Quidditch pitch, and played until Harry needed to head out for work, while Ginny talked George into staying for a drink and chat with just the two of them.

The Montagues had been out when Harry and Ron took over the stakeout, and they'd taken over from Josh and Neville at the house they were visiting. They'd been able to follow them to a second stop, but lost them when they apparated away from that building, but hadn't returned home until an hour after Harry and Ron took up the surveillance outside of their estate.

Once the Montagues were back, and as the hours dragged by, Harry had time to think about everything that had happened over the weekend, and what he and Ginny had to look forward to as September came to a close, and they moved into October. The first was getting the day off on Monday, and the next two weekends off too while he and Ron worked the research end of their case. The Harpies had three games coming up in October, including one on his mother-in-law's birthday. Hallowe'en was still five weeks away, but was a big day in the Wizarding World, even if it wasn't exactly the happiest of days for him. Since he didn't really want to go there, he turned his thoughts toward Ginny, and about their rather brilliant morning play time.

"You've been quiet a while," Ron said in a near whisper that broke the night's silence. "What's on your mind?"

Harry turned and grinned at him. "Nothing you'd want to know about."

Ron groaned, and shook his head. "Stop grinning like that – you're scaring the children."


	22. A Scary Good Time of Year

Chapter Twenty-Two – A Scary Good Time of Year

"Did you see that we're in second place?" Ginny asked excitedly as she came into the kitchen after work. She threw her arms around Harry and hugged and kissed him for a long minute before giving him a chance to answer.

"I'd say we should be in first place after that," he joked; and Ginny laughed and kissed him again. "The Harpies are in a good place right now," he added more seriously. "Everyone's always gunning for the top team, and it's a long season to try and defend against that in every game."

"Were you at practice today?" Ginny asked with a grin. "That sounded exactly like what Gwenog told us this morning – along with ordering us not to get all puffed up with ourselves over it. How was your day?"

"Pretty good. I slept until noon, did a little running around Diagon Alley, and have been working around here since getting back. You look like you've had a good day."

"It's been great," Ginny agreed. "I got the feeling that Glynnis and Gwenog have decided to start pacing all of us a bit. Our workout today was definitely lighter than usual."

"They ought to do that during your off weeks," Harry suggested. "If they don't you'll all be burned out by next April and May when it really counts. That might be one of the reasons they went out in the quarterfinals last season."

"I really hope that doesn't happen to us this year. That would so mess up this whole, brilliant dream year for me."

Harry grinned at her. "Well, anything can happen in Quidditch, but don't worry. If that happy Quidditch ending doesn't work out for you, I'll be here to help you get over that, and we'll see about coming up with some new dreams and even better best years ever."

"We should talk about that later," she suggested meaningfully. "Having a backup plan really is a brilliant idea, and you and I should definitely spend some time working on that."

She'd put her arms around his neck and kissed him again, and then laughed when he'd picked her up, put dinner on hold, and carried her upstairs to get started right away on that. They did eventually get around to having dinner, and then they both spent most of the evening studying before going to bed and spending a little more time making a few more best year ever kind of memories.

In the morning, Harry made breakfast for them, they cleaned up together, and after sharing a hug and kiss goodbye that nearly landed Ginny back in bed again with him, she left for the training pitch, and he was soon in his cubicle at Auror Headquarters; waiting for Ron to join him. Nathan had left the latest case file update on his desk; and he started going through the section that included all of the research that had been done so far through Ministry records and field work.

"How do you manage to time that so often to within a minute of when we're supposed to start?" Harry joked when Ron flopped into the chair across the desk from him.

"I don't even try to do that," Ron answered. "The only reason I wasn't here earlier was because Hermione thought I should meet her new House Elf Liason Officer."

"Loretta Madley," Harry said with a nod. "Does she look like Laura?"

"Let's just say that Laura's going to be a really great-looking Witch when she gets older, and leave it there," Ron answered. "All of the Witches Hermione's hired are good looking."

"Isn't that preferable to her hiring a bunch of handsome Wizards?" Harry asked, and Ron laughed.

"Like that'd happen. What guy is going to take a job like that, let alone have a Witch for a boss?"

"We have a Witch for a boss," Harry reminded him, and Ron grinned at him.

"Emma's not a Witch – she's an Auror. Big difference."

"That's a fascinating observation," Emma said; stopping on her way past Harry's cubicle. Ron whipped his head around to look up at her, and his face reddened. Harry grinned at Emma and tried not to laugh. "I'd love to hear more about that, but I've got a meeting to get to. Carry on."

Ron slumped in his chair and groaned as she left. "When will I learn to shut my big mouth?"

"Probably right after we get off of the next six months straight of night shifts that she'll likely put us on until spring," Harry suggested, and Ron groaned again.

"Let's hope you're wrong about that. Where do you want to start today?"

"They've been doing research through the Ministry of Magic records on everything they can find connected to our case, and doing a bit of field work. I thought we'd start by taking a tour of the places they've marked as being of interest, and then we can decide whether we want to work that angle, or keep digging through the files around here."

Ron nodded and stood up. "Works for me. Let's get started."

The Montagues had a quite a large web of connections, and though Harry and Ron were only working on the part of the case they'd been assigned, it still took two days to go around to all of the businesses and other locations where the other Aurors had found links to their suspects. Once they'd done that, they put a plan together, and started working on things that, with Harry's particular advantages, the rest of their team wouldn't have as much chance for success.

"You lost my husband!" Ginny exclaimed when Ron stopped in to see her after he'd left Harry on his own so he could go and warn Ginny that he might not be home for the night. It was late Thursday afternoon, and Ginny hadn't been home from work for long either.

"If he's not back home by morning, I'll find him again tomorrow," Ron promised; grinning at his sister. "He got picked up by this girl, and she took him home with her."

Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. "Talk fast, or you'll be getting a sample of my new Beater Bat Bogey hex," she threatened, and Ron laughed.

"She was about five or six, he's in his Animagus, and the little girl is the daughter of one of the people we're investigating," he said hurriedly. "We haven't been able to get inside the place, and this worked. "I'll use the 'my sister's dog ran away' excuse tomorrow and get him back – if I can."

"You'd better, Ron. If he's not back by this time tomorrow, you are so not going to like our next conversation, and neither will Harry when I get through with him too."

"I did say might," Ron said defensively. "He'll only stay there if he can't work out a way to get away without raising any suspicions. Don't worry, sis. We won't be trying this out with the group of single Witches we'll be investigating next week."

"You should be very glad that I'm sure you're making that last part up, Ron," she countered as she put her wand away again. "Since it looks like I'm not going to have Harry home for dinner, though, how would you and Hermione like to go out to the Leaky with me instead of whatever you were going to do? Maybe we could even get George to join us."

They did that, and then Ginny spent the rest of the evening studying. She was in bed and asleep by the time that Harry got home at a little after one o'clock, but woke up when he climbed into bed with her after taking a long, hot shower. Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him for a few, long, tender minutes, and then snuggled close and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Did you know that your Auror-trainee partner is a complete git?" she asked quietly. Harry laughed and kissed her again.

"He can be," he agreed. "I did warn him that he'd be risking injury if he tried joking around with you, but then again, I was already in Animagus form when he told me that he'd come here after he left, so he probably didn't understand what I was saying."

"I'm glad you're home and safe. Did you at least find what you were looking for?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. They're just another family caught up in a bad situation. I picked up a few new clues, but the Montagues are very good at not leaving any hard evidence behind anything they do."

"That sounds like Professor Lockhart and his memory charms. Unless the job gets botched, like it did when it backfired on him, you'd never be able to tell they'd done it."

"That's an idea," Harry said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll pull their school records tomorrow and see if either of them have an especially good talent for Charms. Thanks for the suggestion."

"You're welcome," Ginny murmured. She was already drifting off to sleep again, and after a long day, Harry was happy to just close his eyes, hold her close, and go to sleep for a few hours too.

In the morning, Harry made breakfast for Ginny again, and after getting to work, set up a short meeting with Emma, Josh, Neville, and Ron to discuss Ginny's idea. He had time to look up the school records for Mysterio Montague, and Regina Lestrange, and had found out that she had earned Outstanding marks in Charms for both her OWL and NEWT exams, though Mysterio's talents definitely didn't include Charms. His specialty had been Potions.

"Ginny might be on to something," Emma agreed after Harry had told her about the idea. "If that's what they're doing, though, this whole investigation could end up going nowhere."

"Unless we can catch them doing it," Josh pointed out. "Since they're unlikely to stop in here and demonstrate for us, though, doing that won't be easy. It might not even be possible."

"I think we should keep doing what we're doing," Neville told them. "We can all keep an eye out for any sign they're doing something like this, along with all of the other leads we're following, and if we get any proof of it, maybe we can come up with a way to catch them."

"Thanks, Neville, and I agree," Emma said with a nod. "This could be a part of what the Montagues are doing, but let's not get caught up in trying to find evidence to fit the theory either. I'll pass this on to everyone else, and see if it helps, or if anything new comes of it."

The teams watching the Montagues were in the best position to keep an eye out for any use of memory charms while they continued their surveillance, but as Josh had pointed out, they weren't likely to just do that out in public anyway. Harry and Ron got back to the field work they were doing on the case for the rest of the day on Friday, but were then off for the weekend, as instructed by Emma and Josh.

"We really need to do something like this more often," Seamus told everyone at their table. "Lavender and I were beginning to think that the only time we'd get to get together anymore was at weddings."

Ginny and Hermione had started seeing about doing something with their friends on their weekend off after finding out that Harry and Ron would be off of their night shift for two weeks, and by Friday night, they'd managed to get the gang together at the Leaky Cauldron to spend the evening together.

"If that's the other option, we should definitely book more nights out," Ron said fervently. "Weddings seem to be breaking out everywhere, and if we don't put a stop to it, there won't be any single Wizards or Witches left anywhere."

"You mean like Cho Chang and Roger Davies?" Susan asked. "They're getting married later this month, aren't they?"

"They are?" Ron asked, and then grinned at Harry. "Why didn't you tell me, mate? You must've got your invite months ago."

"Maybe it got lost in the Owl Post," Harry joked. "Isn't inviting old boyfriends – even ones as lousy as I was – against wedding etiquette?"

"Probably," Susan agreed, "but they're also doing a fairly small wedding, like you and Ginny did."

"Well I think all of these weddings are really great," Ginny said as she squeezed Harry's hand. "With everything we've all been through, we deserve to be happy."

"Since you and Harry could be the poster couple to promote marriage, I'd say you're doing pretty well with that being happy plan," Lavender told Ginny. "We've got a lot of gossip to catch up on, though, so why don't we start with Susan and Ernie, and work our way around the table?"

Ginny did try to keep Harry updated on the news about their friends, but getting together with them gave them both a chance to hear about everything they were each doing, and talk about what they each had planned for their futures. Since Susan and Terry had both been working until around eight, they'd met up at the Leaky for nine, and Harry and Ginny had stayed out until nearly one before decided to head home for the night.

On Saturday, Ginny needed to study in the morning, so after having a late breakfast, she did that, while Harry took care of the shopping and work around the house that needed to get done. They were taking Teddy for the afternoon and an overnight stay, so when he had all of the work done, he popped over to Andromeda's house to pick Teddy up and bring him home. By then, Ginny was ready to take the rest of the day off to play with them, and since it was a cold, rainy day, they happily spent the afternoon playing with their action figures and dragons.

"I don't think I'd like Quidditch nearly as much if my teammates kept getting carried off by dragons in our real games," Ginny told them as she watched one of the dragons fly off with Angelina and soar high around the room. Teddy was sitting in her lap; and he giggled.

"It's also the only chance my Cannons have to win this game," Harry said with a grin. "I'd like to know when the Harpies started hiring little Wizards. I'm outnumbered two to one here."

"Since the dragons only seem to be going after our team, I'd say that we're at least even," Ginny suggested. "If you guys have had enough of playing this, how would you like to go out to the kitchen and maybe bake some cookies or something for a snack?"

"Cookies!" Teddy exclaimed happily, and emphasized his vote with a hug and kiss for his Aunt Ginny. "Make Cookies!"

"I think we have a winner," Harry added. "You go ahead and start on that, I'll clean up in here, and meet you out there."

They all stood up, and while Teddy ran for the kitchen, Ginny hugged and kissed Harry before hurrying after their busy little Godson. Harry put the dragons, action figures, and Quidditch toys away, and with a negligent wave of his hand, the little Quidditch goals he'd conjured at each end of the sitting room disappeared. There were a few more things to straighten up, and then he went out to the kitchen and joined in on the mid-afternoon baking adventure.

Teddy happily jabbered away with his limited vocabulary; and 'why' was already becoming one of his favorite words. He wanted to know the why for everything, and kept Harry and Ginny busy right through until they all lay down to have a short afternoon nap. He was the main entertainment during dinner, and after another sitting room play session, they wrapped up their day with giving Teddy a bath, and then having a long cuddle and story time before tucking him into bed for the night after he'd finally fallen asleep.

"Your Mum deserves an Order of Merlin First Class," Harry told Ginny after collapsing on their bed and stretching out next to her. "How did she ever manage to survive keeping up with you and your brothers? I don't think I was this tired after fighting those Dementors at the Burrow."

Ginny put her arm around his waist and leaned close to kiss him. "I think she had to work up to seven," she joked. "That's probably why there's nearly eleven years between Bill and me."

"Which would have worked out to somewhere around thirteen years of things like diaper changes, and everything else that goes along with babies and toddlers." He turned his head and smiled tiredly at her. "Do you think that Mum and Dad would go on a nice long vacation somewhere if we got it for her birthday? They so deserve a holiday on the Mediterranean or wherever you think they'd like to go."

Ginny laughed and hugged and kissed him. "I think that's a brilliant suggestion," she told him enthusiastically. "Let's talk to Dad about that when we're over there tomorrow and see what he thinks about taking some time off and doing that. They haven't taken a vacation since we went to Egypt, and I'm sure they've never gone on a vacation without taking at least some kids along – at least not since before Bill was born."

"Whatever else we do, let's make sure that we don't go twenty-nine or thirty years without taking even a single holiday with just you and me," Harry said, and Ginny hugged him again.

"We definitely won't let that happen," she promised. "In fact, when we start looking for someplace to send Mum and Dad, we should take a look at a trip for us for after Quidditch season ends too."

"That sounds really great, but I don't know how easy it'll be for me to plan vacations very far in advance. If anything comes up, we could end up having to cancel."

"Talk to Christine or Emma," Ginny suggested. "This might shock you, but they may just tell you that the Aurors can actually survive without you for a week or two at a time without falling apart. After all, they did manage to muddle through for a number of centuries without you before last year."

Harry laughed and then sat up. "Point taken. Let's get changed and get some sleep. Teddy will be up early and ready to party; and we'll need to be ready to keep up with him."

Teddy had gone to bed comparatively early, so they had all been able to get a good night's sleep, and then had a fun, busy morning together before they met Andromeda in Diagon Alley for lunch. After spending close to an hour entertaining her with their adventures with Teddy stories, she took her tired little grandson home for an afternoon nap, and Harry and Ginny went on to the Burrow for the rest of the afternoon.

"Watch out for your plane, Dad," Ginny exclaimed; pulling out her wand and keeping it from crashing after he let go off the controls. A moment later, she released it once he had control again.

"Thanks honey. I love your idea, but when would we go? Molly and I are always so busy."

Ginny laughed. "That sounds just a bit too much like what Harry said last night when I suggested that he and I start planning a holiday for after Quidditch season is over. It's been a year and a half since the war ended, Dad. The Ministry can live without you for a couple of weeks, and while Mum does keep busy too, we can clear her schedule fairly easily too. I'd like to see you go away for the first two weeks of November. That way you won't be able to find a way to keep putting it off if you have too much time to work on finding excuses not to go – like getting ready for Percy's wedding or Bill and Fleur's baby."

"I might as well just agree and go along with this now, shouldn't I?" he asked rhetorically. "You've got that won't take no for an answer look in your eyes, so I don't stand a chance anyway."

"Thanks Dad!" she said as she threw her arms around him for a hug, and then they both laughed as she again pulled out her wand and rescued the plane when it went into another dive. "You're getting quite good at flying it – at least when I'm not distracting you from concentrating on what you're doing. Has Hermione been helping you?"

"A bit," he agreed. "It's amazing how Muggles come up with such things without any magic at all. These airplanes, for instance, aren't nearly as fast as apparating, the Floo network, or Portkeys, but they do get them around quite splendidly."

"They are quite amazing," Ginny agreed, "and I think that there are a lot of amazing things about the Muggle world. Malls and movies are two of my favorites."

"We've got reason enough to stay hidden from the Muggles, but I am glad to see that at least you and Ron are willing to keep your minds open instead of acting like most Witches and Wizards do. George does fairly well too, but your older brothers don't seem much interested in having anything to do with the Muggle world."

"Thanks mostly to Harry and Hermione for Ron and I," Ginny pointed out. "I'm not sure where George and Fred first got interested in Muggle magic tricks. Probably from some Muggle-born classmates." She shivered a bit in the cool, damp air. "If you've had enough play time, let's go inside, get some hot drinks, and warm up."

Harry had stayed inside with Mrs. Weasley, and helped her with a little baking and getting vegetables ready for dinner later, mostly to give Ginny a little alone time with her father. Her bright smile was all he'd needed to see to know that he'd agreed to the vacation idea, though they didn't talk about that until after getting home again after dinner. George was the only other guest for the meal; and Mrs. Weasley had her cooking timed so that everything was ready by the time he got there after closing the store.

While he and Ginny had both loved spending the time with George and their parents, after eating and helping with the cleanup, it was time for Ginny to get back to her game studying, and while Harry did a little heavy reading too, he mostly took care of Ginny while she worked. When curfew time came around, and it was time for Ginny to get to bed, Harry took his time tucking her in for the night, and after making sure that she had absolutely everything she needed and wanted from him, wrapped his very happy, amazing wife in his arms, and they both drifted off to sleep.

The Harpies were playing the Prides on Saturday, and while it wasn't as big of a rivalry game as United was, they were one of the top teams in the league, and it was an important game for them. Harry helped Ginny as much as he could all week, including doing three Seeker duels. George came over for dinner on Wednesday night to help her train too, and while she studied and worked during nearly every other minute until curfew each night, Harry made their meals, and kept up with the work around the house. There weren't any breaks in the case at work yet, but other than that being a bit frustrating, everything else had been really great.

Andromeda had talked with Harry about what they'd do with Teddy when it came to winter Quidditch matches, or bad weather day games, so when it was nearly certain that they were in for another cold, rainy day on Saturday, Harry spent the morning with Teddy after Ginny left for work, and then dropped him off after lunch and headed for Ilkley stadium. Though it had been on really short notice, Seamus had been quite happy to go to the game with Harry, and they met up there, and after running the concessions gauntlet, hurried to their seats with just a few minutes to spare before game time.

"Does Ginny know that you're home?" Harry asked Luna as he hugged her, and then he laughed. "I'll take that as a no. She's going to love the surprise." He shook Rolf's hand next. "How are you? You both look really great. Are you going to be back for long?"

"We're doing great, thank-you, and we'll be home for about a week," Luna answered. She smiled at Mrs. Weasley. "Rolf and I thought this would be a really nice surprise for Ginny too when Mrs. Weasley wrote to me and suggested it to us." Harry hugged his parents next, and once Seamus had been greeted too, they all sat down.

"Are you going back to Eastern Europe again?" Harry asked Luna and Rolf; and they both shook their heads.

"I like exploring in the south during the winter," Rolf answered. "For some reason, expeditions on tropical islands, Africa, or South America are much more inviting to me than freezing all winter on some mountain trek."

"Not to mention that you probably think Luna looks a lot better in a swimsuit or shorts and a top than she does in heavy furs or a snowsuit," Harry joked.

"There is that too," Rolf agreed. "Ginny may wish that the Harpies played Quidditch down south in the winter too. It's really not even all that cold yet, but it can't be much fun flying at those speeds in this."

Harry laughed. "Maybe I'll see what Glynnis thinks about a league exchange with one of the teams in South America or Australia, but I doubt they'd have much luck finding teams to make that trade with them."

The Harpies and Prides were called into the stadium then, and Harry loved seeing Ginny's face light up when she saw her best friend standing next to Harry and cheering for her as she flew past. If she hadn't been fired up enough already, she really was ready to play now that she knew Luna and Rolf were there too. It only took a couple of minutes to get the game started, and then the two teams were taking off again, and the battle was on.

Gwenog hadn't made a big deal of it, but the media had been making a big story out of the fact that the Harpies' Seeker from last season was now the Prides' Seeker this year. Most of the sports reporters seemed to be hoping that Erin Connelly would prove to her former team that they'd made a mistake with letting her go, and while Ginny was sure that the other Witch would be playing her hardest to win, that had just helped motivate her to work even harder to get ready for the game.

Valmai, Angelina, and Alicia were battling hard right from the start, and were getting a lot of scoring chances as the game went along, but Meghan McCormack, the Prides' star Keeper, was playing an amazing game. Trish was playing well too, but as the game went on, it was clear that Meghan had the edge today. Despite the fact that the Harpies had a slight edge in shots on goal, after three hours, the Prides had one hundred and thirty points, and the Harpies only had twenty.

As Ginny had expected, Erin Connelly was playing hard, and had given her quite a go of it, though she'd only been able to manage to defend and keep Ginny from catching the snitch. After three hours of non-stop action, though, she'd gotten tired and at the three hour and eleven minute mark, had made a mistake that gave Ginny a clean, and fairly easy opportunity to catch the snitch; giving the Harpies the come-from-behind win.

Her family and friends were just as excited for her as always, but after hours of sitting in the cold and rain, they, and nearly every other spectator, were ready to head home and get warm and dry again. Seamus had left them after they'd gotten out of the stadium, but Harry, Luna, and Rolf went home with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and once Ginny was able to join them, they went out for dinner together.

"We've picked the wrong careers," Ginny told Harry after Luna and Rolf had finished telling them all about their upcoming fall and winter expeditions. "I so wish that we could go along with you, Luna."

"You'd be bored with the work we do in a day or two," Luna countered. "If you and Harry wanted to come visit us sometime, though, you'd be welcome to do that."

Ginny's smile brightened and she nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe we could do that on one of my off weekends," she suggested. "We can talk about that when you're home for Christmas, and maybe set something up for January or February. By then, I'll be way past ready for a couple of warm days anywhere."

Luna and Ginny carried most of the conversation during dinner, and then after leaving the Leaky, and spending a few minutes thanking her parents for setting up such a great surprise for them, Ginny and Harry took Luna and Rolf home with them, and they stayed up late having a nice, long visit. Ginny was going to get together with Luna again at least once before she and Rolf left again, but since Harry was going back on nights again, that wasn't going to be something he could do too.

Sunday was a no homework day for Ginny, and another drab, rainy day. After sleeping in and doing a late morning brunch, Harry and Ginny decided to spend part of the afternoon at her favorite Muggle Mall; getting Ron and Hermione to go along. The two couples went out to dinner and an early movie to wrap up their weekend, and then it was time for Ginny to get home before curfew, and for all of them to get ready for another long, busy work week.

The next two weeks, at least for Harry and Ron, were not a whole lot of fun. Switching back from days to nights was a pain; and the continuing lousy weather most days made for really miserable, cold, and wet surveillances – especially since they couldn't use impervius charms without the estate defenses detecting them. Since Harry didn't get home until after Ginny had left for work in the mornings, he only got to spend a little time with her around dinnertime, and even then, she was busy getting ready for the Harpies game against the Cannons. They only had seven training days to get ready for that, including game day, and with so much to get done, she pretty much had to work through dinner too, which left them with even less time together.

Harry slept almost all day during that first week as he got used to nights again, though he did take care of some grocery shopping and house work, and helped Ginny take care of a couple of things for her Mum's birthday present. On Saturday and Sunday, other than being able to have both breakfast and dinner with Ginny, and doing a Seeker duel each day, Harry slept the rest of the day, while she continued doing her game homework. Ron had been in a foul mood for most of the first week, and by the time he and Harry were on their stakeout on Tuesday night – and missing the Cannons-Harpies match – he was pretty much fed up with everything.

"The good news, if you can call it that, is that it's not raining," he groused as he and Harry settled in to watch the estate. "Bad news is that not only are we missing the game, but we're starting early and working longer so that Josh, Neville, Reggie, and Dan can use our season tickets and go to the game instead. I should've gone to work for George instead of the Aurors. No cold, wet all-nighters in that job."

"If I had to pick a game to miss, mate, this would be it," Harry countered, and Ron glared at him.

"My team's doing pretty good this year," he protested. "We've already won a game and everything."

Harry laughed quietly. "I meant that because they're your favorite team, Ron. Even if the Cannons manage to win, which I seriously doubt they will, they'd have to do that by beating your sister's team. Then what do you do?"

"Cheer like crazy," Ron answered immediately. "She's your wife, so it's a problem for you, but she's been throwing how great the Harpies are in my face since we were little. If the Cannons win tonight, it'll be payback time – especially if Gudgeon beats her to the snitch."

"Keep dreaming," Harry said; laughing again. "I've watched Ginny get ready for this game, and you and the other Cannons fans should just hope that it won't be a blowout tonight."

"Care to make a little wager on that?" Ron asked speculatively; and Harry shook his head.

"No, and you really ought to stop offering to do that for games like this one, where the odds are seriously stacked against you."

They had another long, mostly uneventful night, except for a pair of visitors to the estate that arrived by broom, and that Ron spent an hour following after they left. When it was time for the shift change, Reggie and Dan relieved them, and they stopped into Auror Headquarters to give Josh and Neville their update, and then fill out their reports for Emma.

"At least it wasn't a blowout," Neville told Ron after advising them that the Harpies had won the game.

"There's that," Ron conceded, "but you'd think Gudgeon could have at least kept up with Ginny for more than fifteen minutes, and even then, we still gave up three goals. That's just pathetic."

"It sounds like Ginny did your team a favor," Harry suggested. "If Valmai, Angelina, and Alicia kept scoring at twelve goals an hour; that could've gotten ugly fast."

"One-eighty to naught isn't exactly respectable," Ron countered, "but I guess it is better than some of the blowouts they've had over the years."

When they finished giving Josh and Neville the update, and had their reports ready for Emma, Harry took Ron out for breakfast, and then went home to bed after that. He was awake again in time to get dinner ready for when Ginny got home from work, and considering the Harpies had won the game, and this had been the first time he'd seen her since then, she wasn't looking very happy about the win over her brother's favorite team.

"I don't know what they expected me to do," she told him as they sat down to eat. "Galvin Gudgeon wouldn't even make a Hogwarts House team. They didn't have a problem when I caught the snitch last game, and we had ten more points in this match."

Harry leaned over, and shared a long hug and kiss with her. "You're mad because you know why now," he surmised, and Ginny laughed and smiled at him ruefully.

"Doing that really puts a crimp in a girl's pity party," she complained. "Okay, so I get that this was a game Glynnis and Gwenog wanted to use to build up some points, and now we've dropped to fifth place, and might fall to sixth before our next match, after having two low-scoring games in a row. I've just got a problem with being asked to no play my best, and with purposefully running the score up on a team just to pad the team points and Chaser stats."

"Unfortunately, teams like the Falcons don't have a problem with that, and you've got to compete against them," Harry reminded her, and then grinned. "Besides – your fans paid a lot of money for those tickets. You really ought to give them more than fifteen minutes of action before sending them home. It would've taken everyone there longer to get through the concessions lineups and find their seats than it took you to beat Gudgeon."

"I'll try to remember that for next time," Ginny assured him.

"Since your next game is on your Mum's birthday, I don't think you'll have a problem with that, though I have a feeling that the Magpies might be in for a bad day."

The next five days just felt to Harry like days he had to get through so he could be done with night shifts for another two weeks. Their weekend was nearly an exact repeat of the last weekend, with Ginny studying, Harry sleeping, one Seeker's duel each day, and breakfasts and dinners together. Harry started out the last week of October by staying and working at Headquarters until nearly noon, had lunch at the Leaky with Neville, and then did some running around in the afternoon before going home to cook dinner for Ginny.

"You look beat," she said as she hugged him, and they shared a soft kiss.

"I'm getting there, but I wanted to be tired so I'd sleep tonight. Mum and Dad's trip is finalized, so that's out of the way too."

"They're going to have a great time," Ginny predicted. "How's the case going?"

"Not much new," Harry answered with a shake of his head. "We're getting reams of circumstantial evidence, but still haven't picked up anything that we can nail them with." He blew out a frustrated sigh. "We know they've done – and are still doing – a lot of really bad things, but somehow, they've managed to cover their tracks. I hate to admit it, but Emma may have to shelve the case for now if nothing comes up soon."

"You just don't want to spend the winter doing stakeouts now that I'm not in school," Ginny teased, and Harry laughed.

"That's true," he agreed, "though I'd still do it if I thought the case was going somewhere. Since I don't have anything new going on at work, why don't you tell me about your day, and then after we clean up, I'm seriously thinking about going to bed for the night."

Ginny had been happy to do that, and then, before getting started on her studying, spent some quality time tucking Harry into bed for a change, and making sure that he was warm and very happy when she did finally let him drift off to sleep. The rest of the week seemed to fly past, with getting to spend their evenings and nights together. On Saturday, Harry did the full breakfast menu for Ginny, and after she went to work, he took care of the usual Saturday off cleaning and shopping routine before going to get Teddy. After picking him up from Andromeda, they went out for lunch, and then headed over to Yorkshire Stadium.

"Happy Birthday, Mum," Harry told Mrs. Weasley when she and Mr. Weasley got to their seats along with Charlie and Julianne.

"Happy Birfday, Gamma!" Teddy added, and he had a hug for her too. He hadn't quite worked out saying Mrs. Weasley yet, and after hearing her referred to as Grandma a lot lately since Fleur had become pregnant, he'd decided to call her Grandma too.

"Thanks Teddy," she said happily. "Are you and Uncle Harry having fun?"

"Fun!" he agreed enthusiastically. "See Aunt Ginny fwy fwast!"

"Yes we will," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Do you remember Uncle Charlie and Aunt Julianne?"

"Dwagons!" Teddy answered, and had a hug for Charlie next.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "That's exactly right, Teddy. Good for you."

"I'm surprised that he remembers that," Charlie told them. "We don't see Teddy very often."

"Our dragons at home have escaped from your reserve and are hiding from you," Harry explained. "You don't let them chase and carry off Quidditch players or anything, so they like living here a lot more."

Charlie laughed. "They may not get to do that with Quidditch players, but our dragons have been known to end the careers of a few broom racers."

"Since one of them nearly ended my Hogwarts career, I can relate just a bit too well on that," Harry joked.

They had a little time to get settled in and catch up with each other while they waited for the teams to be introduced. It was a fairly cool fall day, but at least they weren't going to have rain, and when the game got started, they had a lot to cheer about, and that helped them to keep quite warm as they watched the game. Ginny was in quite a battle with the Magpies Seeker, so Harry didn't think that she was holding back, but while she was competing hard, her teammates were putting on quite a show too. Trish was having a great game; and Valmai, Angelina, and Alicia were giving the Magpies Keeper and Chasers more than they could handle; and outscoring them nearly three to one.

"You should have a birthday for every Harpies match," Mr. Weasley told his wife. "That goal puts us up by one-fifty."

"Watching Ginny play for the Harpies is like getting to have a birthday every game," Mrs. Weasley countered. "Look at her go!"

Harry had been - and still was - doing that; and Ginny really was amazing and breathtaking to watch. Angelina scored another goal shortly after that, and Ginny backed off after that and waited for her chance. The Magpies didn't let the score get any more out of hand, but stayed at least one hundred and sixty points back until Ginny finally out-dueled her opponent, and caught the snitch to end the game. The final score was four hundred and ten for the Harpies to just ninety for the Magpies.

Bill and Fleur were doing the birthday party for their mother at Shell Cottage, so after the game, they all went over there to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with them. Harry, Charlie, and Julianne gave Bill and Fleur a hand with getting everything ready for dinner, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley visited with them, took care of Teddy, and welcomed everyone else as they arrived. Ron and Hermione were the first to get there; and neither one of them looked very happy.

"I take it that the Cannons game didn't go as well as ours did today," Harry told them as he took a moment to hug Hermione.

"The way this weekend's been going, that was hardly a surprise," Ron answered angrily, glaring at Hermione.

She pointedly ignored him, and hugged Harry back. "He's mad because I've got a Wizard coming to work for me starting on Monday."

"So what's the problem with that?" Harry asked, and Ron snorted derisively.

"The fact that she's got a Wizard working for her," he shot back as if that should be obvious to even the dumbest rock in the quarry.

"Since I seriously doubt this would be a problem if the Wizard in question was old, ugly, and married, I'll guess that your problem is that he's young, at least decent-looking, and single."

Hermione laughed, and Ron glared at them. "She's hired Kenneth Towler," he answered. "I think he must be sweet on her. Why else would he take the job?" When Harry laughed, Ron snorted again. "What's so funny about that?"

"I'm really sorry about this, Hermione, but the only thing I remember about him is that Fred and George put Bulbadox powder in his pajamas just before their OWL exams started, and he broke out in boils all over his body." Hermione's eyes opened wide; and she covered her mouth to hide what sounded a lot like a laugh. Ron did laugh, though he still didn't look happy.

"Seriously, Ron, I really don't see what your problem is," Harry told him. "Kenneth is a decent guy; and he's probably taking the job because he wants to help House Elves." He grinned at them, and laughed. "Having a seriously hot boss is just a really great bonus."

"You are not helping," Hermione accused, though she did laugh too.

"Probably not," Ginny agreed as she came up behind Harry and put her arms around him. "We'll talk later about why you think that Hermione is hot," she warned him, and Harry laughed again.

"Because she is, but you've got nothing to worry about, honey. There's a very big difference between sister-hot and wife-hot."

"She's not your sister," Ginny reminded him, and Harry hugged her.

"I'm thinking that we should adopt her," he joked. "We do love her as much as we would any sister."

"That's an idea," Ginny agreed. "So what's the big argument over?"

"I've hired Kenneth Towler to be a researcher, and Ron doesn't think I should have any Wizard under a hundred years old working for me," Hermione answered.

Ginny laughed again. "The guy that Fred and George pranked before their OWL's by putting Bulbadox powder in his pajamas?"

"Am I the only one who didn't know that?" Hermione complained. "That was a terrible thing for them to do to such a nice guy."

"See, you do like him!" Ron said victoriously. "I knew it!"

"Of course I like him," Hermione shot back crossly. "Do you think I'd hire someone I hated? Get a grip, Ron. I love you, but sometimes you're impossibly dense, and this is one of those times. Don't you trust me at all?"

"'Course I do," he answered immediately. "It's every single guy in the Wizarding World that I don't trust."

"You mean every other single guy, don't you?" Ginny teased, and Ron glowered at her while Harry and Hermione laughed.

"Hermione knew what I meant, and stop doing that to me."

"I'll try, but you do make it too easy sometimes," she answered. "We're supposed to be celebrating Mum's birthday. Why don't you drop the glum, have a little fun for a few hours, and then give Hermione a break. She doesn't give you a hard time about working with Witches like Susan, or when you and Harry have to follow pretty girls around on your stakeouts, and this isn't any different."

Ron tried to do that, if only for his Mum's benefit, and by the time that Percy, Audrey, and George joined the party, he was looking quite a bit happier. Since George didn't get there until nearly dinnertime; having spent most of the day in Hogsmeade to help out there, and then working until close at his store in Diagon Alley, they had their meal first, and had their mother open her presents after they'd had the cake and ice cream dessert.

"We're going on a holiday!" she practically screamed. "Starting _tomorrow!"_

"Not soon enough?" Mr. Weasley joked, and was nearly knocked over by her hug and kiss.

"How can we possibly go on such short notice?" she asked after sitting down again. "I'm to watch Teddy three times over the next two weeks, and Audrey's Mum and I have work to do for their wedding. I've got something booked every day."

"All taken care of, Mum," Ginny advised her. "You've got no excuses not to go away and forget about everything for the next two weeks. We've worked things out with everyone, and your schedule is cleared."

"Our kids know us too well," Mr. Weasley told her; grinning at Ginny. "They've got all of the escape routes covered, so one way or the other; we'll be going on this trip."

Mrs. Weasley looked around the table at her happily smiling children; and her eyes filled up with tears. "Thank you. This is a really brilliant surprise and gift."

Ginny laughed. "If you think that's great, wait until you open that box," she said; pointing to one of the gifts, and then she looked over at Ron and laughed. "On second thought, maybe you should hold off on opening that one until after you get home. Some of your kids are still too young to see what Fleur and I picked out for you."

Fleur laughed too, and Ron started to blush furiously once he'd figured out more than he wanted to of what Ginny had meant. Mrs. Weasley picked that gift up, and put it to the side. "Don't let me forget about opening that later," she told her husband; her eyes sparkling playfully. "That's probably a gift that we're going to want to take along when we pack for our trip."

Ron groaned and shook his head as if trying to shake out that memory. "Let's move along, people. We're way past the point of too much information here."

All of the gifts were holiday-related, including clothes, jewelry, and a little spending money. Once she'd opened all but the one gift, everyone except Bill, George, Ron, and Harry moved into the sitting room, while the four Wizards took care of the cleanup. Ron and George did a little good-natured complaining about that, but it really didn't take them long to get the work done. Charlie and Julianne were the first to leave, since it was two hours later in Romania, and Charlie was working in the morning. Percy and Audrey left then too, while Bill and Fleur entertained the rest of their guests until nearly eleven before there seemed to be a consensus that it was time for everyone to head for their homes. Since none of them would be seeing their parents again for two weeks, there was a long, drawn-out goodbye, and then Harry and Ginny dropped Teddy off with Andromeda before going home and ending another wonderful day with a little playtime for two that started out wet, moved on to wild, and wrapped up with soft and cuddly.

Normally, the Sunday after one of Ginny's games was mostly a rest day, but it was Hallowe'en, and this year, Harry and Ginny had an invitation to the Minister's party. They'd still been able to sleep in and have a late breakfast; they had an afternoon nap time that they didn't end up getting much rest for; and then they'd gotten ready for the dinner party. When Ginny was ready to go; they apparated to Diagon Alley; and met up with Ron and Hermione before going on to the party.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were coming too?" Ginny asked George. He laughed and nodded toward Lee and Alicia as Ginny hugged him.

"Because our so-called friends didn't tell Angelina or me that we were going to be coming here until this afternoon."

Ginny laughed, and hugged Angelina next. "Since your surprise date looks spectacular, I'd say that your so-called friends did you a favor." She grinned at them and laughed again. "Wish I could tell Angelina the same thing."

"Once you get him out of those Magenta robes I think your brother looks pretty good," Angelina told her.

"Really?" Ginny asked, her eyes going wide with surprise. "How do you know that?"

"It's scary just how good you are at that," Angelina told her as everyone else laughed, "but you all know what I meant. How'd the birthday party go last night? Did you have any problems getting your Mum to agree to go on the trip?"

Ginny shook her head. "We didn't leave her any excuses not to go, and Mum and Dad both looked very happy when they went home last night. Hopefully they're having a romantic Hallowe'en for two by the Sea right about now."

"Don't get started with any of that again," Ron complained. "They're gonna be grandparents soon, not a couple of mushy newlyweds like you and Harry."

"Where do you get those ideas from, Ron?" Ginny asked before leaning close and kissing Harry. "We could all live to be more than a hundred and fifty years old. How boring would that last hundred and ten or so years be without sex or romance?"

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, and his face turned bright red as she laughed. "That's so not funny!"

"I know," she agreed, "which is why I have no intention of letting that happen to Harry and me. We're going to be the happiest old folks in the Wizarding World some day."

"Oh look!" Alicia said; motioning toward Harry. "You've got him blushing now too. That's so cute!"

"Hard to believe that they're supposed to be the two best Auror-trainees to come along in centuries," Lee joked. "It's a good thing that the bad guys don't know their secret weakness."

"Now there's a mental picture," George said with a laugh. "I'm fairly sure that a conversation like this wouldn't have the same effect on them coming from anyone on their most wanted list."

"I heard that you played a great game yesterday," Ron told Angelina and Alicia; trying desperately to change the subject. "The Harpies moved up to second place again."

"For now," Angelina agreed. "We'll drop a spot or two, depending on how the games go for the teams playing this week. We really appreciated Ginny letting us play long enough to score a few goals this time."

"I was lucky that you guys did score a lot," Ginny told her. "If it wasn't for the fact that I could sit back and wait for my chances after you built up the big lead, that Seeker battle could have gone either way."

"We were more than happy to help you out with that," Alicia assured her.

Harry and Ginny had needed to move on and mingle with other guests before dinner, and during dinner, they were at one of the VIP tables, with Gwenog Jones being the only other person at their table that they'd known personally. Fortunately, most of the dinner conversation surrounded the two Harpies, instead of the political discussions that were going on at most of the other tables. There was more mingling after they'd eaten, and then the Weird Sisters took to the stage, and got the party going.

"Maybe they'd trade your autograph for theirs," Harry suggested as he and Ginny danced together. She was watching the band play, and Harry was fairly sure that she still had a bit of a crush on her favorite musicians. "Of course, you did beat the Prides, so Kirley Duke might not be happy that you beat his sister's team."

"I'm sure that they'll have lots of requests for autographs later, and don't need one more," Ginny answered. "I do still really like their music, though."

"And think they're really cute too," Harry added; grinning at her. She laughed and hugged him tightly.

"I'd use a different word, but then I also think that my husband is all of that and then some too. You could at least pretend to be a bit jealous, as long as you didn't take it as far as Ron does every time a single Wizard gets within ten feet of Hermione."

"I've been jealous enough times before, like that time Ron and I ran into you and Dean in that passageway, but we're together now, and I can think of better things for us to do than waste time being jealous about anything."

"We should discuss one or two of those better things to do later," Ginny suggested in a low, sultry whisper that had Harry wishing they could leave the party right then.

"Definitely," he agreed before leaning close and sharing a soft kiss with her.

"There's no escape, is there?" Ron asked, and Harry and Ginny both laughed as he and Hermione moved closer toward them as they danced.

"Why would we want to escape from something so brilliant?" Ginny countered.

Ron groaned. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Since it was Hallowe'en, the Harpies usual curfew had been lifted, and Harry, Ginny, and most of the other party guests stayed and had fun until the Weird Sisters wrapped up the dance at one o'clock. Gwenog introduced them to all of the members of the band while they'd taken a break, and had really liked the fun-loving, amiable group of Wizards.

"You should ask him out," Ginny told Gwenog after the band had gotten back on stage, and Gwenog had joined Harry and Ginny at their table to have a drink.

"Him whom?" Gwenog asked innocently; though she did look up toward one certain Wizard on stage and smiled unconsciously.

"Are you really going to make me say his name out loud?" Ginny countered, and Gwenog turned to look at her.

"He's way too young," she said dismissively, and Ginny laughed.

"Only three years younger than you are, and since his family is famous too, you don't have to worry about him trying to take advantage of you – though in his case, even if he was, that wouldn't exactly be all bad."

"Don't mind me," Harry told them. "Pretend I'm not here – I am."

Gwenog and Ginny both laughed, and Ginny kissed him before turning back to Gwenog again. "At least think about it. I'd be willing to make a small wager that he'd say yes if you asked."

Gwenog grinned at her, and then frowned. "That's so not fair. You know I love a good bet, but there's no way I'm going to bet against you, and it's not like I can take the other side of that bet either."

Ginny laughed. "Well, actually, you could, and then it'd just be a win-win for you."

"No wonder you married Harry. There probably isn't another Wizard who'd even have a chance of keeping up with you."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you and this particular Wizard in question," Ginny told her; laughing again.

"Why am I suddenly sure that this is exactly how Angelina was feeling a few hours ago after finding out that Alicia set her up with your brother tonight?" Gwenog asked, and then stood up. "I'm going to mingle or do anything else that doesn't included discussing this topic."

"Ginny's on the job now," Harry whispered after Gwenog was gone. "You might as well just go ahead and book the wedding ceremony." She laughed, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

"Don't tell me that you didn't see exactly the same thing I did when we met Kirley," she whispered back. "They've probably got posters of each other hanging on the inside of their closet doors."

"I saw," Harry agreed, "and I'm sure you'll have fun with this too now that you've planted the bug in her ear."

The rest of the party had been fun, and they'd gone home and gotten November off to a brilliant start. While their parents were away on their holiday, Ginny would be right back at work, and getting ready for the two tough games they had coming up against the Tornados and Catapults. Harry and Ron had one more week of research and field work before they'd be back on the night shift again for the middle two weeks of the month. Hermione would be staying busy with continuing to build the House Elf Liason Office; and everyone else in the family was busy with their own jobs and lives. The transition from fall to winter was inevitable and unstoppable, but the same could be said for the adventure and excitement that seemed to now be woven inextricably into all of their lives.


	23. Ups and Downs

Chapter Twenty-Three – Ups and Downs

Harry and Ginny may have gotten a brilliant start to November, but by Monday morning, it was back to the real world again, and that was mostly work, with just a few oases of play time helping to make all of the work worthwhile. Ginny had spent most of the first weekend of November working, while Harry took care of her, the house and yard work, and put in some time with his own Auror studies. There'd been more Seeker duels; including another Sunday evening dinner and Quidditch with George, and then it was back to the night shift for Harry and Ron again starting on the Monday night of the second week.

That first week back on nights seemed interminably long to Harry, and the dropping temperature, combined with more rain made getting through each shift even more difficult. To top that off, Ron had continued to be in a foul mood, was still arguing with Hermione, and generally not a lot of fun to be stuck with for twelve or fourteen hours a night. It was another cold, crisp day on Saturday, but after getting a few hours of sleep, Harry bundled up, went to get Teddy, and they headed over to Ellis stadium for the game. They met Ron and Hermione there, and they'd brought Terry Boot and Padma Patil with them. Harry had found out through the Auror gossip network that Terry had proposed to Padma sometime over the Hallowe'en weekend, but this had been the first time he'd seen either of them, and he had warm hugs for both of their friends.

"Congratulations!" he told them enthusiastically. "How did Parvati take the news?"

Padma and Terry both laughed. "She was really happy last weekend when we told her, and our parents," Padma answered. "Now that Dean's proposed to her too, she's ecstatic. We're thinking about doing a double wedding this coming spring."

"See? I've warned all of you that this marriage thing is contagious, but nobody would believe me," Ron told them.

Hermione glared at him briefly, but then smiled brightly when Harry handed Teddy to her for a hug that he was sure she really needed. He hugged her too, and she nodded gratefully. She and Ron were both trying to get along, and enjoy the afternoon out with their friends, but Harry didn't miss anything, from the fact that they didn't hold hands like they normally did, to the little jibes that Ron kept putting out there that silently infuriated Hermione, and made Harry really want to knock some sense into his best mate.

The game was going pretty well for the Harpies right from the start, though the Tornados were fighting hard, and both Keepers were making big, spectacular saves. The Harpies hadn't played a really long game yet this season, but they were in for one today. The score was just one hundred to fifty for the Harpies at the four hour mark when Harry left the stadium long enough to take an exhausted and cold Teddy home to Andromeda. The match was still in full swing when he got back to his seat, bearing gifts of hot drinks and snacks for his friends and brother-in-law.

All of the players on both teams were being dragged down by cold and exhaustion as they moved into the seventh hour, and the score was one hundred and ninety to ninety for the Harpies when the game ending mistake was made. Harry had only needed to hear the catch in Hermione's breath as they were all on their feet and watching the race for the snitch to know that mistake had been Ginny's, and a few moments later, his heart was aching for her as he watched the fire extinguished in her eyes as she watched the Tornados' Seeker catch the snitch and raise it above his head in triumph. They'd both known that winning every game wasn't possible, but that didn't make the end of her undefeated professional career any easier for either of them.

"She'll be okay," Hermione told him quietly, put her arm around his waist for a hug, and then smiled at him. "You and Ron need to get going, but I'll take care of Ginny for you."

Harry looked at his watch and shook his head in dismay. "I really wish we had time so I could see her before we go, but we've only got twenty minutes to get there. We'll be lucky to get out of here in time."

"She'll understand, Harry. When she's done here, I'll feed her dinner, we'll cry about the loss over a few drinks, and then I'll take here home and tuck her in bed so she can get some sleep."

Harry laughed and hugged her again. "Thanks Hermione. I really appreciate that." He looked over at Ron and nodded his head toward the exit. "Let's get going. By the time we get somewhere we can apparate, we'll barely get to Headquarters by eight."

Hermione had told them to go on ahead, hugged and kissed them both goodbye, and then she left the stadium with Terry and Padma. Since she had time before Ginny would be done with the interviews, post-game team meeting, and running the usual small gauntlet of fans, she went home to have a hot shower and change, and make dinner for two that she had ready by the time Ginny was able to get to her flat. It was after nine o'clock by then, and she looked completely beat.

"Start with this," Hermione suggested. She'd welcomed Ginny with a long hug, and now handed her a glass of wine.

"I like the plan so far," Ginny approved before taking a long drink from the glass. "Have I mentioned before that I really hate to lose?"

"You have told me that once or a hundred times."

"Well, I've decided that I really, really hate to lose when it's my fault. We all worked so hard, and then I went and blew the whole match."

"You've got one of the best rookie Seeker starts in the history of the game," Hermione pointed out. "I seriously doubt that your teammates or coach are upset at all with you personally. It's not like you were out there slacking off or anything. You all played a great game, and sometimes you lose those games anyway."

"Maybe if I try telling myself that over and over again, I'll start believing it."

"I'd just forget about it," Hermione advised. "The last thing you want to do is have a long memory in your profession. You've got to believe that you're going to win every game, not spend any time worrying about whether you'll make the right move or decision next time."

"I'd still like to know how I made the wrong decision this time," Ginny told her with a sigh, and Hermione laughed.

"You forgot to carry the one," she answered, and watched as Ginny first laughed, and then realized she wasn't joking. "The angle you took was wrong. Use your team pensieve on Monday and take a look at it again when you're not exhausted, and you'll see what I mean. The only suggestion I have for that, though, is to not try doing those plays when you're too tired to make sure the calculations are right first."

"I don't need the pensieve," Ginny said after a moment. "You're right, though that doesn't make me feel any better."

"That's what the wine and dinner's for. Come on and sit down. By the time I'm finished telling you about what a complete git your brother's been for the past two weeks, you'll think that losing the game today is brilliant by comparison."

Harry thought that Ron was being a jerk ever since they'd been alone on their stakeout. They'd been a few minutes late, though Josh, Neville, Reggie, and Dan had been understanding about it. Josh and Neville had advised them that the Montagues had dinner guests over; but Harry and Ron hadn't seen anyone leave the estate since taking over the stakeout from Reggie and Dan.

"And now she hasn't been up to my flat in days, and says she won't be until I get it cleaned properly," Ron told him bitterly. "I'd just finished cleaning the place right before that! The whole thing is ridiculous."

"Do you love her?" Harry asked him, finally exasperated to the point where he couldn't just sit there and listen anymore.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron demanded; turning to face Harry.

"Keep it down. It was a simple question. Answer it."

"Of course I do," Ron whispered back. "What's that got to do with the fact that she's being pig-headed and unreasonable?"

Harry laughed quietly. "And you're not? This whole thing started with her hiring Towler, and I'd guess that you've been picking at her ever since about everything – just like you did all through the game today."

"I was not, and haven't been," Ron shot back angrily. "You're supposed to be my best mate. Whose side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of both of my best friends," Harry answered. "You know full well that those little snide comments, like about how mental everyone is to be getting married, hurt Hermione, and if you love her as much as you say, then you shouldn't use them to do that to her."

"Everyone has gone mental," Ron declared stubbornly.

"Really? Thanks mate," Harry deadpanned. "So what you're saying is that you're just leading Hermione on, then. She certainly believes that you're going to get married."

Ron glared at him. "You're twisting everything around. We're young, and just because you and Ginny got married already does not mean we have to. Bill was going on twenty-seven when he married Fleur."

"That's true," Harry said agreeably, "but that doesn't change the fact that you hurt her feelings every time you talk about how horrible and stupid you think marriage is, or the hundred other little things you put her down for – like her job."

"And she harps on me all of the time about everything from my clothes to my flat being messy, and not doing enough for her or with her if I spend any time helping George out at the stores, and everything else I've told you about."

Harry sighed inwardly. "Let's stop by your flat after work; and you can show me what you mean," he suggested. "If I think Hermione's being out of line, I'll tell her so, but you guys need to work this out. We've got to concentrate on work, and life's way to short to waste it fighting with someone you love."

Ron had been quite happy and enthusiastic to agree to that suggestion, and spent a lot of the rest of the night telling Harry about how he was going to enjoy watching him straighten Hermione out. They'd also taken turns following two groups of departing guests, and then spent a cold, unpleasant night after that where absolutely nothing at all happened around the estate.

"What?" Ron asked after seeing the look on Harry's face when they walked into his flat. "Why are you looking like that?"

Pulling his wand out, Harry shook his head. "Take a seat, Ron," he ordered; waving one of the chairs away from the kitchen table.

Maybe it was the because of the long night, lack of sleep, or just because he really wanted to be home with Ginny, but whatever the reason, he was more than a little upset with Ron. He must have sensed that, and sat down in the chair without another word as he watched Harry raise his wand again. His eyes opened wide with shock when the wild flurry of activity started, and his head whipped around as he watched dishes wash themselves, clothes fly from the bedroom into the small laundry room, every scrap of garbage disappear, and cleaning rags and brooms in high gear all over the flat that were dusting and polishing everything to a shine.

There were loud thumps in the bedroom that were probably dresser drawers and the closet door opening and closing, and more noises in the kitchen, sunroom, and laundry room as loads of laundry were done in record time, dishes were dried and put away, and the mess in the sunroom was straightened up. Harry had no idea how long it took him, but he and Ron both heard running footsteps on the stairs, and Hermione came bursting into the room just as Harry was making the last of the cleaning rags disappear.

"What's going on here?" she asked breathlessly. "I thought there was a fight going on up here with all of that crashing."

Harry smiled tiredly at her before turning back to Ron. "Does this help you understand the problem? I'm going home to my wife. Work it out with Hermione, and I'd seriously consider starting out that conversation with 'I love you, and I'm sorry for being such a complete and total idiot'."

With that, he turned slightly, and apparated home, not caring by that point that it was rude to do that. Ginny was already awake by then, and in the kitchen making breakfast for two. He walked over to her, and without saying a word, pulled her close and just hugged her for a few minutes. They shared a few soft, tender kisses, and then she gently pushed him away.

"I love you too," she assured him. "What happened?"

Harry laughed. "I couldn't be there for you last night after the game, Ron wouldn't shut up all night about how unreasonable Hermione was, and after work, when he tried to prove his point by showing me how wonderful his flat looked, I sort of lost it, gave the place the high-powered super cleanup, and then when Hermione ran upstairs thinking Ron was in a fight from all of the noise, I told him to stop being an idiot, apologize to her, and stop the stupid fighting. Then I fairly rudely apparated out of there and came home."

Ginny threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "Now you just have to wait and find out whether he does that, or asks Emma for a new partner," she teased. "Come and sit down. Breakfast is almost ready, and then we're both going to have a shower and go to bed."

"You seem to be doing great this morning. Was Hermione's plan a success, or did something else happen?"

"She did help a lot," Ginny agreed. "Coincidentally, she partly did that by telling me how lucky I was that you didn't treat me like Ron's been treating her."

Harry smiled at her tiredly. "Well, if he's still being a jerk after today, I'm telling Mum, and she'll probably let you try a bat bogey hex or two on him and see if that works."

"They'll be home later today," Ginny reminded him. "I'll pop over for a visit with them, but I want you to sleep all day. You've only had a few hours total since Friday afternoon."

"We could have them over for dinner next week sometime if you'd like so we can hear all about their trip."

Ginny nodded. "That sounds good. I'll ask them later and let you know when."

They had breakfast and took care of the cleanup in the kitchen, and then enjoyed a little tender, incredibly sweet and gentle play time before they snuggled close and went to sleep. Ginny slept for a couple of hours, and then managed to get out of bed without waking him up, and spent most of the day working ahead on the studying for the next game against the Catapults. She went over to the Burrow for a short visit, and then got home again in time to wake Harry up for work, make dinner for them, and then see him off with a long, fiery goodnight hug and kiss that he was fairly sure would keep him warm all night.

"Well, since you're here, I guess you haven't put in your request for a new partner yet," Harry joked when Ron walked into his cubicle and sat down. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah, we are," Ron agreed with a wry smile. "The better news is that Hermione and I are a lot better too, though I am wondering why you did that this morning."

Harry grinned at him. "It seemed like a better idea to do that than turn you into a slug or something, and I really needed to let off a little steam by then. I'm glad you've worked it out. Are you ready for another wild and crazy night of surveillance?"

"Sure. Too bad what we're likely going to get is cold, wet, and boring instead." Ron joked.

That was exactly what they got on Sunday night too, but on Monday night, the Montagues went to the Hogs Head Inn, and again met up with their son, Lester, Gregory Goyle, and Colby Warrington. They went in using disguises again, but weren't able to get a table close enough to hear anything without looking suspicious, and they left again before their suspects finished their meeting. This time, Harry used his cloak, and hid near the entrance to maybe get a clue where the Montagues might be going next. Goyle and Warrington left first, and apparated away separately, and all three Montagues came out together, and started walking down the street without noticing that they were being followed.

"Make a few jumps, and then you know where to meet us in Falmouth," Mysterio Montague told his son in a whisper that Harry could just barely pick up.

"It's getting late," Lester whispered back. "Must we do this now?"

"If you and the others are serious, then we need to teach you how to protect yourself," Mysterio answered.

"What about Gregory and C?"

"They are not our concern," Regina told him in a short, clipped voice. "We will explain when it's safe to do so."

"Yes, mother," Lester agreed. "I'll see you shortly.

Harry didn't have time to explain to Ron what he'd heard, since he didn't know how long it would be before the Montagues showed up in Falmouth, and while they hadn't said specifically where they'd be, he had a pretty good hunch about that, and apparated directly there – or fairly close to it. He knew that Ron would go back to the estate stakeout after seeing the Montagues leave, and not having Harry return either. He'd just finished walking the three blocks to the tavern he expected the Montagues to meet at when Mysterio and Regina, and then Lester arrived; sticking to the shadows, and quickly walking away from the area, heading north. They walked for over a half hour, winding along streets toward the Northwest, and finally stopping outside of a two-storey house that was in a modest section of town.

"This is our safe house," Regina told Lester in that same clipped whisper. "We've protected it with a fidelius charm, and we're telling you about it now so that you can do as we have, and learn how to keep your activities beyond the reach of the Ministry, and those fool Aurors."

"Why do you need a safe house like this?" Lester asked. "Isn't your estate protected well-enough?"

"Come inside, and we'll explain everything in there," Mysterio told him, and led the way up the sidewalk to the house without waiting for an answer.

Harry followed them, though he didn't have time to get inside with them before they closed the door behind them. The door had opened and closed silently, though, and after watching them through the small window as they went into a back room and closed that door behind them, he carefully opened the front door and stepped inside; being just as careful closing it behind him. As his eyes adjusted to the much darker hallway, he could hear voices coming from the other side of the door at the other end of the hall, and just a dim, sliver of light escaping from along the bottom. He moved cautiously along the hallway, and smiled to himself as he pulled his extendable ear out of the pocket he always kept it in, and unrolled it. There was about four feet of wall space on each side of the door, and he dangled the end of the extendable ear along the bottom edge of the door, and silently stood in the corner that the door didn't open toward.

"You pull out all of your memories?" Lester asked in astonishment; and Harry heard both of his parents laugh.

"Your mother's idea," Mysterio told him, "and it's really quite brilliant."

"But not just our own memories," Regina explained. "Every memory that anyone we work with that has anything to do with us is extracted and put here too. The reason we've both passed questioning under Veritaserum is because we have no memories to tell the truth about."

"Doesn't that make it hard to keep track of things if you remove all of the memories like that?" Lester asked.

"We do need to keep everything very organized, and we don't remove memories until we're done each task, or we'd never get anything done. These memory vials aren't the only things being kept safe here," Regina answered. "Let me show you how we do this, and keep track of everything, and then we'll show you around the place."

Harry was fascinated as he listened in to the Montagues. It sounded like they had hundreds of vials, and Regina's tutorial on how to pull out memories – especially from others without being detected, really was brilliant in an evil sort of way. When they went on a tour of the house, Harry stayed where he was, and waited for more than an hour before they finally left. They didn't lock the door on the way out, and other than Muggle-repelling charms and the fidelius charm, there had been no other shields or wards around the place when they'd come in, and they didn't put any up when they left.

He'd gone to one of the front windows and watched them leave, presumably to walk to some other location before apparating away again. Once he was sure they were gone, he began his own lengthy search of the house, staring with that back room, and eventually going through the entire house before going into the sitting room on the main floor and sitting down in a chair he conjured, since there wasn't any furniture in the room.

"Okay, so I've located their secret hideout, but can't bring anyone here because I'm not the secret keeper," he said aloud to himself as he tried to remember everything he knew about the fidelius charm.

He closed his eyes and focused on what he could feel of how the charm was affecting him. Just thinking about going and telling Ron about the place had his throat physically tightening up, and he quickly moved on. When the answer came to him, he laughed aloud at its utter simplicity. Getting up, he allowed the conjured chair to disappear, and he left the house without looking back; went for a little walk; and then apparated out to one of the spots they used near the Montagues' estate. Once he caught up with Ron again, he made his brother-in-law's day by telling him that they needed to go to Auror Headquarters.

"What do you want me to do here?" Ron asked when they got to one of the conference rooms. Harry had them stop to pick up food; and he waved Ron to sit down at the table.

"You're on guard duty for the rest of the night," he answered, and Ron laughed.

"What am I guarding? The food?"

Harry grinned at him. "You'll see, and when I get back, you'll know what I mean."

For the rest of the night, and well into Tuesday morning, Harry made trip after trip to Auror Headquarters. He'd suggested to Ron that he go home after Josh and Neville came in and could take over, but Ron was fired up now too, and had no intention on missing out on what was happening, even if Harry couldn't talk about it. By a little after eleven, Harry was finished, and was finally ready to meet with Emma, Josh, and the rest of their team; though Reggie and Dan kept following the Montagues while everyone else was at Headquarters.

"So what is all of this?" Emma asked Harry as he sat down in one of the chairs at the conference table.

"This is evidence for our case," he answered; smiling tiredly at her. He waved toward to the stacks of boxes that he'd carefully put along the back wall. "Those boxes are filled with memories." Waving his wand, a large, leather-bound book floated from where he'd put it on top of one of those stacks, and landed in from of Emma. "That book has a precise catalogue of all of those memories. The other boxes have everything from stolen merchandise and a load of other evidence that is all related to the Montagues and their crimes."

"Where did you get all of this?" Emma asked, but Harry didn't even attempt to answer. He smiled when Christine worked that out.

"He can't answer that, Emma," she said pointedly, and returned Harry's smile. "I'd say that our suspects just got caught making one very large mistake."

"I'd say that's a very large understatement," Emma answered as she leafed through the first few pages of the book. "Let's start by borrowing a few pensieves, and take a few dozen strolls down memory lane. Do we need to keep on the surveillance?"

"I'd say we should keep watching them, though we probably don't need to continue to follow the visitors, and don't need to keep the overnight surveillance – at least after they're back home each night," Josh answered. "Reggie, Dan, Neville, and I can split up and handle that so you can have Harry and Ron help out with all of this."

"That works for me," Emma agreed. "This room is off limits to everyone except for me and everyone who's in the loop on this. Seal it whenever nobody can be here to guard everything." She stood up and got ready to leave. "I'll arrange for the extra pensieves, but why don't you get started with the one we have, and everyone else can start digging through the rest of the evidence. We'll meet again at four to see where we stand, and how we'll continue after that."

The good news with that was that Harry and Ron were off of the night shift, though they did both end up working until fairly late in the evening, and Harry missed having dinner with Ginny and her parents. When he did finally get home after being up for more than twenty-seven hours, all he had enough energy for was a hot shower, and a few soft, sweet, goodnight kisses before dropping off to sleep. For the rest of the week, and through the weekend, they collectively went through every memory, matched up the evidence that Harry had brought in with the crimes those memories revealed, and then got just a start on fitting all of that together with all of the other evidence they'd been gathering since the start of their investigation.

Every day was long and tiring, though very exciting too as they nailed down their case against the Montagues. Harry was glad to be done with nights and even though he still didn't get to spend much time with Ginny, they were at least able to go to sleep and wake up together; along with a little play time here and there too. By Monday, Emma decided that they were ready to bring the about to be infamous couple in, and they put together a fairly simple plan to do that on Tuesday morning.

"Mysterio and Regina Montague, I am Auror Christine Campbell, and have come to advise you that you're both under arrest for a long list of crimes, including multiple counts each of murder, accessories to murder, crimes against Muggles and Muggle-borns, war crimes, treason, and a multitude of lesser felonies. Please surrender your wands, and come with us."

"What nonsense is this?" Mysterio demanded. "You Aurors never change. Stop bothering and yapping at your betters, and go away. We've done nothing wrong, and have no intention of putting up with any more of your pathetic attempts to frame us for fictitious crimes."

Christine smiled at them. "I assure you that we have a great deal of evidence against you, and yes, you will be coming in with us, since this is not a request. Please hand over your wands."

They'd confronted the Montagues on the road outside of their estate, and Christine had Susan, Nathan, Josh, Neville, and Ron with her, while Harry was somewhere watching their backs, and holding the anti-apparition shield that he'd put into place the moment they'd gotten outside of their own estate's protection. The couple exchanged glances, and then pulled out their wands. Suddenly, they both shouted "PROTEGO!", raising shields, and turning to run back toward their estate. Regina was in the lead, and when she crossed the border, spun around with a victories look on her face until she saw her husband fall just short of their land, bound in ropes.

"Go1" he demanded, and she took one last look and turned to leave, but was suddenly thrown to the ground by the concussion caused when the estate defenses were crushed. Harry had put a shield up to protect the other Aurors, but hadn't been able to do that on the other side of the shields, and the blast knocked Regina out cold.

"Could you retrieve her wand and bind her, please, Susan?" Christine asked. "Who has Mysterio's wand?"

"I do," Ron answered; waling over and handing it to her. "Since I keep messing up doing those ropes, Neville took care of that while I went for the wand."

"Good idea," she approved; tucking the wand in a pocket. "Any sign of help coming from the house?"

"Not so far," Nathan told her. "Apparently, their servants don't want to come out to play with us today."

"Good. How's Regina, Susan?"

"Just knocked out and she'll probably have a few bruises and scrapes from the fall," Susan reported. "Do you want to bring her around before we leave?"

"Yes," Christine agreed. "Then we'll go have a little chat with them. I'm sure they'll have a fascinating story for us as to why, if they're so innocent, they wouldn't just come along quietly, and plead their case to the Wizengamot."

It took a while for them to get back to the Ministry of Magic, get through busy and Atrium, and clear security, but eventually, they had the Montagues in one of the interrogation rooms, and they'd decided that Emma and Christine would lead the interview. The rest of their team was in the observation room, and had drinks and snacks there to enjoy while they watched the show.

"Normally these days, we don't bother with interviewing our prisoners, and just let the evidence speak for itself," Emma began.

"So shut up and let's go straighten this out with the Wizengamot so we can get on with having you and every other Auror in on this insult fired," Mysterio spat.

"We'll get to that soon enough, but your case has us all fascinated, and we'd like to discuss it with you first."

"There's nothing to discuss, since we've done nothing wrong, and any case you have is pure fantasy," Regina told them.

Emma pulled one of the memory vials out of a pocket and put it on the table in front of her. "What we really want to know is who came up with the idea of storing all of the memories of your crimes. That really was quite brilliant, and we were especially impressed about how you wiped the memories from your accomplices. Using a Memory Charm to hide the fact that you did that was quite ingenious too. Christine and I both think that it was you, Regina. Was it?" They'd both paled noticeably as Emma had talked, though neither of them had more than briefly glanced at the vial on the table.

"That's quite a story," Regina answered. "What have you got in there? A memory from your about to be former Auror career? As always, your Auror games are pathetic and obvious."

"Why do they always do this?" Emma asked Christine.

"I don't think they've figured out that things have changed a bit at the Ministry since their glorious, demented leader left us so suddenly. Why don't we save a little time? I'll go get a pensieve, and you can show them that little sample."

"Maybe that would help," Emma agreed. "It's worth a try."

Christine left the room, and joined the party in the observation room just long enough to look like she'd gone to get the pensieve before returning to the other room and joining Emma again. Emma poured the contents of the vial into the pensieve, and then invited the Montagues to view the memory.

"Does that help jog your memory?" she asked when they were sitting down again, "and yes, the pun, bad as it is, was intended."

"That never happened," Mysterio told her. "It's a fake memory, and just another of your tricks."

"You know it's not," she countered. "We have all of them," she said meaningfully. "The catalog was extremely helpful, though it's probably going to take weeks or months worth of trials to bring all of the charges we've come up with against you. Then we'll have months more of work rounding up your accomplices – or at least the ones who aren't already either dead or in Azkaban."

"You're lying," Regina stated. "Where did all of this so-called evidence come from? You have nothing to tie that fake memory to us."

"The evidence was all delivered here to Auror Headquarters," Emma told them, and pulled another vial out of her pocket. "We do have this to connect you to the evidence." The Montagues watched her warily as she retrieved the other memory from the pensieve, and put the second one in. "I'm sure you'll find this fascinating."

"Yet another forged memory," Mysterio sneered, though he was looking a bit wild about the eyes. "Whose memory would that be from? Some weak-brained mudblood that you Aurors used to plant the memory in?"

"No, that memory is from Auror-trainee Harry Potter," Christine advised them. She and Emma were both smiling at the looks on the faces of both of their prisoners.

"Of course it is," Regina spat. "Who else but the Chosen Chump would come up with such an audacious, elaborate entrapment?"

"If that were true, than he must be far more brilliant than anyone ever suspected," Emma told her, and opened the folder she'd put on the table when she and Christine had first come in to the room. "We've only tested some dozens of stolen goods from the evidence so far, and they all have fingerprints on them that match one or both of you. Then there are the reams of parchment, again with matching fingerprint evidence, or in your own handwriting. I've already mention the book where you cataloged all of the memories, and I could go on for an hour or more with the rest of it."

"So Harry Potter brings you a load of what might as well be hippogriff dung, tells you that it smells like a bouquet of roses, and you all buy his lies, though he has nothing but a fabricated memory of us that we assure you never happened. Go ahead," Mysterio summarized; punctuating his comments with an unconvincing bark of a laugh. "Maybe this time, the Wizengamot will finally see Potter for the traitor and liar that he is."

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Christine told Emma. "Since they don't want to brag about the memory bank scheme, maybe they'd at least be willing to tell us which one of them is the secret keeper?"

"That would be Regina too," Emma answered confidently after seeing the look in her eyes, and the way Mysterio had looked toward her for just an instant. "You really were the brains behind the whole operation, weren't you?"

"You've got a never-ending store of nonsense to spew at us, don't you?" Regina sneered, and Emma and Christine both laughed.

"No, not never-ending," Emma told her. "We do have a theory, though. Christine and I believe that you put a Fidelius Charm around a certain house that you then used to hide all of the memories and any evidence that linked you directly to each and every crime you've committed since back when you first joined the Death Eaters. You made a couple of mistakes, though, Regina. The first one was to unintentionally pass on the location of this house to a certain Auror-trainee who was following you. The second, we've deduced, was that your Fidelius Charm protected the location of the building, but the contents inside were not a secret – probably so you could move your stolen property in and out as needed. That did make it fairly easy for that Auror-trainee to move everything out of that location and deliver the lot of it here, though it did take him something like seven or eight hours of running back and forth to do that." She smiled at the stunned looks on their faces. "How do you like our theory?"

"I'd say that they really don't like it at all," Christine joked, "and it looks like they've also both realized that we know exactly the right questions to ask should they choose to testify under Veritaserum. Should we even bother to make them an offer?"

"What kind of offer could you possibly make? To tell the Wizengamot even bigger fairy tales than what you've spun for us here?" Regina retorted coldly.

"Emma, are you sure we can't go with that other suggestion?" Christine asked; looking like she was getting very tired of Regina's attitude. "We could experiment, and I really think it might work."

"Sorry, but that's a no," Emma answered. "The Minister had forbidden us from just randomly killing suspects, and I'm pretty sure he would still be against it even if it was only for a minute or two at a time."

"But we know that the Fidelius Charm is broken if the secret keeper dies. What we don't know is how long they have to be dead first before that happens. I'm really not suggesting we do anything permanent." She watched as Emma shook her head again.

"Let's make the other offer, and if we still haven't gotten anywhere, you're welcome to ask the Minister for permission to try that, but he will reject the idea, and we'll just go to trial with what we have for the three of them."

"What?" Regina exclaimed. "What do you mean by three of them?"

"It'll only be three of you if you don't want to cooperate," Emma clarified helpfully. "Your son was there," she reminded them. "That makes him an accessory to the crimes he knows about, and by not coming forward after learning of your crimes, he's aided and abetted two felonious criminals, and helped to harbor two Death Eaters and murderers. We're willing to give him another chance, as we've done with the children and families of other Death Eaters, but if you don't want to start cooperating, then we'll hunt him down, and you'll be able to spend some quality time with him in Azkaban – probably ten or fifteen years worth."

In the observation room, Nathan stood up, stretched, and smiled at everyone else. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly how the Aurors will be handling interrogations from now on. While Emma and Christine are busy, let's all go and get started on our reports. Who'd like to hazard a guess as to the winners of this week's guard duty? Emma thinks that it'll take two or three days to deal with the first batch of charges."

"Those of us with the hyphenated job titles?" Terry guessed.

"We have a winner," Nathan agreed. "Try to get your reports done by the end of the day. I'll let you know if Emma has any other instructions later."

For the rest of the day, Harry, Ron, Neville, Susan, and Terry were kept busy with writing their reports, guarding their prisoners when needed, and then making sure they were tucked into holding cells for the night before going home for the day. Ginny had already eaten by the time Harry got home, but had leftovers waiting for him, and took a break from her studies to hear all about his day, and the big capture that was just now getting some airplay on the WWN news, and would be front page in the Daily Prophet in the morning.

"That's quite a theory Emma and Christine came up with," Ginny said after he'd finished telling her about that part of their interview. "I wonder how someone might have figured out that was the way around the Fidelius Charm problem?"

Harry grinned at her. "I know several Witches and Wizards who could have done that, since they have experience with having a certain thief remove valuable objects under very similar circumstances."

Ginny laughed and leaned close to hug and kiss him for a long, sweet moment. "I love you. So what happened next?"

Harry got back to his story; wrapping up with Christine and Emma's little discussion about ways to break Fidelius Charms and the offer they'd made to the Montagues. He skipped over the boring parts of the rest of the day – like the report writing – and ended the recap with telling her about the not-so-nice comments that the Montagues had for him when they were being locked up in the holding cells just before he came home.

"Do you think that their son will take advantage of the chance Emma's giving him?" Ginny asked, and Harry shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know for sure, but doubt it. Whatever he's getting into with Goyle and Warrington probably won't be good, and whether Ron and I get put on that case or not, I do expect that Emma will be having someone start keeping a much closer eye on them. Having this happen with his parents will likely have them at least lying low for a while."

"Well at least I know that I'll get to have you around here a bit more for the next two or three days while you're on guard duty," Ginny told him. "We are so overdue for some quality me and you time, which I plan on having a mostly non-verbal kind of chat with you about later tonight after I'm done my homework."

During the rest of the week, they made sure to do that, and also made time for things like going out for dinner one night after work with Ron and Hermione, and having two Seeker duels to help Ginny get ready for the game on Saturday. The Montagues were given his and her lifetime memberships to Azkaban on Friday afternoon, and had been unapologetic, angry, and spiteful as their five Auror-trainee guards escorted them to their new home. Most, if not all, of the Aurors were off for the weekend, and Harry and Ginny were having a quiet night in. He made dinner for them, and after cleaning up together, Ginny got started on one more review of the Harpies' game plan for their match against the Catapults, and making sure she had everything memorized about the other team's players. While she did that, Harry had started writing a letter.

"Do you have anything you want to tell Dawn?" Harry asked as he was finishing up; and Ginny smiled at him.

"I'll jot a note at the bottom when you're done. What are you sending her for a good luck gift?"

Harry handed her the little box he still needed to wrap. "I didn't think that quaffle earrings would look nearly as good as your snitch ones, so I just went with golden eagles with blue sapphires for Ravenclaw. Since you're going to add a note too, I'll let you invite her to your game on the weekend they get out of school for the Christmas holiday."

"They're lovely," she complimented him after taking a look at the earrings. She handed the box back to him, and then held her hands out for the quill and parchment. "Let me get that note done, and then you'll need to get Storm on his way if you want that to get there in time."

While Ginny did that, Harry wrapped the gift, and then went to get Storm ready to go while she got back to work. They went to bed early enough so they could play for a while and still get a good night's sleep, and in the morning, Harry cooked up the usual Harpies game day breakfast menu for Ginny, and then spent the rest of the morning doing his usual Saturday off work and shopping after she left for her team meeting and warm-up sessions. He picked Teddy up for what was probably going to be the last game he'd be going to with Harry until spring sometime, and they went out for lunch before going on to the Bodmin Moor Stadium.

Mr. Weasley had invited one of his co-workers and his wife to the game; and the two older couples were already in their seats when Harry and Teddy got there. They had just enough time to do a round of introductions and get settled into their seats again before the Harpies and Catapults were introduced and flew around the stadium to the loud cheers or jeers of the spectators.

For the next two hours and fifty-six minutes, Harry, and all of the other fans, got to enjoy watching a brilliant Quidditch battle. Ginny was in another tough battle against the Catapults Seeker, and Harry was sure that as the season went on, the other teams were getting more information on her playing style, and preparing better to play against her. Both Seekers had quite a few chances, but had been able to block the other each time.

While their Seekers played hard, the rest of both teams were in just as close a battle, with Keepers and Chasers all putting on a show. The Catapults had a slim seventy to sixty advantage when, with just four minutes to go in the third hour, Ginny ended the game by showing off her amazing flat-spin move for the first time in a game; using it to hurtle past the Catapults Seeker and block him from the snitch while catching it on the way past.

"That does it," Harry told their parents as he watched Ginny with pride as she flew over to meet and celebrate with her teammates in mid-air. "No more missing any of Ginny's games for you. She's undefeated so far when you're here watching her."

Both sets of Witches and Wizards laughed, and Mrs. Weasley hugged him, which had Teddy giggling as he was momentarily caught in the middle of the hug. "That won't last forever, and we wouldn't trade our holiday even for another Harpies win, but we will be here for as many games as we can manage," she promised him. "Do you and Ginny have plans for after she's done work?"

Harry shook his head. "We're just going to have a quiet rest of the weekend, and try to rest up a bit before we're back at it again on Monday."

"Do you know what you'll be doing next at work?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I do hope you and Ron will be able to come to Bill's birthday party on Monday," Mrs. Weasley added.

"I forgot to remind Ron about that," Harry said before answering either question or comment.

"Don't worry, Harry. Hermione asked us about it a week or so ago, looking for gift ideas," Mrs. Weasley advised him. "I'm sure that she's taken care of that for them by now."

"That's good," Harry said with a nod and sigh of relief. "I won't know until Monday what Ron and I will be working on next, though I'll be happy to get something to work on that won't have us going day and night for a while."

"We work for the Ministry," Mr. Weasley reminded him with a laugh. "Even if you did absolutely nothing, you'd still spend hours a day filling out reports in triplicate to document that."

That comment had the two older Wizards telling stories about some of the dumber Ministry rules they'd dealt with over the years as they sat and waited for the crowds to thin. When they were ready to leave too, Harry took Teddy to do a post-game diaper change, and then dropped him off with Andromeda before going on to make a few stops in Diagon Alley on his way home. Ginny had gotten home shortly before six, and by then, Harry had dinner ready, wine chilled, and a dozen roses for her.

"You've made a great start to our rest of the weekend off, no-plan plan," she complimented him after they'd shared a long, thrilling kiss.

Harry grinned at her. "If you think that was great, wait until you see the flowers, try the wine, and find out what we're having for dinner," he joked. "Come and sit down, and you can tell me about how the post-game circus went."

"There's not much to tell," Ginny advised him as she sat down and he went to pour two glasses of wine for them. "The Catapults weren't very happy campers, and a bit surly about losing the game. We moved to fourth place again, though we'll likely be back in fifth before our next game. I'd say the only real news since the game ended was that Alicia and Lee were going out on a date tonight. Since they were photographed leaving the stadium together, that'll probably make the Daily Prophet's gossip section."

"Maybe Lee's running out of material for his show, and they're just going to make their own," Harry suggested. "He'll have a field day with making fun of any stories in the paper about them."

Ginny laughed. "Why not? He makes fun of the stories about you, me, and everyone else."

Harry started putting their food on the table, and then they spent most of an hour enjoying the food, having a quiet chat, and then cleaning up after that; which was always more fun when they did that together. The play time that had started while washing the dishes had continued after they'd gone to snuggle on one of the sofas in the sitting room, and set the tone for what they'd both thought was a perfect, amazing last weekend of November.

Getting to have breakfast together on Monday had been great, and when Harry got into Headquarters, he was again hoping that their next assignments would allow him to spend more time with Ginny, and with Teddy, their family, and friends too. He was early, as usual, so he went to his cubicle, sat down, and summoned his Advanced Interrogation manual. Flipping to the page where he'd last left off, near the end of the thick, heavy book, he started reading, and made his way through to the end of that chapter before Ron stopped in to see him.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ron asked as he flopped into a chair. "Are you worried about falling behind, and only being a year and change ahead of Neville and me?"

"I'm just going to make sure that I won't need to be studying during Ginny's off-season," Harry joked. "Since you and Hermione both have year-round jobs; that's not a problem for you."

"Like you won't both keep busy then anyway," Ron countered. "She'll be wanting to do early training and then it's not like the Harpies don't have other work to do between May and July. With our luck, when she's off, we'll be working twenty-hour days on some case."

"Scary, and possibly true," Harry agreed. "Is it time for the meeting?"

"I'm five minutes early," Ron advised him proudly.

Harry laughed. "Whatever should we do with all of the extra time?"

While he sent his training manual back home, they spent that few minutes talking mostly about what Ron and Hermione had been doing on the weekend, including the few hours that Ron had spent helping George out at his store. The meeting Emma was having with her Aurors was in the conference room, and they were about in the middle of the pack as they all gathered around the table and waited for Emma to arrive and get things started.

"The good news is that we have a lot of new leads thanks to the Montagues," Emma began after sitting down. "Some of those leads will help cases we currently have on the go, while others lead to new suspects." She smiled as she looked around the table. "The bad news is that we've got more than enough work to keep busy for some time to come."

"You're going to send us out to work in the cold this winter, aren't you?" Dan asked, and Emma, and several other Aurors, laughed.

"I know it's a radical idea, but yes, we're not taking the winters off while the bad guys have free reign anymore." Waving her wand, she sent files flying around the table, and Ron and Harry each had two files land in front of them.

"For those of you with ongoing cases, the files you've just gotten have information that should help. Everyone else has new case assignments, and those files will help get you started. Everything we've learned about a whole raft of lesser crimes has been passed on to the Hit Squad; and they'll deal with all of those cases."

Harry and Ron had both taken a quick look at the summary pages for each file. They were being assigned the case for Rigotto and Synthea Lestrange. Rigotto was a cousin of Rabastan and Rodolphus; and Synthea was the Death Eater Selwyn's sister. They didn't have time to go over the files until after Emma had wrapped up their meeting, which had taken another half hour or so, but then they both went to Harry's cubicle and got started on doing that together.

"What case did you and Josh get?" Ron asked Neville when he stopped by to see them when it was nearly lunchtime.

"Gregory Goyle," Neville answered with a grin, and Ron and Harry both laughed.

"I wonder why Emma wouldn't give us that case?" Ron joked.

"Maybe she found out what good mates you guys were with him at Hogwarts and didn't want you to have a conflict of interest," Neville suggested. "I'm heading over to the Leaky for lunch, and wanted to know if you guys wanted to come too, but I also wanted to ask if you guys might be able to help Hannah out on Tuesday or Wednesday after work. Her new flat is ready, and she needs to be out of her old place before the weekend."

"Lunch sounds good," Harry answered. "I'll check with Ginny tonight, but I don't think we've got anything going on this week except for work and Bill's birthday dinner tonight." He laughed at the look on Ron's face.

"Try to keep up, mate. Your Mum told me on Saturday that Hermione was asking about gift ideas for your brother over a week ago. I'm sure that she has you covered."

Ron relaxed and laughed too. "It's a good thing one of us is organized. I'm sure that Hermione and I will be there to help for one or both days, Neville. She'll definitely want to help Hannah."

"So will Ginny, but she may not be able to with just six training days to get ready for their game next Monday night – and they're playing the Falcons."

Ron shook his head. "She'll need to keep her head on a swivel with that lot. They play dirtier and are meaner than any Slytherin we've ever gone up against. Their fans don't really even care if they win or not. They just want to see some heads get bashed in."

"They won't feel that way if any of their players try bashing my wife's head in," Harry told them darkly. "I'm fairly sure that I'd take that personally."

"And they would really not like getting you mad," Neville added with a grin. "Then again, they wouldn't like getting Ginny mad either."

Harry and Ron went out for lunch with Neville; and then spent the rest of the afternoon going through their new case files; and discussing how they wanted to handle the investigation. They wrapped up early enough that they could go home and get cleaned up and ready for the dinner at the Burrow, and then spent the evening with their girls and family as they celebrated Bill's twenty-ninth.

"You hired Scott Starkey?" Harry asked Hermione; and she nodded enthusiastically.

"He was so impressed with what Madeline's been doing, and telling him about since she started, that they came and talked to me about hiring him too. Now I've got two Liason Officers, and I've already hit my staff target for this first year. It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, I wasn't sure I'd have any staff for the first year or two."

"I think you've done an amazing job," Ginny told her. "Are you done hiring for now?"

"For now," she agreed. "Once Scott's ready to work on his own, I'm going to start concentrating on getting some laws changed, and new rules set up, and hopefully it won't be that long before House Elves at least won't be getting abused any more, even if I don't expect to get House Elf slavery abolished anytime soon."

That had been the big work news of the day, but most of the evening was spent roasting Bill, or talking about Fleur and the baby. She was nearing the half-way point of her pregnancy, and absolutely glowed now, while Bill doted on her constantly. Harry and Ginny had stayed nearly until her curfew, and then hurried home, where she sat up in bed working for another couple of hours before snuggling close to Harry and getting some sleep.

Though she was really busy with getting ready for her upcoming game, Ginny insisted on helping Hannah on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings after work. She did at least agree to only help out for an hour or so after dinner each night, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all put in three or four hours each, and had Hannah completely moved in by the time that everyone except Neville went home on Wednesday night.

There was a lot of activity going on around Auror Headquarters all week, which reminded Harry a lot of the start of winter last year, but he knew that this time, most of the other teams were doing the same thing that he and Ron were doing. Being someplace dry and warm was okay, but Harry really didn't like all of the groundwork research that needed to be done on a new case. Spending days sifting through dusty old Ministry records was tedious and time-consuming, and he'd rather be out there doing something – even if that something was working stakeouts, or tracking Wizards and Witches. They had their Wednesday morning training with Josh and Neville, and on Thursday and Friday, after having three long days and nights, Harry was glad to go home from work each afternoon and just have a couple of quiet evenings where all he needed to do was take care of Ginny while she did her homework.

They hadn't been able to spend much time with Teddy for a while, so Harry picked him up on Saturday, and they took him for an overnight stay. Ginny had needed to work all weekend, and had Harry do a couple of Seeker duels with her, but left Harry to entertain Teddy, do most of the work around the house, and take care of her while she was busy. She had meals with them, and cuddled in bed with them on Saturday night when it was time for Teddy's bedtime story, but was back to her game studies right after breakfast on Sunday. That had been entertaining, with the highlight being the letter that Dawn had sent back with Storm to let them know that Ravenclaw had won their game on Saturday over Hufflepuff, and that she'd scored three goals, and assisted on all but one of the others. Harry had played with Teddy for a few more hours so that Andromeda could have a sleep in morning, and after taking him home again, spent the rest of the day taking care of Ginny while she worked through until curfew that night.

"WHAT ARE YOU, BLIND, REF?" Mrs. Weasley shouted as she jumped to her feet after one of the Falcon's Chasers had just run into Angelina; sending her flying off course, and missing a pass from Valmai. "CALL A PENALTY, YOU MOLE-EYED CHICKEN!"

Harry had seen that cheap shot, like he'd seen all the others – especially the ones directed at Ginny, but at that moment, while Mrs. Weasley was yelling at the referee, he needed to be focused on the bludger that had just been batted at his mother-in-law's head by one of the Falcon's Beaters. The Wizard was grinning viciously right up until the bludger rebounded in thin air mere inches from Mrs. Weasley's head, and shot straight back at him.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Mrs. Weasley screeched at the man as he only partially managed to dodge the bludger, which glanced off of his arm with a fairly satisfying sounding crunch. "COME ON, HARPIES! SHOW THESE DIRTY CHEATS HOW THE GAME'S SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED!"

"Excitable, isn't she?" Mr. Weasley told Harry quietly, though he looked ready to let that Falcon's Beater have it. "Thanks for stopping the bludger – that could've been nasty."

Harry nodded silently, his attention all for the action above and around the stadium. The referee hadn't seen that Bumphing attempt directed at Mrs. Weasley; mostly because the Falcons were very good at getting players in the way of the referee while others committed those fouls. He hated to admit it, but they had a fairly effective strategy, even if a dirty, cheap one; and the Falcons were outscoring the Harpies two-to-one right from the start of the game.

"STOOGING'S BEEN A FOUL FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS, REF! GET A NEW RULE BOOK AND LOOK IT UP!" Mrs. Weasley yelled as the Falcons scored another goal after knocking Trish away from the Harpies' goals.

She wasn't the only Harpies fan yelling angrily, and most of them probably missed the move that Ginny put on the Falcon's Seeker. Harry's eyes blazed with fire and pride as he watched her race toward the snitch with the Falcons Seeker right behind her. The Wizard reached out and grabbed her broomtail to hold her back, but suddenly, she pegged the nose of her broom, and the momentum pulled the man up and over top of her as she flipped, and right off of his broom. She ignored her opponent as he fell, yelling in panic, and Harry was on his feet and cheering as she completed the flip, and then neatly caught the snitch to end the game and give the Harpies a huge, come from behind, two hundred and sixty to two hundred and twenty victory.

Ginny turned toward Harry, and met his triumphant look with one that was just as fierce and joyous. His heart was pounding with excitement, and he nearly missed seeing the bludger that the same Falcon's Beater had just angrily batted at her head long after the catch. She didn't see it at all, but did see his eyes blaze with sudden anger, and whipped her head around in time to see the bludger stop dead in mid-air about a foot away from her, where it quivered violently for a long moment before she looked back at her husband, and shook her head imperceptibly. That, combined with Mrs. Weasley's gently restraining hand on his arm was enough, and Harry let go of the bludger before smiling ruefully at Ginny and then hugging Mrs. Weasley.

"Thanks Mum," Harry said in a near-whisper. "That guy really had it coming to him, though."

"You're welcome dear," she assured him as she stepped back and smiled at him, "and yes, he did, but Wizards like him always get what they really deserve eventually, and you really would have felt bad about going after him – especially right in front of an Auror-trainee who'd have to take steps to protect him."

"Only if that Auror-trainee saw anything," Ron joked as he and Hermione closed ranks with his parents, brother, and brother-in-law. George was Harry's guest, and he and Ron were both grinning.

"I'd say that every one of those guys has it coming to them. We should probably send them thank-you presents, Ron. You know – the ones we talked about a couple of weeks ago." They both laughed, and Hermione and Mrs. Weasley both looked from one brother to the other.

"What are you two going on about?" Mrs. Weasley finally asked, and George hugged her enthusiastically.

"You do know that not all of our new wheezes exactly go as planned, right?" he asked, and she nodded, looking worried. "Well, Ron and I were tossing around the idea of a 'Wheezes Gone Bad' assortment pack. This could be a very nice opportunity to test out whether something like that would be popular or not." Mrs. Weasley groaned and covered her mouth, but they did all hear her muffled laugh quite clearly.

"That sounds like you've got both a mother-disapproved and approved vote," Ron suggested. "I told you the idea would be a hit."

While they sat down and waited to leave, George and Ron were happy to tell them about some of the different wheezes gone bad, and while they did that, Harry watched the action on the pitch, and kept a close watch over his wife and her teammates to make sure that the Falcons players didn't try any other post-game nastiness. Their Seeker had been saved from his sudden fall by a cushioning spell, and kept glowering at Ginny as she was being interviewed by several reporters, while he was being completely ignored by the press.

It had been a long, tough game, and Ginny didn't get home until after midnight. Harry met her at the door, and when he saw her limping, and saw the bruises on her arms after she put her cloak away, he scooped her into his arms and carried her up to their bedroom, where he helped her fully recover from her tough work day with a magical combination of wine, Jacuzzi time, an amazing massage, and all of the love and support he could give her before they both collapsed with exhaustion and were out for the count until morning.

"How did I know that you'd be smiling like that again by this morning?" Gwenog asked as Ginny walked into the locker room on Tuesday morning. "Your teammates are going to want to hex you, and just this once, I might be willing to help them.

"Instead of doing that, why don't you all just go find some Wizards to help you out after games like that too?" Ginny suggested, and then grinned at Gwenog. "I can think of one Wizard in particular who probably has really great hands, since he does make a living from using them. Just imagine those talented fingers giving you a massage instead of caressing guitar strings."

Gwenog laughed. "Thinking about that would definitely not be relaxing for me, and don't you have anything better to do than find ways to throw comments about Kirley Duke into nearly every conversation we have?"

"I can multi-task," Ginny answered, "and I'm fairly sure that I've never specifically mentioned his name at all."

"Like you need to," Gwenog countered, "unless you actually think that Meghan McCormack has a different favorite Weird Sister than her brother. All of your other references to him are just as pointed."

"Then why don't you just take the hints and ask him out? You'd be brilliant together."

Gwenog laughed, stood up, and slid her Beater bat into its sheath against her leg. "There's no doubt that you're brave enough for this game, Ginny. Now drop it, or you'll soon be finding out what practice can be like when I'm in a bad mood."

Ginny had laughed, hugged her Captain, and then started getting ready for their morning workout, and while she was having fun with her team, Harry was already out in the field with Ron. They still had in-house research to do, but had decided to get started on touring some of the places that had come up so far, mostly because they had what was forecast to be at least a few comparatively decent days.

"You're going to miss a Cannons game on a weekend when we're off?" Harry asked incredulously after Ron had told him that, and Ron laughed.

"I know it's shocking, but I'd promised to help George in Hogsmeade, since this'll be the last Hogsmeade weekend for the students before Christmas, and I forgot to check the team schedule first. Since you don't usually want to go to games on the weekends that you and Ginny are both off, I gave the tickets away already."

"We wouldn't have been able to go this weekend anyway," Harry answered with a nod. "Ginny's got a game on the eighteenth, so we're going to be doing some Christmas shopping this weekend, and decorating the house on Saturday too." He laughed at the look on Ron's face. "Two weeks from this Saturday, mate. That only gives us this weekend and next to shop and get ready, unless you're going to try and do all of your shopping on Christmas Eve day."

Ron groaned. "I've promised to help George that day too. I haven't even thought at all about what to get anyone, let alone something really special for Hermione."

"I'd think about doing that soon, and while you're at it, Charlie's birthday is this Sunday."

"Anything else?" Ron asked in exasperation; and Harry thought about that for a moment before shaking his head.

"Not right now. I'll wait until after Christmas to give you the list for January."

"Thanks a lot. Appreciate that."

Ginny's weekends off weren't exactly work free, and while she was busy each night preparing for the Harpies game against the Wanderers, to get everything done they had planned for the weekend did require them to spend some time getting organized so they could do everything they had planned and still have time for her weekend homework. That included everything from discussing things like gift ideas for their friends and family to what they wanted to do, and needed to get, for decorating the house for their first Christmas as a married couple.

"Are you ready for a big day of shopping?" Harry asked as Ginny came into the kitchen on Saturday morning just as he was putting their plates on the table. She hugged and kissed him before sitting down, and smiled happily.

"Yes I am," she assured him, "though maybe I should be the one asking you that question."

Harry laughed, and after putting cups of coffee down on the table, sat down too. "I get to spend nearly the whole weekend playing with you, so I'm a happy camper. The shopping and everything else is just a really great, fun bonus. Have you got our shopping list?"

"Right here," she agreed, pulling the parchment out of a pocket; unfolding it, and setting it down on the table next to her plate. "We've got six brothers, one set of parents, a sister-in-law, fiancée, and two girlfriends accounted for. Then there's Teddy and Andromeda, Aunt Muriel, and a couple of dozen friends. I need to get gifts for my coach and teammates, and you should pick up some gifts at least for Christine and the other Aurors you've been working with since Emma took over."

"Is that all? We'll be done in no time," Harry joked. "What are you going to get Gwenog? Kirley Duke?" Ginny's eyes lit up, she started laughing in delight, and Harry shook his head, groaned, and then laughed too. "You wouldn't!"

"Oh yeah, I would," she assured him, and to prove her point, she used her wand to get a quill, and made a note next to Gwenog's name.

"At least you'll have that weekend off if that turns out to be a disaster," Harry suggested, and Ginny laughed again.

"Or give them two whole days and nights if it goes brilliantly," she countered.

They talked about their shopping plans while eating, and after cleaning up, they headed out to Diagon Alley. Spending the morning there, they got about half of their magical gift shopping done, and took all of those purchases home before going out for lunch at the Mall food court. That's where they spent most of the afternoon; working on picking up the non-magical gifts on their list. After another trip home to drop off those purchases, they made one more trip out to get a Christmas tree and a fairly large supply of decorations, and then went home for the evening.

"The house looks beautiful, and you're amazing," Harry told Ginny quietly as he held her in his arms, and they both admired her decorating handiwork. The only lights in the sitting room were a couple of candles, and the magical lights on the tree, and he was more than a little enchanted by the quiet, magical moment.

"Well, there's no garden gnome angel to top the tree like Fred and George did that one year at home, but I think it'll do quite nicely."

"It's perfect," Harry assured her. "Thank you."

One soft kiss led to several others after that, and by the time they went to sleep for the night, they'd ended what had really felt to them like the start of the Christmas season with the first of what they were sure would be many amazing, brilliant, and very hot holiday memories.

As Harry had told Ron on Tuesday, it was Charlie's birthday on Sunday, but he wasn't coming home to celebrate it with his family. Harry and Ginny had a Sunday afternoon surprise, though, and went over to the Burrow to pick their parents up and take them to Romania to spend a few hours with Charlie and Julianne instead. They arrived there by international Portkey shortly after lunch, local time, and while Julianne had been in the loop, Charlie had been just as surprised as his parents when he welcomed them into his home.

"I love your place!" Ginny told him excitedly.

It had been the first time that she or Harry had been there, and he completely agreed with her. Charlie's cabin was very close to the reserve, and had a magnificent view of the mountains. It was quite modest, but well-kept. The main feature of his home was the vaulted ceiling in the open great room, and the open upper balcony that overlooked the main room, and led to three bedrooms that were above the kitchen, one of the washrooms, and two other rooms they hadn't been shown yet.

"Thanks, Ginny," he said as she hugged him for about the fifth or sixth time since they'd arrived. "I'm glad that you could finally come over and visit us here."

"So am I. We should come visit you more often if we can work that out anyway, instead of expecting you and Julianne to come home all of the time instead."

"You'd be welcome any time," Charlie assured her, and Ginny hugged him again. "Come and sit down, and you can tell me all about your latest games. We get the main headlines from home, and we heard something about the Falcons having problems with a bad batch of wheezes or something a few days after you played them, but we don't get all of the details."

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were happy to do that, and then they had Charlie open his presents before the three couples went out to dinner at the restaurant that Julianne had picked out for them. They went back to Charlie's place after that, but only stayed long enough for a long round of goodbye hugs and kisses before Harry and Ginny went back to the Burrow with their parents, and then on to home from there. Ginny had needed to get back to her studies, and she did that while Harry puttered around the house, and kept her supplied with drinks, snacks, and liberal doses of hugs and kisses.

When they went to bed, Ginny sat up and studied while Harry lay next to her with an arm wrapped comfortably around her waist, and let his mind drift lazily in a half doze. They had less than two weeks left until Christmas, and the Hogwarts students would be home for the holidays in just five days. During the two weeks the kids would be home, Ginny had two matches to play, and would need to work hard for most of the next three weeks. Harry was going to be busy with the new case he and Ron were on, but he also planned on taking care of his wife, and helping to make this another great Christmas for all of their family and friends.

The next thing he was aware of after thinking about that was the soft press of Ginny's lips against his. He opened his eyes and smiled happily at her. "I love you," he said softly, and she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I thought you were asleep. You haven't moved in quite a while."

"Are you finished studying for the night?" he asked.

"I'm done," she confirmed, "though since you are awake, and I'm not at all sleepy yet, maybe we should see what we can do to help tire ourselves out."

Harry laughed, gathered her in his arms, and happily helped her to do just that, and make for an amazing end to yet another brilliant weekend. By the time they did both drift off to sleep, neither of them were really consciously thinking about anything, but were looking forward to what they were sure would be another best-ever kind of Christmas.


	24. Quidditch Christmas and New Year

Chapter Twenty-Four – Quidditch Christmas and New Year

"I thought you'd be home earlier," Ginny said as Harry walked into the kitchen. "Did you get tied up with your case?" Harry wrapped his arms around her, and they shared a long hug and kiss before he answered.

"Had a bit of shopping to take care of," he explained; the sparkle in his eyes and the smile all Ginny needed to see to know why he hadn't invited her to go along.

"Well, the good news for you is that dinner's almost ready, and I made enough to have leftovers for you, since I wasn't sure when you'd get here," she advised him; smiling brightly, and tingling with excitement as she thought about Christmas with her husband being just a week away now. "If you can set the table, I'll finish the cooking."

"How was practice today?" he asked as he got to work on doing that. "Ron and I weren't having much fun in the field with it being such a miserable day."

"It was fairly unpleasant this morning, but with the game tomorrow, we had a light practice, and spent the afternoon going over the game plan. We're in for another cold day tomorrow, but at least there isn't supposed to be any rain or snow."

"The strong winds will make it tough, though," Harry pointed out, and Ginny nodded.

"That is going to make it tough," she agreed. "Glynnis has been working on that with us all week, though, so hopefully we'll be ready, and won't get burned by some fluke play, like that game you and Ron saw last year when the snitch got caught up in Gudgeon's robe."

Harry laughed. "That was pretty bad, though maybe he's getting better. The Cannons do have two wins already this season."

"The other team's Seeker got knocked out of the game," Ginny reminded him. "It still took him an hour and a half to catch the snitch after that happened, and they only won by ten points. Fifteen more minutes, and they'd have lost the match."

They mostly talked Quidditch while having their meal, and Harry took care of the cleanup while Ginny settled into the sitting room with her homework and a glass of wine. With the game on Saturday; along with going to Christine and Bryce's place after the game for the home from school Christmas party they were throwing for the kids, their family, and friends; and an all-day shopping trip with Ron and Hermione booked; they were both happy to enjoy a quiet evening at home. The studying part of the evening wasn't exactly write in a journal material, but the cuddling while Ginny did that, and Harry read a book, was good, and the post-curfew bath and bedtime end to their work week was really great.

"I am going to be in so much trouble with Ginny when she sees how beautiful my date for her game is," Harry predicted as he hugged Dawn, and smiled at Christine and Bryce. It had only been three and a half months or so since he'd seen her last, but Dawn had turned fourteen now, and was definitely well on the way on making the transition from shy little girl to beautiful, confident young woman. "Do you have any big, jealous boyfriends I should be worried about too?" He laughed when he saw Dawn blush and her smile brighten considerably. "Okay, what's his name, and why hasn't Ginny heard about that bit of news?"

"You know Laura Madley?" she asked, and Harry nodded. "I've sort of been going out with her brother, Jonathan for a while now."

"Even after your team beat theirs?" Harry asked in wide-eyed astonishment; and Dawn laughed.

"I think he liked me even more after the game," she answered.

"That sounds serious," Harry told Bryce. "If you need extra Auror backup, give me a call, Dad."

"Unless you can find a way to keep my little girls from growing up, I don't think there's much you can do to help," Bryce said, and laughed too when Dawn hugged him.

"How come you're not including Jeremy in that?"

"Because that's your mother's job to worry about her little boy," Bryce explained. "I know, it's not fair, but it's just the way it is. Deal with it."

Dawn had a big hug for her mother too, and then she and Harry went to Diagon Alley, where they had an hour or so where he helped her out with a little parent and boyfriend Christmas shopping before they had lunch at the Leaky. After that, it was off to the Exmoor stadium, where they wandered the concessions and picked up a few souvenirs, snacks, and drinks, and then went to sit down; getting to their seats about ten minutes ahead of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill and Fleur.

"So how's our team going to do today?" Mrs. Weasley asked Dawn as they all sat down after the round of welcoming hugs and kisses.

"We're going to win, unless the Wanderers get really lucky," Dawn answered confidently. "Gwenog Jones really knows how to use a windy day to her advantage with the bludgers; and Ginny is way better than the Wanderers' Seeker."

"I think she is too," Mrs. Weasley agreed, "but then I'm biased, and think that she's better than all of the other Seekers."

"Maybe not better than all of them," Dawn disagreed, "though she will be soon."

"Who's better?" Mrs. Weasley countered, and Dawn laughed.

"Um, the Tornados' Seeker won their Seeker battle. Ginny won the first round against the United Seeker, but he's really good too, and I don't think anyone would disagree that Viktor Krum is still the best in the world, even if he hasn't had much luck in the World Cup finals."

"Okay, I'll give you those points," Mrs. Weasley conceded. "That still puts Ginny up there somewhere in the top five."

Ginny was playing like one of the best Seekers in the world too. The wind whipped through the stadium unpredictably, and all of the players were having a tough time just with their flying, let alone dodging bludgers, trying to score goals, or get anywhere near catching the snitch. Dawn had been right that the Wanderers' Seeker was not as good as Ginny, but the weather was a great equalizer, as were the Wanderers' Beaters, who spent a lot of their time concentrating on keeping Ginny from getting a good shot at catching the snitch.

The score was just seventy to forty for the Harpies, and several of those goals had been lucky scores that the wind had re-directed into the goals, when Ginny finally ended the game at the three hour and eight minute mark. She'd completely lost her opponent, caught the Beaters out of position, and still had to make an acrobatic, broom-spinning move to catch the snitch at the last second when the wind nearly blew it out of her reach. Since there had been so many other misses by then, most of the fans in the stadium hadn't even gotten out of their seats until after she'd actually caught it, and then the stadium erupted into loud cheers of approval for the brilliant move.

"All those in favor of getting out of here and anywhere warm, raise your hand," Fleur said through chattering teeth. "This very well could be the last game I'll be at before spring – or maybe even until after the baby's born."

"I'd say your motion is approved unanimously," Mrs. Weasley told her. She smiled when Harry took out his wand, conjured a cup, filled it with hot chocolate, and handed it to Fleur.

"Anyone else?" he offered, and repeated the process for his Mum and Dawn.

While their girls had hot drinks, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Harry carried the bags they had with them, and they all got into the long lines of Witches and Wizards who were all in a hurry to get out of the stadium too. Harry and Dawn went to pick up Teddy, and then went on to her house, where the welcome home from school Christmas party had already started. Harry and Teddy were kept busy for a while as they were welcomed in, and introduced to some people they hadn't met before; the most important of those introductions, at least for Dawn, being Jonathan Madley.

"It's nice to meet you," Harry said as they shook hands, and he smiled encouragingly as the teen tried his very best to be cool while meeting Harry Potter for the first time. "Say Hi to Jonathan, Teddy."

"Hi Jonafan," Teddy said dutifully. "Go Pway now?"

"We can take him to hang out with the rest of the kids and watch him while you're busy playing with the grownups," Dawn offered, and Teddy happily reached out for her. "Did you bring any of your dolls, or should I get a couple of mine for you to play with later?"

"Teddy and I have action figures, not dolls," Harry said, feigning indignation, "and the whole Harpies team is in his bag hanging out with a couple of dragons."

"He calls them dolls too when there aren't other guys around to try and impress," Dawn told her boyfriend. "At least he brought an all-girl team of toys to play with this time. At Easter, Kate and some of the other girls put the Wizard doll they gave him to play with in a dress."

Dawn and Jonathan had taken Teddy off to play then; and Bryce set Harry up with a hot cup of coffee before they both went into the sitting room to join the party in progress there. By the time Ginny got there too, he was busy playing with the kids, and when she walked into the room, she started laughing.

"Nice dress on your dragon, honey," she teased as Dawn hurried over to welcome her with a big hug, and she watched the dragon fly around the room with a Wimbourne Wasps player in its talons. "Where's a camera when you need one?"

"Mum already took a couple of pictures," Dawn advised her. "She can get a copy for you. Come on in. I'd like you to meet Jonathan."

"We have met before," Ginny advised her. "Laura introduced us after we played her team last year." She smiled and leaned close to whisper in Dawn's ear. "Good choice; and he's seriously cute." Dawn laughed and hugged her again; Ginny stopped long enough to lean over and hug and kiss Harry; and then the two Witches went to sit down next to Jonathan.

"Didn't you guys want to play with the dolls and dragons too?" Ginny asked them. She smiled when she heard Jeremy snort derisively. "Sorry – action figures and dragons," she amended.

"It's way more entertaining to sit back and watch the show," Dawn answered. "Hopefully Jonathan, Jeremy, and the other guys will keep Harry's secret. If word of this ever got out, the bad guys would never take him seriously again."

"That would only help to keep them underestimating him like they always do," Ginny suggested. She smiled as they watched one of the dragons swoop in and carry the Ginny Potter action figure off for a spin around the room while Teddy and the other kids all giggled and laughed. "If they ever put dragons in real Quidditch matches, I'm going to retire."

"You know this is just pretend," Dawn reminded her; grinning over at her brother. "If this were a real game, there's no way the Wasps would be in the lead."

"Our Wasps beat your Harpies in the playoffs last year," Jeremy shot back.

"They wouldn't have if Ginny had been playing for the Harpies in that game," Dawn countered.

"Too bad she wasn't," Jonathan added with a shy smile. "Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw might have had a chance last year if she was doing that instead of playing for Gryffindor."

"With Demelza taking over for Ginny, we'll be lucky to have a chance this year," Dawn pointed out. "Hopefully our games against them will go better than Slytherin's did last month."

"I'd wish you luck with that, but Harry and I will have to cheer for our own House team when you play them."

Ginny and Harry spent another half hour or so with the kids, and then she coaxed him into going with her to hang out with the kids their own age for the rest of the party. The older kids mostly took care of Teddy, and they all had fun, but after a really long day, by the time Teddy was nodding off to sleep by a little after eight-thirty, they were happy to take him back to Andromeda's, and go home to get some sleep.

"I should probably give George a hand at the store today," Ron told Hermione. They'd come over for breakfast with Harry and Ginny, and she'd been talking with Ginny about the shopping they needed to get done. "If they're as busy as yesterday, he could really use the help."

"We're out of time to get this done," Hermione answered, "and you're not sticking me with all of the work while you and George play with wheezes all day."

"That definitely sounds like a no," Harry joked. "I don't know why you don't love shopping at Christmas. That's when all of the coolest new toys are out, and even if you don't like going shopping for clothes with the girls, buying Christmas presents for everyone is way different."

"Says the Wizard who loves shopping even more than most Witches," Ron groused, and Harry laughed.

"What's not to love about watching Ginny and her friends playing dress-up?"

"You're impossible," Ron declared. "If it wasn't for the fact that you can cook, and we have fun chasing bad guys together, I'd have to pretend I didn't know you in public."

"No need to guess why the being able to cook came first out of those two," Ginny said with a smile as she watched Ron filling his plate for the second time. "Try and have fun today anyway, Ron, and even if you don't like all of the shopping, at least you'll get a couple of fast food meals out of the deal."

"A couple?" Ron exclaimed. "How long do you plan on shopping?"

"Probably until the stores close for the night, and they're all open late," Ginny answered. "We've got a lot to try and get done in just one day."

Ron groaned. "Next year, I'm gonna get some polyjuice, and hire a stand-in."

"That's an interesting idea," Ginny told him enthusiastically. "Does Hermione get to help pick out the Wizard she'll be hugging and kissing all day while you're off doing something else instead?"

Harry and Hermione laughed, but Ron glared at Ginny. "That is so not funny. Thanks for shooting down what really seemed like a good idea a minute ago."

"I'm fairly sure that you'd rather know the downside of that now than finding out after you'd tried it," Harry suggested. "Getting back to our lists, though, I like the remote control helicopter idea for Dad. I'm sure he'd love getting tickets for a trip to New York or someplace too, but unless we're planning on confounding the Muggle security, and every Muggle on his plane, I don't think he and Mum are quite ready to be international jet-setters."

"Good point," Hermione agreed, and after seeing Ron and Ginny both nodding too, stroked out that gift idea from her list. "Helicopter it is."

They got back to discussing their gift lists, and after finishing their meal and cleaning up, they headed for Diagon Alley. Ron continued to do a fair bit of complaining as they worked their way through the shops there, but despite his protestations, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all knew that he really was having fun. It took until one o'clock to finish getting everything they wanted to pick up in Diagon Alley, and after dropping those purchases off a their homes, they went on to Hermione's and Ginny's favorite Mall, where they had lunch before getting back to the shopping.

"I should get one for Teddy," Harry told Ron, who looked at the toy skeptically.

"A furby? You might as well get him a Pygmy Puff. They do about as much."

"They're supposed to learn English as you play with them," Harry pointed out.

"Big deal. I could make my toys do that when I was younger than Teddy," Ron countered. "You've already bought him enough toys to last him until he graduates Hogwarts. I'm fairly sure he can live without a mechanical talking hairball."

"I guess you're right. Sorry little buddy," he told the furby as he put him down. "You'll have to wait for another family to take you home."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Stop it. You're embarrassing me."

"I'll try. We should get on with what we're supposed to be doing anyway, and if you don't think Teddy would like a furby, then that probably won't work for Hermione either."

"At least that is an idea, if a bad one. I've got no idea at all what to get her for Christmas."

"How about one of those laptop computers?" Harry suggested. "She said the one she has on her desk is old and slow compared to the newest ones."

"That might work, except I wouldn't have a clue about any of that stuff."

"I'm hardly an expert, but Dudley had one, and I learned a bit hearing him talk about it with his parents and friends, so we might be able to muddle through."

That's what they ended up doing, and though Ron really had no idea why, Harry had assured him that she was going to love the gift. Ron had popped home to drop it off there, and then they'd met up with the girls, who were ready by then to take a little break, send the bags they'd accumulated to their homes, and then get back to the shopping. They had dinner in a Muggle restaurant, and then spent another two hours wrapping up their shopping trip before heading home for the night just ahead of Ginny's training curfew.

While Harry and Ginny, like many other Witches and Wizards, only had a four-day work week leading up to Christmas, they were both working long days, and Glynnis and Gwenog had Ginny and the rest of the Harpies all working even harder than usual to make up for the lost training time as they prepared for an important match against the Arrows. Thursday had been the toughest day; and everyone on the team was exhausted by the time they mostly limped into the change room.

"I'd say that it's definitely time to give all of you a Christmas present that Harry and I have for you," Ginny told her teammates. She went over to her equipment bag, pulled out a fairly small, gift-wrapped box, and handed it to Gwenog. "Why don't you do the honors?" she suggested; and then sat down wearily to watch her friend and Captain open the gift.

"What are they? Toys?" Gwenog asked when she'd opened the box and seen what was inside; and Ginny grinned at her as she pulled out her wand.

"No, they're just wrapped for convenience," she answered, and all of the Witches watched as the two quaffle-sized cubes floated out of the box, floated over to an empty corner of the room, and settled onto the floor. A few quick spells later, and they were all on their feet again, and standing around the two, large Jacuzzi hot tubs that were now back to full-size, and filled with hot, bubbling water.

"I love you," Angelina told Ginny as she hugged her. "This is such a great present, and your timing is perfect."

"The guys at our Christmas party tonight might have liked watching us try them out tonight instead," Alicia suggested with a laugh, "but I am so glad we get to use them now instead. Any chance someone else is giving us a group of full-time, preferably hot, Wizard masseuses to go along with these amazing tubs for Christmas?"

There apparently weren't any masseuses in their Christmas stockings this year, but the fourteen women were all feeling a lot better after a long session in their new toys. Ginny was still smiling when she got home, and had a long, warm hug, and a searing kiss, for Harry when she joined him in the kitchen.

"The hot tubs must've been a hit," he joked after she'd let him go again, and Ginny laughed and kissed him again.

"A big hit," she agreed, "especially after we'd all worked so hard all day. If we didn't have the party tonight, I'd seriously be thinking about just going to bed."

"After that kiss, I'm seriously thinking about skipping the party and doing that with you anyway."

"We'll have fun at the party, but keep that thought for later," Ginny advised him. "Some you and me time is definitely going to be in our long-weekend holiday plans."

Glynnis was hosting the team Christmas party; and it was just getting started when Ginny and Harry arrived at her home. Some of the reserve team players and their dates were there already, but Gwenog was the only member of the team who had gotten there before them. It didn't take long to make the first round of the room to visit with each group for a few minutes, and then they got drinks and sat down to chat with Gwenog.

"What are you going to do with your long weekend off?" Harry asked her.

"I've got a family dinner on Saturday, and a lot of running around to do tomorrow to get ready for that, but I'll be spending most of the rest of the weekend getting ready for our game next weekend," Gwenog answered, and smiled at Ginny. "I'll guess that your wife will make some time for that too, even though we are all supposed to take the weekend off."

"Probably," Ginny agreed. "The Arrows are going to be tough, and I want to be ready for anything – especially since the weather could be an issue too."

"I'd suggest that you both join the Aurors so you can work a bit less, but then you probably wouldn't want to take the cut in pay that goes along with it, and the Ministry brooms aren't nearly as good as our Firebolts," Harry told them.

Gwenog laughed. "I'd be a lousy Auror. Why do we even bother with Azkaban, and all the rest of it, for our criminals anyway? Turn the lot of them into woodlice, stick them in a jar, and forget about them. Problem solved."

"You'd probably have a lot of support in the Ministry for an idea like that," Harry suggested; laughing too. "Minister Shacklebolt's got some strange ideas about how we should deal with our criminals now, and he probably won't go along with doing something like that. He's not even going to let the Aurors torture their prisoners; kill them first and ask questions later; or anything like we once could."

Gwenog shook her head in mock dismay. "That really is too bad, but he'll get away with changes like that. It'll be if he tries to do things like have the Department for Magical Games and Sports start changing the rules in Quidditch that he'll have troubles. Glynnis and I keep a close eye on things like that, and you'd be amazed at the proposals that get floated around that office. One idiot wants to have bludgers made out of soft rubber instead of steel. A Wizard's Chess match would be more exciting than Quidditch if they did that."

"That'll never happen," Ginny said confidently. "The Minister is as big a fan of the game as anyone, and no true Quidditch lover would want to see a change like that."

While talking Quidditch with the other guests was a big part of the evening entertainment for Harry and Ginny, they also did a little dancing, handed out the gifts that Ginny had picked out for her coach and teammates, and generally had a lot of fun with their friends. They stayed until shortly after midnight, did a long round of goodbyes, and then went home again, where they were both happy to get a start on Ginny's holiday weekend 'you and me time' plan.

"One more sleep until Christmas," Harry told Ginny as she walked into the kitchen on Friday morning. "Other than dropping off the gifts we need to deliver this morning, is there anything in particular you'd like to do today?"

"The stores and Malls will be crazy today, but I'd still like to wander around Diagon Alley a bit, and see what George's store is like. We could have lunch at the Leaky, and maybe stop in for a visit with Mum and Dad, but then we should just come home and get started on our you and me Christmas Eve plans."

"That works for me," Harry agreed, and then grinned at her. "Do you need to pick up Gwenog's present and get it wrapped, or did you send it by Owl Post?"

Ginny laughed. "It's being dropped off special delivery sometime late this afternoon or evening. I guess we didn't get time to talk about the details earlier this week, did we?"

"No, but that little matchmaking attempt of yours will probably make for an interesting Christmas Eve for both of them."

"That's certainly what I'm hoping for," Ginny agreed with a bright smile.

They had breakfast together, and when they were ready to go, went on a two-hour long tour to drop off Christmas gifts to some of their friends, like Luna and Rolf, Neville and Hannah, and the Campbell family. Once that was taken care of, and they'd had quick, short visits at each stop, they wandered around Diagon Alley until a little after one; had lunch at the Leaky, and wrapped up their little holiday adventure with a stop at the Burrow.

"Charlie and Julianne are staying overnight with Bill and Fleur, but they're all coming here for dinner tonight," Mrs. Weasley advised them. "I'm sure you know that Ron and Hermione will be with her parents this evening and on Sunday, George will be busy at the store until he closes up later, and Percy and Audrey are going to the Minister's party tonight."

"How did you get out of that invite?" Mr. Weasley asked them.

"I just told Percy we weren't going to come," Harry answered. "They ought to all be spending the night with their families instead of playing politics anyway. We will be making an appearance at the New Year's Eve party, even though Ginny has to be home early to rest up for the game on Saturday."

"No wonder Percy's the only one of us getting promotions at work," Mr. Weasley joked. "The rest of us don't want to play nice with the other politicos."

"Except Hermione," Ginny added, "and she'll get what she wants because she's brilliant, and won't give up until they wear down and give in to her."

Mr. Weasley laughed. "I've heard that Amos Diggory is both impressed with her and flabbergasted over what she wants to do to help House Elves. I know he's the Head of the Department and we get along fine, but he really doesn't see just how badly we treat nearly all of our magical creatures. We'll dote on our kneazles and pygmy puffs, but too many of us are blind to what we do to the goblins, elves, and the rest."

"I do believe Hermione has a convert," Mrs. Weasley joked, and they all laughed.

"She wasn't the first to help us see the truth of that, Molly," he reminded her, "though I do think she'll do more than any other Witch or Wizard since Modesty Rabnott saved the golden snidgets."

Harry and Ginny ended up staying and talking with their parents for nearly two hours, but then left for home. While they could have spent the evening at the Burrow with there family, and certainly would in future years, they'd both really wanted to be alone for their first Potter family Christmas Eve together – especially because it was just the two of them so far. That had been a brilliant choice, and when they went over to Andromeda's house on Christmas morning, they were both smiling happily after their remember forever Christmas Eve. Their Christmas morning had been incredible and amazing too, with their quiet little gift exchange being just a small part of what had made everything so great. Teddy was pretty much bouncing off of the walls by the time they arrived, and after hugging Harry and Ginny, urged all of them to go into the sitting room with him and open presents.

"Remind me to add a 'no extremely loud noise toys' rule to the grandmother approved gifts list," Andromeda told Ginny as they watched their two favorite boys playing on the floor with Teddy's new real roaring toy dragon.

"You'll be glad that we talked Harry out of getting him the Weird Sisters' Band in a Box action figures set, then," Ginny advised her with a laugh. "The volume is adjustable on those dragons, so you can turn it down later, and Teddy probably won't care. The instructions to do that are on the box."

"You must have had your hands full to keep Harry from buying even more, and this is all way too much," Andromeda suggested, and Ginny laughed again.

"It wasn't easy, but we did have fun too. With everything that's happened to all of us, I love that he can still have that little boy wonder about things like Christmas and toys."

They spent a bit over an hour with Andromeda and Teddy, and then moved on to the Burrow. George had stayed the night there after closing the store, and he, Harry, and Ginny spent the morning helping out with getting everything ready for having everyone over for the afternoon and Christmas dinner. Ron and Hermione were the first to get there, shortly after lunch. Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Julianne came together, and then the two Wizards left again to escort Aunt Muriel; returning with her just as Percy and Audrey were being welcomed home.

"You've got the whole lot of them here this year," Aunt Muriel told Molly loudly. "It's a good thing that you have room enough now or you'd have needed two sittings for dinner." She looked over her family with a critical eye, and started right up with her usual commentary.

"Have you fixed that lop-sided ear, George, or is the long hair just so you can hide it? You look lovely, Ginevra, but I've tried to warn you about those low-cut outfits, and now I hear that your posters are the favorites in all of the boys' dorm rooms at Hogwarts."

"And in every cubicle at Auror Headquarters," Harry added helpfully as Ginny grinned at him - "including mine."

Aunt Muriel laughed and then wheezed until she'd caught her breath again. "I heard about that too, Mr. Auror-trainee undesirable number one Potter. It's no wonder why posters of you don't gut put up in the girls' dorms – you're not nearly as photogenic as Ginevra. Speaking of; Fleur, you're a sight to see. How are you and that baby?"

For the rest of the afternoon, while exchanging gifts, and during and after dinner, Aunt Muriel was the center of the familial holiday storm of activity. Harry and Ginny tried to spend a little extra time with Charlie, Julianne, Percy, and Audrey, since they didn't see them nearly as often as they saw the rest of their family, and especially since they might not be able to all get together again before Easter. There was a lot of Christmas cheer, and they talked happily about everything from babies and weddings to work and Quidditch. Despite her pointed complaints about Ginny's posters, action figures, and career, Harry and Ginny were both sure that Aunt Muriel was actually very proud of her fiery, outgoing grand-niece. When it was time to go home, Harry and Ginny were in charge of escorting Aunt Muriel back home, and after a long round of goodbye hugs and kisses, they apparated to her estate, helped her get settled in, and made sure she had everything she needed.

"Thank-you for helping to make this such a great Christmas Day, Aunt Muriel," Ginny told her as she leaned over to hug her goodbye. "I love you." When she leaned back and saw the look in her aunt's eyes, she laughed softly and hugged her again. "It seems that I so need to remember to tell you that more often; and I will from now on."

"Don't go getting all mushy," Aunt Muriel told her a bit hoarsely. "Glynnis and the Harpies would never stand for that if they ever found out."

Ginny laughed again. "They'll only have a problem with that if I ever get all mushy during a game. If that ever happened, Gwenog would probably hit me with a bludger herself."

Aunt Muriel laughed too, and then nodded her goodbye to Harry. "Take care of my Molly's little girl for us. You seem to be doing well enough so far, but we will keep watching to be sure that you do."

Harry leaned over and hugged her too. "I will," he promised, "and if you ever catch me messing up, feel free to blast me for it – if your dueling master niece hasn't blasted me first by then."

"Go on with the both of you," Aunt Muriel ordered them, "and try to stop in and visit sometime. I am getting on, and won't be around forever."

As Ginny led him out, Harry thought that their frail, old Aunt Muriel would probably still be around to see their grandchildren or great-grandkids, but he wasn't thinking about her, or anything else after Ginny shared a long, passion-filled kiss with him once they'd left the house, and suggested that they should get right home and get back to their 'you and me' holiday weekend plans.

While Harry spent the biggest part of the last day of their holiday weekend doting on his wife, she'd needed to work on her studying for the Arrows game. That had included a Seeker duel with Harry in the afternoon, and regular breaks for meals, snacks, and a couple of fairly brilliant play intermissions that all helped to keep them both happy and smiling. It was a training curfew night, and Harry did make sure that she was in bed on time, but helped to make sure that they ended their holiday as brilliantly as they'd started it before they snuggled close and drifted off into some very happy dreams.

There was a lot going on first thing Monday morning, and after having breakfast together, Harry and Ginny were both off to work early. Ron had just flopped into one of the chairs in Harry's cubicle, and Harry was telling him about the note that had been on his desk requesting they attend a meeting with Emma shortly when Neville stopped by with some big news.

"Congratulations, Neville," Harry told their happily smiling friend, and stood up to hug him. "When did you ask her?"

"Christmas Eve after she closed for the night," he answered. "We'd decided to exchange gifts then, since she had a full house for the weekend, and needed to be up getting ready for breakfast early on Christmas Day."

"I'd offer my condolences," Ron told him as he shook Neville's hand, "but I'm supposed to be trying to learn to be happy for all of you poor, deluded Wizards and Witches, so congratulations."

Neville and Harry both laughed. "Thanks, I think," Neville answered.

"We've got a meeting with Emma soon," Harry advised him, "but you'd better give me at least some of the details from your proposal before we have to get to that, since Ginny will definitely grill me on it later."

Neville was happy to spend five minutes doing that, though all three Wizards were good with ending that little story at the she said yes and putting the ring on her finger point of the scene, though Harry was fairly sure that Ginny would want to get the rest of that information out of Hannah sometime soon. The happy couple hadn't picked a date yet, though they were definitely going to get married sometime during the coming summer. When it was time, Harry and Ron went to the conference room where they were to meet Emma for eight o'clock.

"Have you seen the news this morning?" Emma asked Harry and Ron; tossing a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the conference table as she breezed past them and then sat down at the end of the table they'd been sitting at while waiting for her. They had been there for a few minutes, and had been a bit surprised to be meeting there once it had become apparent that none of the other Aurors had been invited to the meeting.

"We did," Ron answered after seeing Harry nod. "Mrs. Zabini's son, Blaise, was in our year, though we didn't exactly run in the same crowds. Her death seems just as mysterious as those for her husbands were, and it's a shame that it happened on Christmas Eve day. I've never heard of a Witch or Wizard falling and drowning in a bath before."

"Neither have I, and we don't think this was a mysterious, unfortunate bathroom accident any more than we thought those other deaths were accidents," Emma advised them.

"We're looking into the case?" Ron asked in surprise. "Isn't this something more suited for the Hit Squad if they suspect foul play?"

"They will be investigating, but the Minister has asked to have the two of you look into the matter as well. Your classmate has just become extremely wealthy, and we unfortunately think that will be the first place to look." She'd brought a file in with her too, and handed it to Ron. "Put your other case on hold. This is a priority, and we think that our best shot at finding out what really happened on Friday is to get on it early. Let's find the answer to that question, and if foul play was involved, as we suspect, then we want whoever is responsible caught and put away."

"We're on it boss," Ron assured her as they all stood up. He went back to Harry's cubicle, and started going through the file together.

"I've never had any love for Blaise Zabini, but do you really think that he could do something like this to his own Mum?" Ron asked quietly; and Harry shrugged.

"Could you believe that she may have killed off seven husbands?" Harry countered; holding up the picture of Blaise's mother, who had still been stunningly beautiful. "I think some people are capable of nearly anything if all they care about is power and money."

As they dug into their new case, power and money were the last things on the minds of the two Witches who were in the Harpies' training pitch locker room. Ginny had been smiling as she walked into the room, and her whole face lit up when she saw the stern look on Gwenog's face that couldn't even slightly hide the fire and happiness shining in her eyes.

"I knew it!" she said excitedly as she hurried over to Gwenog and hugged her tightly.

"Knew what?" Gwenog shot back in a growl. "That you were about to start your first day as a woodlice in about a minute?"

Ginny laughed and hugged her again. "That's not going to work with me, and I am so happy for you." She sat down next to Gwenog, and took her hand. "Tell me all about it. Were you surprised? Did you like the dinner?"

Gwenog laughed and gave up the act. "I loved the dinner, the flowers, the wine, and the delivery Wizard was pretty good too."

"That's funny. I didn't send flowers or wine – just the dinner and the hot delivery guy."

"You didn't?" Gwenog asked in surprise, and watched Ginny shake her head as they both smiled.

"I'd say that he really wanted my surprise to work as much as I did," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Good for him – and you. Okay, so he delivered dinner, flowers, and wine. What happened then?"

"Before or after Kirley convinced me not to pop over to your house and give you a one way ticket to the South Pole to spend the next year or so with the penguins?"

"Let's go with both, since that must have been fun too," Ginny suggested.

That had taken a while – especially since Kirley hadn't made it home before Christmas morning, sometime after dawn. They did finish their chat before the rest of the team joined them on the pitch, and while they didn't yet know why, they could tell that their Captain was seriously fired up and ready to play all day. Gwenog and Glynnis had them all right back to full-speed, tough workouts, and by the end of the day, they were all very glad to have their new hot tubs to help them recover from their training. When Ginny got home, Harry was already there, and had dinner nearly ready to go.

"You're going back to work?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Ron and I did a tour around Zabini's home, and he's not using any protections, so I'm going to try and get inside, and Ron will watch the house – and my back. We'll likely be putting in long days until we figure out what happened to Mrs. Zabini."

"So much to having you home every night," Ginny said with a sigh. "It was really great while it lasted."

"Yes it was," he agreed. "Now why don't you tell me about how things went with Gwenog this morning while we have time? Since you're still you, which you can assure her I'm very grateful for, her Christmas Eve surprise must have gone as well as you hoped. After that, I'll tell you about Neville and Hannah's engagement."

"It went even better than that," Ginny confirmed, and then laughed when his last comment clicked in. Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him again. "Neville proposed to Hannah? Start with that story, and we'll get back to talking about Gwenog and Kirley after that."

Harry only stayed for another half-hour, and then Ginny sent him out into the cold night with a goodbye hug and kiss that was steamy enough to have him wishing fervently that bad guys would stop doing bad things so that he could be home on nights like this with his wife instead of having to be out chasing them down instead.

"So what's the plan?" Ron asked as he and Harry got to the spot they'd picked for their stakeout.

"I'll use my cloak and see if I can find a way in, but if everything's locked up, I'll wait by the front door and hope for a chance to get in with a visitor."

"Try not to get stuck on the inside all night," Ron told him. "You'll be warm in there, but I'll be freezing my butt off out here."

"Unless something comes up, I'm really just going in to take a look around tonight," Harry advised him.

Getting in and out of the house didn't end up being difficult at all, and he was able to use a back servant entrance that was, at least while he was there, left unlocked. There were two servants that he had to be careful about while moving around the house, but Blaise had stayed in the sitting room while he was there, spending part of that time entertaining Tracey Davis. She was another Slytherin student in their year, and was apparently Blaise's girlfriend now.

Harry had already toured most of the opulently appointed ground floor by the time she had arrived and been shown into the sitting room. He'd found a place to listen in to them, but didn't hear anything of interest, and he quickly moved on to exploring the rest of the house when the couple started entertaining themselves in a non-verbal sort of way that he definitely didn't want to stick around for. He was able to view all of the rooms on the upper floors, including the bathroom where Blaise's mother had died, and after returning to the ground floor, where Blaise and Tracey were still pre-occupied with each other, he decided to leave again, and join Ron to continue their stakeout.

"They were making out?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"I'm sure she was just trying to comfort him during his time of loss, though he certainly didn't seem all that bereaved to me from what I heard and saw tonight."

"Maybe I should use your cloak and take the indoor shifts," Ron suggested. "She was the best-looking Slytherin girl in our year, and I'm sure Ginny would prefer that you didn't see anything you shouldn't while on this case."

Harry laughed. "You don't seem to be worried about that with Hermione thinking that about you."

"I'm not married, and I'm just looking out for you and my little sister," Ron said innocently.

"You have no idea how much we appreciate your unselfish willingness to take one for the team in situations like this," Harry said drily. "I don't have a problem with taking turns keeping an eye on things in there, though. Let's stay until Tracey leaves, and then go home tonight. I'll put together a map of the house in the morning, and you can take the shift in there tomorrow night."

They did that, and alternated nights watching the place for the rest of the week. There had been a flurry of activity on the day of the funeral; especially with Witches and Wizards from a total of eight families attending. There had been a fairly unpleasant scene on Thursday when all of those families found out that Blaise was the sole beneficiary of his mother's estate, and they were all left out in the cold – quite literally after Blaise had them forcibly removed from his house after the will had been read. It had been Ron's turn to be inside the house on Thursday night, and Harry was pretty much frozen solid by the time he came back out again shortly after midnight.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked urgently when he saw the look on Ron's face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I have," he answered shakily. "Blaise's Mum's ghost to be specific. Upstairs, in the bathroom, and then from there to what must have been her bedroom." He took a deep breath. "She didn't have any clothes on at first," he whispered in a choked voice. "Put a robe on when she got into her room."

"Did she say anything? Do anything else?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head.

"Not while I was there, and I didn't stick around after that. You'd never know she was about the same age as my Mum by looking at her."

"Snap out of it, Ron," Harry told him curtly. "This could be a really important break. Did Blaise or Tracey hear or see her yet?"

Ron shook his head, seemingly as much to clear it as in answer. "Not by the time I left, but they'd been, um, busy, and probably didn't hear anything. I'd heard a thump upstairs, and went to investigate, and then…"

"Yeah, I get that part," Harry interrupted. "Okay, we've got the New Year's Eve party tomorrow, so we won't be able to deal with this until Saturday night, though I'd like to get back in there tomorrow and check this out. Let's stick with the plan we have for the party. You and Hermione stay there as long as Blaise and Tracey do, if you can. Ginny's got her game day curfew, so I'll see her home, and then go back to the party, but use my cloak for the rest of the night. Maybe I'll hear something from them, or from other guests talking about Blaise."

"You shouldn't go back in there," Ron whispered. "Ginny would go nuts if she knew you were following beautiful, naked ghosts around."

"If she goes straight from that bathroom to her bedroom, and puts a robe on, then it's easy enough not to look until after she's dressed, mate," Harry told him, and Ron's expression looked haunted.

"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen her like that first," he countered. Harry decided that he really wanted to leave that whole line of thought alone, and did.

They stayed on their stakeout until Tracey left the house at a little after one o'clock, and then went home to get some sleep. Not getting to spend the evenings with Ginny had been bad enough, but Harry was really not happy on Friday morning when he stopped in to Christine's cubicle, though he was smiling as he sat down. She was smiling too when he put the two tickets for the Harpies-Arrows game on her desk with a forlorn-sounding sigh.

"Yes, sometimes this job really sucks," she agreed as she picked up the tickets. "I'm sure that Dawn will love getting to catch another game before going back to school, though."

"Will you take her, or will you have to flip a coin over that with Bryce?" Harry asked, and Christine laughed.

"Actually, I'll guess that Dawn will want us to let her take Jonathan, which is fine, since it'll give Bryce and I a few hours to spend with Jeremy and Kate before they go back to school on Sunday."

"You should take the day off today too," Harry suggested.

"I'm only here long enough to get Susan started on what she'll be working on today, and then I'll be out of here," she advised him. "Thanks for the tickets. If you get the chance, stop by to say goodbye to the kids. Dawn will definitely have a hug to thank you for this."

"I wish that I could, but probably won't be able to," Harry answered. "If Ginny can stop by, she can collect that hug instead." He stood up and stretched tiredly. "Ron and I have to get back at it. Happy New Year; have a good weekend; and I'll see you around – probably sometime after we're done with this case."

Christine had gotten up to hug him, and then he went to collect Ron from his cubicle, and get over to Blaise's house to pick up the stakeout again. Blaise was not a morning person, and they'd found out earlier in the week that he was also pretty much incapable of keeping track of things himself, and had a servant who took care of his busy schedule, such that it was. Harry's cloak, and a well-positioned extendable ear was all that they'd needed to be able to listen in on the servant's morning briefing with Blaise while the master had his breakfast starting promptly at nine-thirty every morning.

That made it very easy for Harry and Ron to follow him all day, and even on the days of the funeral and will reading, the Wizard had appointments to do things that were just incomprehensible to the two Auror-trainees. Up until then, Harry really had no idea about just how incredibly vain and wasteful a lifestyle some of the rich pureblood elitists led. While he loved spending his money to make things better for everyone he loved, except maybe for buying his firebolt, he was really quite embarrassed to spend much on himself. In Blaise's case, everything he did was all about him.

"He's getting a manicure!" Ron said quietly as he and Harry, in disguise, wandered around Diagon Alley while Blaise was currently occupied, apparently getting ready for the Ministry's New Year's Eve party.

"Why would that surprise you with that poser?" Harry asked seriously. "We just finished watching him order flowers to give Tracey tonight that he insisted needed to go with his dress robe, not whatever she's wearing."

"Were we supposed to get corsages for our girls?" Ron asked worriedly; and Harry laughed.

"Do you want to go back to the flower shop and do that? I can keep an eye on things while you do."

"Did you order…" Ron began, and then shook his head. "Dumb question – of course you did. How am I supposed to know what to get?"

"That's easy, mate. Use your mirror, or pop over to the Ministry and ask her. It may not be as romantic, but is a lot better than ending up with a major fashion and flower disaster."

"You're not going in there while I'm gone to sit next to him and get a manicure too, are you?" Ron joked, and Harry laughed again.

"Get going and take care of that while you have time. It'll give you something better to do than making these feeble attempts at humor."

Ron did that, and then they spent the rest of the day following Blaise around until it was time for them to head home and get ready for the party. Ginny was already home by the time Harry got there, and they'd both had fun for the next hour or so as they both played and got ready to go out. Harry was in the sitting room waiting for Ginny, and stood up to welcome her when she joined him there.

"I love you," he told her quietly as they shared a warm hug. "Thank you."

Ginny laughed and kissed him. "You're welcome; I'm just as thankful to be married to you; and I love you too. Shall we go? The clock's ticking, and I'll have to be home from the ball way too early tonight."

"The Weird Sisters are playing tonight," Harry pointed out. "Maybe Gwenog will make an exception and decide to extend your curfew."

"I wish, but there's no chance of that. She's counting on having the Arrow's players staying up late and partying all night to help us out tomorrow."

"If I was them, and about to be facing Gwenog and Lysa, I wouldn't be doing that. Going up against them hung over and sick could turn out to be very bad for them."

"But very good for our team," Ginny added.

There were a lot of things that Minister Shacklebolt was changing at the Ministry, but when it came to things like parties, he wasn't anywhere near the point where politics didn't, by necessity, play a big part in what went on. One of the most notable things, at least for Harry, was that the seating plans for the dinner and dance had the different political factions essentially segregated. The down side of that was not being able to work out being at a table next to the one Blaise and Tracey were at, along with some of the other pureblood elites who would never consort with the despised Muggle-born, half-bloods, or blood traitors.

"It's a tough line trying to balance the recent loss with the need to begin moving on with his life, but he seems to be managing to hitting the mark," Ginny told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were at a table for twelve, but were the only four there so far. While most of the guests were busy mingling and playing politics, they'd gone straight to their table after meeting up at Hermione's flat, and going to the party together.

"Only if you can't see through the act," Hermione disagreed. "I don't see how anyone puts up with the pompous, arrogant jerk."

"You don't have to hide the way you feel around us," Ginny told Hermione. "It's natural to be jealous, and wish that you were cozied up next to that burning hot hunk of Wizard instead of that hussy, Tracey." She was perfectly imitating Tracey's voice and manner, and Ron, Hermione, and Harry all laughed.

"I might feel that way about him, Ginny, but his whole aversion to Muggle-borns is a total turn-off for me. A girl's gotta have her standards, and mine definitely exclude stuck-up bigots like that."

Their discussion about Blaise ended then, as they were joined at the table by Lee and Alicia, and eventually three other couples who were all VIP's that were only interested in the prestige of having dinner with the two Harpies players, and to a lesser degree, with WWN star Lee Jordan. If they were also hoping to find out any juicy nuggets of gossip from or about Harry, they were disappointed, since he was his usual quiet, reserved self when in situations like this, and left the others to carry most of the conversation.

"I can't believe that I have to go home soon," Ginny told Harry as they danced together. "The party is just getting good."

"Try looking at it from my perspective," he whispered in her ear. "I've got to come back here and work, knowing that the most beautiful Witch in the world is at home in our bed, and I can't be there with her."

Ginny laughed, and pulled him close for a soft kiss. "Keep thinking about that a lot," she suggested. "It might motivate you to solve your case faster so you can get back to being home with me at night again."

"Let's hope Ron and I will get a break or two so we can do that," Harry suggested fervently. "Did you and Hermione hear any interesting gossip while you were hanging out with the girls?"

"We heard that Kirley Duke was spotted having dinner with Gwenog Jones at a café in Portree earlier this week," she reported with a grin. "There are competing stories going around that Kirley's sister, Meghan, is either very happy that her brother has finally discovered girls, or isn't speaking with him because he's cavorting around with a member of one of the enemy teams."

Harry looked over to where there was a large group of Witches surrounding the stage the Weird Sisters were performing on, and smiled. "I'm fairly sure that he's discovered girls long before now, and while I don't know his sister, I did see her at his table earlier, and they did seem to be getting along. I'll have to give both of those rumors a fail." They really didn't have long to enjoy the dance, and only took time to say goodbye to a few of their friends before going home.

"Take care of yourself," Ginny told him as she hugged him tightly. "Our New Year's Eve entertainment wasn't so much fun last year that I'd like you to come up with anything to try and top it this time around."

Harry laughed and kissed her for a long minute. "I thought that last year was brilliant right up until the point where the Death Eaters and Dementors tried to do us in. I'd sure rather be here ringing in the New Year with you than hiding under my cloak in a hot room while watching a bunch of other Witches and Wizards snog each other."

"Wake me up when you do get home, and we'll ring in the New Year in whatever time zone applies later," she suggested with a throaty laugh that had Harry seriously considering staying and leaving Ron to keep an eye on Zabini. "I wish too, but you can't and won't," Ginny told him as if reading his mind. "I love you. Be careful, and I'll see you later when you get home."

There were a few more kisses, but then Ginny sent him on his way, and while she went up to bed, with plans to read over her game notes one more time, he went back to the party. Getting in again under his cloak was easy enough, but then he needed to find an out of the way place to watch Blaise and Tracey from, and hopefully get to listen in to what they were saying. It took him a while to make his way around the room without jostling anyone, but eventually he got to a spot between a suit of armor and a table that looked like a good place to watch and listen from, while staying out of the way. Blaise and Tracey were out dancing, and it was nearly a half hour before they returned to their table.

"Haven't seen the Chosen blood-traitor lately," Blaise told Tracey. "Maybe his Mommy wouldn't let him stay out late. Oh, I forgot. That's not possible for him, is it?" Tracey laughed and put her hand on his arm.

"No it isn't," she agreed. "I did hear that they left because the little red-haired weasel he married had to be home before her team curfew."

"Rita Skeeter still insists that kid is theirs, no matter what the courts or Andromeda Tonks say," Blaise told her.

"It certainly was convenient that she was gone from Hogwarts around the time he was born," Tracey pointed out, "and everyone knows Potter was on the run from the Ministry." She looked over to where Ron and Hermione were dancing and sneered. "Of course, that mudblood Granger and King Weasel were on the run too, so maybe Rita had the right kid and wrong Witch and Wizard."

Blaise laughed. "I never thought of that. You could be right, though that doesn't explain why Andromeda Tonks would help those two out."

"Who knows why she'd help the Chosen Potty?" Tracey asked, and Blaise laughed again.

"That's easy. Her cousin handed whatever was left of the Black family estate. She lost that mudblood husband of hers, was broke, and probably traded her help with the kid for that."

"Like she deserves to have that any more than Potty does."

Blaise nodded. "True, but then there isn't a Black family descendant left worthy of the name. Even Narcissa turned out to be a blood-traitor."

The couple prattled on for nearly an hour; offering a running commentary on the short-comings of the Witches and Wizards around them. There were very few guests at the party who were worthy of any kind of respect from them, and Harry took note of those people mostly because if Blaise thought they were good, loyal purebloods, then they were also likely Witches and Wizards that the Aurors should be keeping an eye on.

Nearly all of the guests were out on the dance floor at midnight, and Harry was again wishing that he could be kissing his wife to ring in the New Year while watching Ron and Hermione share a sweet, tender embrace. The Weird Sisters picked up the tempo of the music again shortly after that, and the party continued to go on until they stopped playing at two o'clock. Harry went on ahead of Blaise and Tracey when it looked like they were getting ready to go home, and wasn't surprised when Tracey came home with him. He'd been there about a half hour before Ron joined him, bearing gifts of a snack and hot cup of coffee.

"Hermione thought you'd be ready for a snack and drink after being stuck under your cloak half the night."

"Thanks mate. It really has been a long night."

"Do you want to try going in there?" Ron asked, and Harry shook his head.

"Not right now. I'd like to see if Mrs. Zabini's ghost is there, but let's give it an hour, and if Tracey doesn't leave, I'm not going in there to find out what they're doing – and neither are you," he added after seeing Ron's grin. "We're Aurors, not voyeurs."

Ron laughed. "That's pretty funny. Okay; one hour, and if she's staying the night, we'll call it a night."

They ended up giving it less than an hour, and decided to go home after seeing most of the lights going out in the house with no sign of Tracey leaving to go home. Harry took a hot shower after getting home, and managed to get into bed and snuggled with Ginny without completely waking her up. Having that little New Year's celebration for two that she'd suggested would have been fun, he was also happy to just share a couple of soft goodnight kisses, and let her get the sleep she needed to be ready for her big New Year's Day game.

"What's on Z's schedule?" Ron asked after Harry returned from the morning breakfast eavesdropping.

"Nothing this morning, lunch with Tracey's family; and they're going to see the Falcon's game this afternoon. They'll be back here for dinner and the evening."

"Why am I not surprised that he'd be a Falcon's fan?" Ron asked grumpily.

Harry grinned at him. "Next time, when you wish you'd rather be going to watch Quidditch instead of being stuck on a stakeout, specify which game," he joked.

They had an uneventful morning, and hadn't been able to get a chance to find out what was going on during the lunch at Tracey's house. The Falcon's game hadn't been sold out, so they'd disguised themselves, bought two tickets, and watched a really dirty match that the Falcons won while sending three of their opponents to St. Mungo's. While they were doing that, the Harpies were having a really great, tough match against the Arrows.

Since Ron hadn't been able to go along with Hermione, his parents had invited George to take his ticket, and the four of them were having a lot of fun. Dawn had ended up coming to the game with Jonathan; and George in particular had helped to keep them entertained while they watched the game. The two teams were in a real battle, with both Keepers putting on a great show against near-constant offensive onslaughts from their opposing Chasers. Ginny was in just as tough against the Arrow's Seeker, and it took until the four hour and twelve minute mark for her to break an eighty to eighty tie. There were no fancy moves this week, and she just flat out-flew her opponent to catch the snitch; though she had needed to make a pretty good move after the catch to dodge a bludger, and then avoid wrapping herself, and her broom, around one of the goal posts.

"Turn it off," Tracey told Blaise. "Hearing those idiots keep blathering on about Ginny Potty turns my stomach."

"They'll move on in a minute; and I want to hear the rest of the scores," Blaise answered. "The Harpies have barely won half their games, and could just as easily be at the bottom of the league. All that tells you is just how pathetic most of the other teams are right now to have three Gryffindors on a team, and they still can't beat them."

Harry had been glad to hear that Ginny had won the game for the Harpies, and felt like telling Blaise that his Slytherin teams never did very well against those three Gryffindors when they did play at Hogwarts, but that wasn't an option. He'd been in the house watching Blaise and Tracey since shortly after they'd gotten back from the game. They'd stayed in the sitting room and had a couple of drinks each before dinner; spent an hour and a half in the formal dining room having their seven course meal; and were now back in the sitting room, listening to the WWN and mostly talking about their day and plans for the coming week. He'd told Ron to go have dinner with their family while he was in the house anyway, and by now, he'd be back at their stakeout spot; uncomfortable, cold, and not happy about being stuck there for another long night.

They hadn't come up with any evidence so far to prove that there'd even been a crime, but Harry was now quite sure that there had been, and that Blaise had been responsible. The way the Wizard was acting, especially when he believed he was alone, was the strongest reason why Harry felt that way, but meant nothing if he didn't find any hard evidence. When Blaise and Tracey were no longer interested in the WWN or talking anymore, Harry went upstairs to look around again, and then went into Mrs. Zabini's bedroom. He searched the room thoroughly; though he again came up empty-handed, and then moved into a corner of the room and settled in to wait.

He'd heard Tracey leave, and Blaise retire to his bedroom for the night, and then there was another long wait until he heard the loud thump that was exactly like Ron had described it. Closing his eyes, he waited, and soon heard a quiet voice in the hallway outside the door. Closing his eyes quickly, he listened to Mrs. Zabini's ghost as she came into the room and glided over toward the closet.

"How did I manage to forget to bring my robe?" she was asking herself. "It's a good thing the servants aren't around to see me out and about without a stitch of clothes on." There was a pause as Harry heard the sounds of hangers rattling on the bar and against each other. "There. That's much better now."

Harry took a chance and opened his eyes; letting out a silent sigh after seeing the ghost was now wearing a robe as she floated away from the closet. For the next several minutes, she seemed to just wander around aimlessly, not saying a word, or even really paying attention to anything around her. She sat down in one of the chairs by the window for a time, and moved over to lie down on the bed.

"I must write about this in my journal!" she suddenly said; sitting up in bed again, and quickly gliding across the room.

There was a hidden compartment in what was one of the outside walls of the house, and Harry could clearly see several real books within it after she had opened the well-disguised door. When she pulled her hand back out; she was holding a book that was a ghostly shadow of the real journals, and went over to sit down at the writing desk.

"I must be more tired than I thought," she said after looking down at the journal for a while with a phantom quill poised just above it as if ready to begin. "I've already done today's entry. How strange? I usually have quite a good memory."

The quill disappeared, and she went back over to the secret compartment, opened it again, and put the ghostly book back inside. Returning to the bed, she lay down again, and a few moments later, faded away into nothingness. Harry waited for several minutes to see if she'd re-appear, and then went over to the secret compartment, opened it up, and took out the topmost journal. It only took him a minute to see what he had within those pages, and he gathered up all of the books, closed the compartment, and started making his way out of the house.

"Ready to go do a few hours of homework?" he asked Ron.

"What'd you find, and why, for the love of Merlin, can't you make these discoveries at a decent time of day instead of in the dead of night."

"Funny you should phrase it that way," Harry joked. "Mrs. Zabini was nice enough to show me the hidden compartment where she kept her journals. I've brought them along, and thought that we might find some interesting reading – especially from around the time each of her husbands died, and then any recent entries that might give us some clues as to what happened to her."

"Well, it's better than sitting out here and freezing any longer, even if it's not going home to get some sleep," Ron conceded. "You're buying the snack and hot drinks, though."

It took a while to get back to Headquarters by the time they'd picked up some food at an all-night diner, and then they went into one of the conference rooms where they'd have more room to spread out and go through the journals. They had their case file too, and used it to help narrow down dates that they wanted to look for to find out what Mrs. Zabini had written about at the time.

"She may have easily won hottest Mum in our year, mate, but this Witch was seriously twisted," Ron told Harry; leaning back in his chair and stretching tiredly. "There's husband number four's murder all laid out for us in stunning, graphic detail," he added; waving toward the journal he'd been working through. "What's taking you so long?"

"I've got husband number one," Harry explained. "There's a whole section on ways to off him without getting caught, and I'd say that calling her twisted is being very kind."

"Do you have a reason behind getting all of this figured out? It's not like we can arrest her anymore. Those last entries help with Blaise, at least for giving us a motive for him killing her."

"A really good motive," Harry agreed. "His free ride was about to end, and getting a real job and whatever flat he could afford on his own must have been abhorrent to Blaise. We can't arrest his Mum, but I'd say that we can prove that she murdered her husbands, and that might convince the court to seize her estate, and whatever is still left could get divided up among her victims' families."

"That's good, but how do we get from motive to catching Blaise?"

Harry grinned at him. "I don't think he's found out that his mother's ghost is visiting their home yet. She seemed to be repeating the last day of her life, or maybe what would have happened if she hadn't died in the bathroom, and she may not realize she's dead yet."

"You're going to reunite them tonight," Ron deduced with a laugh, and Harry's answering laugh confirmed his guess.

"That first chat should be very entertaining," Harry added with another laugh.

By the time they went home, all Harry had time for was a shower and a nap, and then he was up and running again. He and Ginny had breakfast together, and then he went straight to the stakeout, where he started out by listening in on Blaise's morning schedule chat. He and Ron followed Blaise around when he left to go out for lunch with some friends, and then spent the afternoon with Tracey. They had dinner out, which allowed their shadows to disguise themselves and get something to eat too, and then it was back to Blaise's house for another evening snogging session.

Harry was in the house already by then, and had gone upstairs to put the journals back in case having them missing might cause a problem with Mrs. Zabini's ghost, and then he settled in to wait. Tracey had gone home, and Blaise was again in his own quarters by the time his mother's ghost made her appearance; but this time, Harry made sure that Blaise definitely heard her, and he was smiling even as he closed his eyes so he wouldn't see the first part of the act. She was already in her room, and putting on the ghostly robe by the time Blaise burst through the door; sliding to a stop and staring at her in stunned amazement.

"Mother?"

"Just a moment, Blaise," she told him. "I somehow forgot my robe when I went to have my bath. It's a good thing the servants aren't around to see me out and about without a stitch of clothes on."

"This is just impossible!" Blaise exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"What is, Blaise?"

"You being here," he retorted angrily, and she turned to look at him, her face suddenly cold and stern.

"This is my house, and I have every right to be here," she advised him in a tone of voice that was both commanding and as ice-cold as her expression.

Blaise laughed. "This was your house. Have you not even figured out that you're dead yet?"

"WHAT?" she screeched; gliding over to hover just an inch from his face.

"You're dead," he repeated; punctuating his comment by waving a hand through her ghostly body. "Look in the mirror if you don't believe me." She spun away from him and did that.

"I'm terribly disappointed in you," he continued while she stared at herself. "Wasn't it husband number two you were so angry with because he had the audacity to come back and haunt you? You burned that house down to get rid of him."

"YOU KILLED ME!" she screamed, following that up with a blood-curdling wail.

"I learned from the best, mother. Did you actually think that I was going to just meekly give up all of this, go work for the Ministry like some lowly mudblood, and live in some dive while you stayed here among your treasures and lived like a queen? You really must have been slipping."

"Did you expect to leech off of me forever?" she demanded, and Blaise laughed.

"Of course not. I've expected to have to get you out of the way for years."

"You're pathetic, Blaise, and you make me sick."

"Why, mother? Am I just a bit too much like you for your liking?"

Mrs. Zabini laughed hollowly, and then just stopped; unmoving and staring blankly at nothing for several moments. "I was in the bath," she said in a dead voice. "You made me slip and hit my head somehow."

"Nice to see it's coming back to you," Blaise said dryly. "I thought that might catch you by surprise, and it worked. The knock on the head only dazed you, but it was enough."

"What'd you do to hold me under the water?" she asked, almost absently, and he grinned viciously at her.

"Just air pressure. It took quite a while for you to drown, though. I didn't think it would take so long."

"I remember," she breathed, and then the lethargy and the vacant look disappeared. "I'll get you for this! The next person I see is going to hear the whole story, and you can rot in Azkaban for the rest of your life, you deceitful ingrate."

"Evidence from ghosts is inadmissible," he reminded her, "and if needed, I'll burn this place down to be rid of you. Why don't you just go away and leave me alone? I think that it's very bad form for you to take your death like this, all things considered."

"You're an idiot," she spat. "There must be some evidence. I'll have them check your wand; interrogate you using Veritaserum or Legilimency to get the truth out of you!"

Blaise laughed raucously. "When you're memories are fully restored, you'll realize how stupid those comments are. You taught me better than to use my own wand for something like this, and the Aurors can no longer force a suspect to submit to either Veritaserum or Legilimency. My wand has already been tested, a bunch of idiot Hit Wizards have combed this place from top to bottom, and as far as they're concerned, you fell in the tub, hit your head, and drowned. Just another unfortunate accident to hit out poor family." He laughed again at the look of impotent rage on his mother's beautiful, ethereal face. She just floated there and stared at him, then suddenly started laughing too.

"Were you happy with your inheritance?" she asked, and Blaise suddenly looked confused.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he answered, and she laughed again.

"Arithmancy never was a strength of yours; was it?" she countered; laughing again. "My vault…"

"You mean my vault," Blaise said hotly; interrupting her, which just had her laughing at him again.

"Whatever – you're vault has enough money in it to continue to pay for keeping this house and staff operating for exactly one year." Blaise's mouth dropped open; and she laughed in near-maniacal glee. "I never kept more than that in _your_ vault so that had the Ministry ever figured out what really happened to my former husbands, I'd be able to disappear on a moment's notice, move to another country, and start over."

"You're lying!" he stammered, and Mrs. Zabini laughed again. "We've lived well here, Blaise. Take a look at your monthly expenses, and you'll see that you have just twelve months worth of galleons in the vault." She smiled at him. "How long have I been dead? If we've started a new month, then you're down to eleven, since I wouldn't have been around to make my monthly deposit." She laughed again for so long that Blaise finally shouted her down.

"What is so damn funny now?" he demanded.

"Well, I was thinking that you could sell this house, and all of our possessions, and that, along with the money in the vault might give you upwards of ten years before you're broke – if you start living at about the level of an entry level Ministry employee. Of course I don't imagine that I'm going to feel like cooperating with you, and selling a haunted house is never easy. I'd say your plan just hit one very large snag, Blaise."

"If that is true, then you've got the money somewhere," Blaise growled. "Where is it?" Harry watched as Blaise's face turned beet red with anger as his mother floated there and laughed at him.

"Will you kill me if I don't tell you?" she squealed as if she were a frightened little girl. "Can you give me my life back? I might think about it if you could do that. No?" She laughed again for a long minute. "What's the matter, Blaise? You knew as well as anyone what a vindictive Witch I could be. If you thought that was bad, wait until you find out what I'll do as a ghost."

With that last, chilling statement, she floated out of the room; her laughter echoing back as she moved down the hall. Blaise stared after her; shaking with rage. Harry watched as he stomped around the room, making strangled, incoherent sounds. The sound of his mother's laughter rose and fell as she moved around the house, and apparently into different rooms.

"There has to be a way to find that money and fix this," Blaise said as he finally managed to get a grip on his rage. "When I do get my hands on it, I'll burn her happy little haunting home to the ground, and see her destroyed right along with it."

With that, he stomped out of the room, and Harry stayed where he was for a long time. There was soon both screeching and shouting coming from Blaise's quarters, and Harry was sure that the other Wizard wasn't going to need to wait to find out what his mother had meant about what she'd be like as a ghost. He had everything he needed to get Blaise, but before he left to meet up with Ron again, he went over to the hidden compartment. Opening it again, he took the journals back out again; setting them on the bed, and then carefully checking the rest of the space. He smiled when he heard the jingle coming from the little velvet bag he found at the back of the compartment, tucked in behind a small jewelry box. Untying the drawstring, he opened it up, and his smile grew brighter when he saw the jumbled pile of shining galleons in the undetectable expansion bag.

He didn't want to do anything that might screw up the case, so he put the little bag, the jewelry box, and the journals back in the compartment exactly as they'd been, and then he closed it again, and made his way outside. By the time he got there, Ron was really on edge, and Harry realized that was probably because Mrs. Zabini's screeching was loud enough for Ron to hear.

"What happened in there?" Ron demanded. "I've been worried out of my mind."

"Sorry about that, and I'll explain everything to you, but let's get something to eat and some hot drinks, and we'll do that back at Headquarters."

Ron was good with that suggestion; and Harry told him about everything that had happened while they ate. He put copies of the memories into a vial, and had Ron go through them in a Pensieve first before calling it a night, and going home to get a few hours of well-deserved sleep. Ginny had woken up when he climbed into bed with her, and they'd had a short chat and shared a few kisses before Harry fell asleep from exhaustion, and she snuggled close and drifted off to sleep again too.

The last week of the old millennium, and the first two days of the new one had mostly felt like one long, mind-numbing blur. Harry was sure that he and Ron would be wrapping up their case in a few hours, and then they'd be back on their other case again in a day or two at most. Ginny and the Harpies were now one game in to the second half of their season, and the push was now on to keep the success going, and make it into the playoffs. Though work was still going to intrude on their time in a big way, Harry hoped that he and Ginny would find a way, somehow, to fit in some fun and excitement that would get the new millennium off to a brilliant start.


	25. Cold Hands and Warm Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Five – Cold hands and Warm Hearts

"That's enough for me," Emma said after she finished viewing Harry's memory of the scene between Blaise and his mother. It was still fairly early on Monday morning, and Harry and Ron had met with her, Josh, and Neville shortly after getting in to work, though Emma had needed to juggle her busy schedule first. "Go bring him in, and once he's booked, we'll let the Hit Squad deal with him from there. Is there anything else?"

Harry nodded. "I didn't include this in that memory, but we've also found Mrs. Zabini's journals, with very detailed descriptions of how she killed each of her husbands, and while you saw the part of their little reunion where she taunted Blaise about never finding where she kept most of her money, we do know where it is."

Emma's smile brightened even more; and she laughed happily. "Excellent! Maybe that will be of some help and comfort for the families of those husbands. You'd better take Christine and Susan with you too. We don't want any grumblings about whether that money was handled properly or not."

Their meeting wrapped up then, and after picking up Christine and Susan on their way out, the six Aurors and trainees went straight over to Blaise's house. It took more than twenty minutes before 'the master' was ready to receive them after being told of his unexpected guests, and Harry wondered if that might be due to lack of sleep.

"What could possibly be so important that you need to come here and bother me so early on a Monday morning?" Blaise asked them angrily.

"We wanted to get our first work week of the new Millennium off to a good start," Josh answered, "so we decided that arresting you for your mother's murder was a great way to do that."

Blaise stared at him, as if trying to see if he was joking. "That's ridiculous! On what grounds?"

"By your own admission," Josh explained. "Your conversation with your mother's ghost last night was really very illuminating."

"You're going to arrest me based on the word of a ghost about an alleged conversation?" Blaise asked with a laugh that didn't sound very convincing.

"At least he didn't try denying that she was haunting the house now," Ron said with a grin.

"Actually, we're basing the arrest on the eyewitness memory of the Auror who was here watching while you had that little chat," Josh countered. "Let's make this official, shall we? Blaise Zabini, you're under arrest for the murder of your mother; and the various lesser crimes that go along with the estate fraud that occurred as a result of your crime." A ghostly, ghastly laugh boomed throughout the room, and then Harry closed his eyes tightly as Mrs. Zabini appeared in the room.

"She's dressed," Christine whispered to him so the others wouldn't hear, and Harry smiled sheepishly at her when he opened his eyes again and saw the amused look on her face.

"Thought you'd get away with it! Have fun in Azkaban. I'm sure you'll be very popular there with all of those Death Eaters." She laughed raucously again, and swept across the room until she was right in Blaise's face. "I knew that Auror was there the whole time we talked!" she screeched at him in delight, though Harry knew that she was lying, and definitely had not known that.

"Auror-trainee," Harry corrected helpfully. "If you'd please hand over your wand to Auror Williamson, Blaise, there are a few things we need to fetch and take along with us, and then we can be on our way." Blaise looked indecisive, and his hand twitched as if he was imagining drawing his wand. Harry slammed an anti-apparition shield in place. "You really don't want to think about doing anything stupid with six to one odds. It's over." Josh held out his hand, and after another moment of indecision, Blaise took out his wand, reversed it, and gave it to him while his mother cackled in glee.

"How pathetic," she taunted. "You're a great Wizard when it comes to murdering an unarmed Witch in a bathtub, but the coward comes out when faced with a real fight."

"Where's the evidence you need to pick up?" Christine asked Harry.

"Upstairs in Mrs. Zabini's quarters," he answered, and watched as she suddenly stopped cackling and turned to stare at him.

"What evidence?" she demanded.

"I think she missed the part about us being here in the house watching the place," Ron joked. "We saw everything," he added meaningfully.

"Well, you did," Harry amended, and Ron laughed.

"Point taken," he agreed before turning back to Mrs. Zabini. "You're welcome to come along and find out, though I'm guessing you've just figured out that you're not going to get to take it with you after all."

"NO!" she screeched in a wail that trailed off as she hurriedly floated out of the room; and likely straight up to her bedroom.

"Might as well bring Blaise along," Ron told everyone. "This should be very educational for him."

They all went upstairs, following Ron, and when they got to the room, Mrs. Zabini was floating around, agitated and looking very worried. When Harry walked over toward where the hidden compartment was located, she tried to block him. He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm really sorry about this, since it's impolite, but you're not giving me any choice," he told her before reaching through her and opening the hidden door. He pulled out all of the journals first, along with everything else, including the jewelry box, and finally, while Mrs. Zabini wailed, the velvet pouch. He took that over and handed it to Christine.

"It's an undetectable expansion bag," he explained.

"That's mine!" Blaise shouted; leaping toward them and attempting to grab it. He yelped in pain when his hands smacked solidly on the shield that Harry immediately threw up between Blaise and Christine.

"No, it isn't," Harry told him. "Your mother was very attentive about writing her journals, and we expect that when the courts are done with all of this, all of the money will be divided among the families she victimized when killing her husbands."

"Are we done here?" Neville asked. "I'm fairly sure I heard a bone or two break in Blaise's hands there, and we should probably get him treated before going on to Headquarters."

"We could let Ron take care of that," Susan suggested mildly. "It'd be good practice after finishing our first aid training."

Christine laughed and took out her wand. "We could, but I'll take care of that instead," she advised them. "The paperwork that goes along with botching a prisoner's first aid is just ridiculous, and not worth the hassle."

"YOU CAN'T HAVE MY MONEY OR MY JOURNALS!" Mrs. Zabini screeched at them.

Christine ignored her and quickly had Blaise's hands healed from their minor injuries. "Let's go," she told everyone. "I'll take a guess that we're well on the way to having another uninhabitable haunted house here if she's going to keep that racket up every time anyone is around."

"We can pass that part of the case on to the Spirit Division at the Ministry," Josh suggested. "I'm sure they'll find this case very interesting."

"They'll find it fascinating," Ron predicted with a snort of laughter. "Especially the parts of the haunting before she puts the robe on."

"What!" Blaise exclaimed, and Ron laughed again.

"Did you think she'd be wearing clothes in the tub?" Ron asked. "There seems to be quite a bit you've botched in this whole mess. Too bad you didn't find out about that hidden compartment and the little pouch full of galleons before killing your Mum, or you could have just stolen it and run off with it."

They headed out then, and by the time Harry and Ron dropped Blaise off in a holding cell, and handed responsibility for him over to a pair of Hit Wizards, their prisoner looked utterly defeated and crushed. When they got back to the office, there was hours of paperwork to deal with, and Ron went with Christine and Susan to deposit the valuables evidence into the appropriate Ministry vault. The two Witches had needed four other Aurors to help, and it had still taken most of the day to itemize and calculate the millions of galleons of money and other valuables that had been in the little pouch and the jewelry box.

Harry was done work; and home with time enough to have dinner for two ready by the time that Ginny got home. They were both smiling as they sat down to eat after sharing a lengthy welcome home embrace. He and Ron had decided to take the day off on Tuesday before getting back to the Lestrange case on Wednesday, and other than taking care of Ginny, getting some rest, and maybe spending a couple of hours with Teddy, Harry wasn't planning on doing anything work-related until then. Ginny had him tell her all about the big arrest, which was already big news on the WWN, and then told him about her adventures in Quidditch.

"If you're not really worried much about the Cannons game, maybe we can both take the weekend off," Harry suggested.

"Let's wait and see, but if you don't end up working all weekend again, we can do that," Ginny agreed. "We are still going to work hard to get ready for that game, and not just be looking ahead to the next few games, but my biggest worry with the Cannons game is the weather. Just training all day in this cold is really hard. We'd barely thawed out from the morning session by the time we were done lunch and had to go back out and do it again all afternoon."

"And it's not like you can wear big mitts on your hands," Harry added. "Catching the snitch would be nearly impossible."

"They wouldn't be any better for holding the quaffle or a Beater bat either. Gwenog and Glynnis know a lot of tricks that help a little, but in a long game, I think that it'll come down to whichever team wants it more, and a fair bit of luck too."

"I don't think work is going to be much fun for either one of us between now and spring, but as long as we get to spend the nights together keeping each other warm, compared to last winter, I think it'll be brilliant."

Ginny laughed and leaned close to kiss him. "We can hope, but I'm not holding my breath on that, since you and Ron don't seem to be able to go very long without finding more trouble to deal with, and bad guys to take down."

Harry knew she was right about that, but for the next day or so, he was happy to spend each evening with her, cuddled in the sitting room in front of a warm fire after dinner, and ending each night with some play time for two. He played with Teddy for a couple of hours on Tuesday afternoon, and though he'd told himself he wouldn't do any work, while Ginny was studying, he got started on the last Auror training manual – Deadly Force. He and Ron got back to work on Wednesday morning, and he was in his cubicle when Ron got to Headquarters, joined him there, and flopped into a chair.

"I think that we should check out the Lestrange's business interests in the Caribbean," Ron told him, and Harry laughed.

"They don't have any interests there, mate."

"That we know of," Ron countered. "We should go there, spend two or three months investigating, and make sure they're not hiding any important clues on one of those islands."

"With all of the Witches and Muggle girls in swimsuits there, you wouldn't find a clue if it hit you upside the head – which is what Hermione and Ginny would do to us if we tried to take off for a couple of months."

Ron was grinning, and nodded his agreement. "Probably, but wouldn't it be worth it?"

"A little flock of birdies and bat bogeys are telling me no," Harry answered. "Taking the girls someplace like that in the future does sound like a really great idea. That won't really be an option for Ginny and I during Quidditch season, but you and Hermione could take a week or two and do something like that in the winters."

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of going?" Ron asked, and held up his hands when he saw the look on Harry's face. "I'm joking – mostly."

Harry laughed in spite of himself. "You should think about getting a standing order set up at the flower shop. I see you having great need for them on a regular basis in the future."

"You failed Divination, Harry. Why should I do something like that based on anything you see?"

"Because deep down, you know that I'm right?" Harry countered. "Two months in the Caribbean is out, so let's figure out what we are going to do next for the case."

"Something that will make us cold and miserable on a daily basis," Ron predicted, and Harry laughed again.

"Give that prognosticator an 'O'. I was thinking that we should set up our next stakeout at that warehouse we checked out before Christmas. There's an abandoned building across the street, and while it'll still be cold, at least we'll mostly be out of the wind, snow, and rain."

That sounded good at the time, but there were protections up around that warehouse, so using magic that close to them wasn't an option without setting off the alarms, and they soon found out that the roof leaked, and the snow and rain could easily get at them through the mostly broken windows. It was at least a half-mile walk each way to be someplace where they could apparate, and any hot drinks or food being picked up were pretty much cold by the time they returned to their stakeout.

"Good choice," Ron groused as they sat in a pair of rickety old chairs they'd found that at least hadn't been completely ruined like nearly everything else in the building was. "Is there any way this could be any worse?"

"That warehouse could be open twenty-four hours a day," Harry suggested helpfully.

"For all we know they do use this place at night," Ron countered. "We won't know until we stick around at least a few nights and find out."

"We'll try that next if we come up blank during the day," Harry said with a nod that had Ron groaning. "Let's give this a chance, and the one good thing about it is that we'll be home every night; which we wouldn't be if we were watching their home instead."

Ron had grudgingly agreed that was at least one good thing about the stakeout, though that didn't make sitting around in the freezing cold any more fun. As usual, they took turns following any visitors or customers who came to the warehouse, and the rest of their week was pretty much a whole lot of the same. While Ginny studied for at least an hour or two every evening, and she and Harry had a total of three Seeker duels, including one each day on the weekend, they did make time to spend with each other, and do a little visiting with their family and friends on Saturday and Sunday too.

Getting to spend time with Ginny over the next few weeks was really the only thing happening that was really going great, at least from Harry's perspective. The Cannons game had been a good day for the Harpies, since they'd won the match by a score of three hundred and ten to ten, but it had been a brutally cold, stormy day, and even the die-hard fans had been glad when the game was over, and they could go home to their fires and hot drinks. There was one fairly brilliant Quidditch event, and that happened on the last Thursday in January.

"Cormac McLaggen is playing Keeper for the Bats?" Ron exclaimed; looking stunned as he watched Cormac fly around with the Bats before landing on the pitch. He and Hermione had come to the game with his parents, and Harry had brought George along, since he could attend a weeknight game after the store closed for the day.

"You did know that he was their Reserve Keeper," Harry reminded him, and Ron snorted.

"Sure, but I didn't think they'd ever actually use him in a game."

"He must have some talent to even get a job on a reserve team," Mrs. Weasley suggested, and Ron laughed again.

"More likely he's there because his family has connections, but then again, shooting your mouth off, and busting your own team's Seeker's head open may be talents the Bats are looking for. If they are, then he's got all of that going for him and more."

"He's the boy who did that to Harry?" she demanded, and Ron and Harry both nodded. "I hope Ginny will be okay today."

Ron laughed again. "She should be safe, Mum. It's his own team that should be worried."

"And I didn't have Gwenog and Lysa watching my back when he played that game for Gryffindor," Harry added.

"Your Beaters aren't supposed to need to watch your back from your own players," Mr. Weasley told him with a laugh. "I'll guess that you've got a personal reason to cheer for the Harpies today, and it should be interesting if Ginny feels the same way."

"Maybe that's what the little team chat is about," Mrs. Weasley suggested; nodding toward the pitch, where the seven Harpies had their heads close together for just another moment before they broke the huddle and got ready to play.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?" Cormac yelled at his own team. "THEY'RE A BUNCH OF GIRLS AND YOU LET THEM FLY RIGHT IN AND SCORE! DO I HAVE TO COME OUT OF GOAL AND SHOW YOU HOW TO DEFEND THAT FORMATION?"

"Some things obviously never change," Hermione said with a sad smile and shake of her head. "Angelina just made him look stupid; it was all his fault; and then he makes it worse by blaming everyone else."

"Didn't you go out with him a time or two?" George asked her; grinning at Ron. "You went to the Yule Ball with Krum too, and he didn't do so well in that World Cup game we went to, and McLaggen isn't starting out very well here either. Am I the only one who sees a pattern developing here?"

"I see a pattern developing that you're not going to like much if you don't stop teasing Hermione," Mrs. Weasley warned; smiling too as she put a protective arm around her. There was a loud THUMP, and they all turned back to the game in time to see Cormac barely recover after taking a hard bludger hit.

"THANKS FOR NOTHING!" he shouted at the two Bats' Beaters. "HERE'S A HINT: THOSE WOOD THINGS IN YOUR HANDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE USED TO KEEP THE BLOODY BLUDGERS OFF YOUR TEAMMATES! IF YOU CAN MANAGE THAT, FEEL FREE TO TRY AND HIT A FEW HARPIES TOO, OR WON'T YOUR MOMMIES LET YOU HIT GIRLS?"

He was so busy ranting on his team that he didn't even know that Alicia scored until the stadium announcer confirmed it, and then he glared at her as he flew around to pick up the quaffle. Ginny buzzed him while he was doing that, and with a little tail whip of her broom, knocked the quaffle out of his hand and straight to Valmai, who was quite happy to score into the open goals.

Things only went downhill from there for Cormac and the Bats, while the Harpies' former Gryffindors in particular were playing a brilliant match. The worse the score got for the Bats, the louder and more obnoxious McLaggen became toward his teammates. When Angelina, Alicia, and Valmai had the Harpies up by over one hundred and fifty points, Ginny was able to sit back and wait for her chances for nearly another hour and a half. After that, she was in a fight again once the Bats had decided to just try and stop the bleeding, literally, and get the game over with. The Harpies were ahead by a score of two hundred and seventy to just thirty for the Bats when Ginny finally outraced the Bats' Seeker to catch the snitch at the four hour and forty-nine minute mark of the match.

"WAY TO LOSE THE GAME, MORON!" Cormac bellowed at his Seeker. "YOU JUST GOT BEAT BY MY HOGWARTS TEAMS' BACK-UP SEEKER!"

The rest of the Bats team was ignoring him, though, and were already landing, looking sore and tired as they greeted the Harpies' players and they exchanged congratulations and handshakes. McLaggen finally landed too. He snarled something that Harry and the others couldn't hear when Ginny, Angelina, and Alicia had all gone to shake hands with him; stomping over to stand next to his coach and three other players. It was heading toward midnight by then, and Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys were getting ready to join the crowd exiting the stadium when they, and everyone else, heard McLaggen start bellowing again.

"WHADYA MEAN I'M FIRED?" he demanded. "I'VE GOT A CONTRACT, AND BY FAR THE BEST PLAYER YOU HAVE ON THIS LOUSY TEAM!" He reached out and roughly grabbed the Coach; spinning him around forcibly and getting right in his face. "DON'T TURN AWAY FROM ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO…" There were two loud, hard cracks, followed by a heavy thump as McLaggen landed on the ground.

"I'd say that roughing up their Coach was the last straw for those Beaters," Ron joked, and then grinned at everyone. "I've learned first aid now. Should I go help him?"

Hermione laughed, blushed, and covered her mouth, then hugged him. "That's so bad," she accused.

"But still really funny," George added. "The Medi-Witch is on it, though, so thanks for the offer, but she has it under control."

Since the game had gone so long, Harry didn't expect that Ginny would have to deal with the post-game wrap-up for as long as normal. When he got home from the stadium, he took care of a little work, spent a few minutes with Snowflake and Storm, giving each of the treats, and then had a hot snack and drink ready for Ginny by the time she got back too.

"We're in first place!" she told Harry excitedly as she threw her arms around his neck and then she kissed him for a long, happy minute.

"Congratulations," Harry said after she'd let him go again. "Would you like to send flowers or something to Cormac to thank him for helping you out with that?" Ginny laughed and kissed him again.

"That's a thought, but no, I think he's having a bad enough time right now. It feels really amazing to be in first, but Gwenog told me that probably won't last more than a week, since some of the other top teams have easier matches coming up."

"It really does only matter who's first at the end of the season," Harry said, and Ginny nodded.

"That's so true, and hopefully we'll have a shot by then of being that team. Let's have our snack, and then we both need to get some sleep. Glynnis wants a full out practice tomorrow – today – because we've only got six training days before the Kestrels match a week from Saturday."

The last few days of January, and the first couple of weeks of February were mostly rinse and repeats of the earlier weeks of the New Year. Harry and Ron did work a few late nights on their case, but Harry was mostly able to spend the evenings and weekends with Ginny; taking care of her when she was busy working, practicing with her out on the Quidditch pitch two or three times a week, and finding a little time here and there to play.

Mr. Weasley's birthday was on the first Sunday of February, and Ginny was happy to give him an early birthday present on Saturday when she helped the Harpies to a come-from-behind, two hundred and sixty to one hundred and forty point win over the Kestrels when she finally won a long battle over her opponent Seeker. On that Sunday, they took their parents out to the Leaky for his birthday dinner, and had Bill and Fleur, Ron and Hermione, and George there with them to celebrate.

Valentine's Day was just eight days after Mr. Weasley's birthday, and as always, it was a little break in an otherwise drab winter that nearly everyone was looking forward to. Ginny was looking forward to that too, but she and the Harpies also needed to work hard to get ready for their big game against the Catapults that was two days after Valentine's Day. Harry and Ron were busy with their work, though they did spend some time getting ready to make Valentine's Day special for their girls.

With a mid-week game coming up, Ginny's off weekend was nearly all work except for going to the Burrow for lunch, and then spending a couple of hours with Teddy on Sunday. The rest of the weekend was spent studying, doing a couple of long Seeker battles with Harry, and they ended each night with a little play time for two.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Harry said as he walked into their bedroom carrying a tray loaded down with breakfast for two. "It's time to wake up, unless you'd like to open presents tonight and get a little extra sleep now."

Ginny sat up immediately, and her eyes were flashing with excitement. "I love you, and no, I definitely don't want to wait until tonight." Once he'd put the tray on the bed, she put her arms around him and they shared a lingering, tender kiss before he sat on the bed next to her, and then happily cuddled with her while she opened her gifts.

"Let's call in sick and stay here all day," Ginny suggested. They were still in bed, had just finished their breakfast, and it was time to start getting ready for work. She leaned close and kissed Harry, and then smiled at him. "I'm sure we could come up with some kind of alternate training routine to make up for missing out on the team workouts today."

Harry laughed. "I'm sure we could, but not anything I'd want you using in any of your games."

"I'm thinking more along the lines of conditioning, not game strategies," she answered; nuzzling his neck and letting her hands wander. She laughed when Harry scooped her into his lap, and kissed her while standing up with her in his arms.

"Skipping work isn't an option," he advised her as he carried her toward the bathroom, "but I'll help you get ready, and we may be a bit late."

He didn't give her a chance to answer, and made sure that by the time they left for work, that she was brilliantly happy, fired up, and ready to have a great day. There were roses delivered and waiting for her when she got to the training pitch, and a special lunch for the team that Harry had set up for them, and even after a long, cold, and tough workout, Ginny was still smiling when she arrived home to find a glass of wine and a hot bath waiting for her.

"You've got a bit over an hour to get ready before we're supposed to meet up with Ron and Hermione," Harry advised her. "We'll go over to Hermione's flat, and then on to the dinner and party from there."

"Thank-you; for everything today," she told him before sharing a long kiss with him. "If you have any more surprises for later, after we have to be home for my curfew, that includes anything other than some quality me and you time, cancel them." She kissed him again for emphasis, and they were both smiling when she headed for the bathroom with her glass of wine.

They'd been invited to a number of parties, but had decided to go to the little dinner and dance that Hannah was putting on at the Leaky Cauldron. Since most of the other invitations would be as much political as social, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione hadn't been interested in being stuck dealing with all of the pandering, and were very happy to spend a few hours with some of their friends. There was an interesting mix of guests too, with Aurors, Quidditch players, parents, kids, and even a few grandparents and grandchildren. The place was packed, and everyone was having fun, and ready for a mid-winter party.

"How did we end up here tonight?" George asked Angelina. "We must be the only to single people in this whole place."

"Our friends are trying to change that for us, and we're too nice to tell them to shut it and stay out of our affairs."

"Interesting choice of words there," Lee said mildly.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were at the 'Harpies' table with Angelina, Alicia, Lee, and George, though they were able to talk with everyone at the 'Aurors' table next to them too. While George and Angelina protested getting thrown together on a regular basis by their two best friends, and truly didn't seem to be interested in seriously dating each other – or anyone else – Harry thought that they did always have fun together too.

"I think that you guys have fun even if you don't like being set up, and there's nothing wrong with just being good friends," Ginny told her brother and teammate; pretty much voicing exactly what Harry had been thinking. Of course, since Ginny loved matchmaking for other couples, that did have him wondering what she was up to when it came to George and Angelina. George seemed to agree, and looked at his sister skeptically.

"Is that an attempt at some kind of reverse psychology?" he accused, and Ginny laughed.

If I answer 'no', would you think that was a double-reverse?" she countered.

"I think that a 'yes' that wasn't the truth would be the double-reverse," Hermione suggested helpfully.

"You too?" Angelina asked. "Move on to something else, folks. There's nothing to see here, and more interesting things to discuss. How'd the new Valentine wheezes go over, George?"

"Better than the ones I'll use on this lot will if they don't take your hint," he joked. "Seriously, though, we more than doubled sales since last year, and most of that is from mail orders coming from students in the other Wizarding schools around the world."

The other couples at their table were happy to allow the conversation to move on, and they all had fun during dinner. There was about an hour-long break after dinner where Harry and Ginny were able to visit with other friends who were there, and with their parents, who'd come with some friends from the Ministry. Hannah had hired a band for the dance, and while they weren't Weird Sisters caliber, they did get the party going, and had most of the guests up and dancing shortly after they started to play.

"It's almost curfew," Harry told Ginny when they had about a half hour left. They were dancing to a soft ballad, and she hugged him.

"I'm not feeling much like being a good girl and doing what I'm supposed to right now," she said, and then leaned back to look at him when he laughed.

"I'm okay with that," he assured her, " though after I get you home, and we move on to the you and me only part of our Valentine's Day, I'm positive that even if you're being a little bad, we'll have a brilliant rest of the night."

Ginny laughed too, and kissed him. "Bye everyone; gotta run. Can't be late for curfew, you know. Got a big game in a couple of days," she said quietly.

"I love you," Harry assured her; laughing quietly before sharing a soft kiss with her.

Actually doing the round of goodbyes had taken most of that half hour, and Alicia and Lee, and Angelina and George had all left then too. Other than a bottle of wine and an intimate candlelit Jacuzzi session, Harry hadn't actually had any specific plan for the last few hours of the night, but they were both happy to improvise, and definitely helped each other to have a best-ever, remember forever Valentine's Day.

Those fond memories were still fresh in their minds two nights later when Harry was watching Ginny fly around the Exmoor stadium with her team after they'd been introduced. He had George there with him again, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there with two of their friends. It was one of the coldest nights of the winter so far, and while there was just a bit of snow flying around, it was bitterly windy. It was so cold, that every few minutes, he had to warm his drink up, and that was as much to keep his hands from being frozen as for anything else. The game started within a minute of both teams landing and getting ready, and they all seemed in a hurry to just get on with it. Even Ginny, who was always smiling whenever she played, looked uncomfortable, cold, and unhappy.

"I think she's broken it," Mrs. Weasley said; her teeth chattering in the cold. "She never saw it coming."

Harry nodded his agreement. Trish had just made a good save, but took a hard bludger hit just above the elbow, and was now cradling that arm.

The game had been close at that point, but it didn't take the Catapults long to take advantage of Trish's injury. She was still fighting hard, and her Chasers and Beaters did what they could to help and protect her, but it really wasn't that long before the Catapults were up by over one hundred and fifty points, and then Ginny was forced to defend the snitch against a confident and victorious opponent who knew that it was just a matter of time before she'd tire out and make a mistake.

"She's been ordered to catch it," Harry said, not even realizing at first that he'd said it out loud.

"What?" George exclaimed, and Harry nodded toward Glynnis; who was completely focused on Ginny, and looked like she'd just been forced to eat slugs.

"The Catapults are one of the top teams," he explained. "If they catch the snitch, and win by over three hundred points, that'd be huge in the overall standings. Glynnis has ordered Ginny to try and catch the snitch for the loss instead of letting that happen."

Ginny didn't look any happier, but when she made her move, it completely surprised the Catapults' Seeker, and he stared in stunned disbelief, not even attempting to chase her down, as she caught the snitch to end the game at the three hour and thirty-seven minute mark. Final score was three hundred and twenty for the Catapults to two hundred and ninety for the Harpies. She did raise the snitch in victory, the Harpies didn't gather in mid air to celebrate, and their fans didn't cheer.

"It was the right decision," Mr. Weasley told Harry as Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug. "If they'd lost three hundred and thirty – or more – points against the Catapults, they'd likely have no chance of making that up before the end of the season. "Who knows what the score might have ended up being if Ginny had defended the snitch for a few more hours instead."

"That won't make Ginny feel any better, but you're right," Harry agreed. "Let's get out of here. I want to have time to get a special bedtime snack ready for her, and after flying around in this cold, she'll be ready for a long, hot bath by the time she gets home too."

The Catapults fans were a much happier group as everyone began making their way out of the stadium, but there were fans of both teams that were already figuring out that the Catapults had just lost a big opportunity by giving Ginny such an easy catch instead of being prepared for the possibility that the Harpies would be willing to lose the game when it became clear that was the best thing for their team. Ginny had still been upset when she got home, and was grateful for everything Harry did to console and comfort her, though it meant that neither of them got much sleep before needing to get up and go to work again in the morning.

"At least this guy gets it," Harry told Ginny as they had breakfast, and took turns reading sections of the Daily Prophet. He handed her the page he'd been reading, and one of the Quidditch commentators had given a statement explaining exactly why Glynnis Griffiths was a genius, and very brave to make a game-losing decision.

"Sure, but the reporter dismisses his comments, and suggests that Glynnis is just covering for her star rookie's mistake," Ginny countered, and tossed the paper on the table in disgust. "Did I mention lately that I hate losing?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Once or a hundred times since getting home last night. When you walk out the door this morning, though, you're going to leave all of this behind you."

"Or not," Ginny disagreed. "I'm not sure which loss I hate more – the one that was my fault, or this one."

"You're playing the Wasps a week from Saturday, honey. You've got to let this go, and focus on that. We both know that you need to have a short memory in Quidditch." He leaned over and kissed her. "If you'd like, I could help you out with a memory charm for that."

Ginny laughed, and kissed him again. "Let's not do that. Not remembering that game might be nice, but we did make a few memories last night that I really do want to keep."

"Okay, memory charms are out," he agreed, "and I'm sure that by the time your practice starts, you will let last night's game go, and get focused on the next one. You'll probably only drop to third or fourth at worst by the end of this weekend, and that extra one hundred and fifty points is going to be why you don't lose more ground against all of the other top teams."

"Since it's just as cold out today as it was last night, we probably won't be able to think at all an hour into the morning workout."

"I'm trying not to think about the cold," Harry said; though he felt like shivering just from hearing Ginny talk about it. "Stakeouts, when you can't use magic to stay warm, aren't any more fun that Quidditch training, and a lot less exciting most of the time."

Ginny laughed. "I pretty much hope that all of your stakeouts are boring, since the exciting ones are usually when I have to worry most about you and Ron."

They had continued to chat while eating, and had taken care of the cleanup together before heading out to work. Harry had met up with Ron at Headquarters, and then they'd picked up hot drinks, and gone on to their stakeout. When Harry saw one particular visitor arrive at the warehouse shortly before noon, he wondered idly if Ginny's comment had been prescient.

"Recognize that guy?" he asked Ron.

"Should I?" he asked, and Harry shrugged.

"Thought you might. He's a guard at Azkaban. We've seen him there a few times when picking up and delivering prisoners. Unless he's got a business on the side, I seriously doubt he'd have any needs for anything they sell out of this place."

"That's easy enough to check – especially since he's a Ministry employee," Ron suggested, and Harry nodded and smiled. "You've got another one of those feelings. I hate it when that happens."

Harry laughed. "You love it when that happens, and the good news is that we're out of here. Let's get everything we can on the guy, and then we'll start following him."

"Right after we have a hot lunch and thaw out," Ron agreed. "I'm surprised you don't want to follow him right now."

Harry stood up and stretched. "You know that you really do love it when I get these feelings. I'm frozen too; we'd probably just lose him when he apparates away from here; and with a little research this afternoon in a nice, warm Ministry office, we'll have no problem finding out everything we need to know to start following him."

They went and had lunch at the Leaky, and then spent the rest of the afternoon digging up everything they could find out about Azkaban guard Jeffrey Harris. After spending hours digging through Ministry files, they decided to call it a day, and head out into the field again in the morning. Harry had time to get home and have dinner ready before Ginny got back from work; and she smiled when she saw the look on his face when he turned away from his cooking to welcome her with a warm hug and kiss.

"You've had a good day. I hate it when you've had a good day," she told him, and Harry laughed.

"That sounds a lot like what Ron told me earlier. We've got a lead; though I have no idea where it's going right now, other than the guy's a guard at Azkaban."

"Why do I really not like the sound of that?" she asked, and Harry pulled her close and kissed her.

"Don't worry about us right now," he said after leaning back to face her again. "It's always possible that this won't turn out to be anything important at all."

"Right," Ginny answered skeptically. "If you believed that, you wouldn't be looking like that, or chasing down the lead."

He didn't try to deny that, and while having dinner, Ginny had him tell her all about what he and Ron had been doing, and then they talked Quidditch after that. They both studied for a few hours before curfew, but by then, they were both ready to just go up to bed, snuggle close, and get a decent night of sleep. Harry and Ron mostly cased their new target's house and neighborhood on Friday; picked a stakeout location, and checked out a few other places that Jeffrey had connections to. Their suspect was starting a four-day weekend shift, so when they wrapped up on Friday, they were taking the weekend off, and wouldn't need to start following him until after he returned on Tuesday evening.

That allowed Harry to spend the weekend taking care of Ginny, who was putting in long days getting ready for her game against the Wasps, and to have Teddy come spend the night with them on Saturday, and give Andromeda a break from Saturday afternoon until late Sunday morning. He and Ginny did daily Seeker duels, had Sunday dinner at the Burrow, and ended each night with a little play time that helped keep them both smiling.

Harry and Ron got to have one more fairly short work day on Monday, but were back to long days again on Tuesday, as they started their stakeout of Jeffrey Harris late in the afternoon, from the moment he got off of the prison ferry. That turned out to be fairly easy to do, mostly because wasn't very good at apparating, and couldn't do it over long distances. Ron and Harry took turns using Harry's cloak, and an extendable ear, and were able to find out many of the places Jeffrey traveled just by listening in each time he used the Floo network.

"What a shock," Ron said after rejoining Harry. "He actually apparated somewhere."

"He didn't go far," Harry advised him. "You can side-along with me to where he went."

"How close is he?" Ron asked.

"About two miles, and near one of the taverns we've checked out before. Let's give him a few minutes. That'll give us time to get disguised so we can go in there too."

"If that's where he went," Ron agreed.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting at a table in that tavern, and had just ordered drinks. They weren't far from where Jeffrey Harris was, but not close enough to hear the hushed conversation he was having with another Azkaban prison guard. They talked about Quidditch while waiting for their drinks, and though the other two Wizards did give them a cursory once-over, they were soon dismissed as nothing to worry about.

"Might be nothing," Ron said, and Harry nodded.

"They work the same shift, so it could just be a night out before going back to work on Saturday morning."

Since reviewing Jeffrey's files had included going over the Azkaban guard schedules and taking a brief look at each of the other guard's files, they knew that Jeffrey's friend was Arnold Chubb. They both looked like this was just a regular night out; showing no signs that they were up to anything clandestine. As Ron and Harry watched, they had another couple of rounds of drinks, and a few of the other patrons stopped by to talk with them, which told Harry that this really was a place where they were regulars.

"You saw that?" Ron whispered, and Harry nodded. It was after midnight, and they'd been out and back again in different disguises. What they'd both seen was Arnold passing Jeffrey a pouch under the table that looked like it held a decent amount of galleons. Jeffrey dropped it into his cloak pocket, while he and his friend continued to talk as if nothing else was going on at all.

"Let's call it a night," Harry suggested, and Ron nodded; knowing that Harry hadn't meant for going home, but that they'd be going to headquarters to pull Arnold Chubb's files.

They had to finish the drinks they hadn't ordered that long ago, make their way out of the tavern, walk a mile or so away from the place, and then apparate to the Ministry of Magic after getting rid of their disguises. It too another hour to pull the first batch of files, and then they sat down at Ron's desk to go over them.

"Looks like Jeffrey helped his buddy get the job at Azkaban," Ron said when he came across the letter of reference that Jeffrey had written.

"It looks like they've been buddies since Hogwarts," Harry added as he nodded at Ron's comment. "If I remember correctly, there was one summer job at the same place too, though I'll double check that later."

"So what do you make of the money changing hands?"

"My first guess is that it's Thursday, and they take turns visiting that warehouse," Harry answered. "The big question is – what are they getting paid for?"

"Smuggling, most likely," Ron suggested. "They'd never get wands or anything magical past security, though, so it's probably just things like firewhiskey and tobacco."

"Let's hope so," Harry told him.

"You don't think so," Ron stated, and then groaned. "I hate it when you don't think so."

"I won't be surprised to find out that whatever they're doing started out with a little innocent smuggling, but that feeling I had last week is getting stronger."

Ron laughed. "I hate it when that happens too. What do we do next? Talk with Emma?"

Harry shook his head. "Not yet. They'll be starting their three-day shift on Saturday. We'll follow Jeffrey tomorrow – today – and next week, after he gets home on Monday. Unless something really important happens before then, I don't think that we'll need help until at least the week after next. Then we'll probably want to have another team follow Arnold around."

"The good news there being that I can go see the Cannons game on Saturday. The bad news is that they're playing the Falcons, and will probably lose big, and get half the team injured while they're getting pounded."

"Maybe you should get George to send all of the Falcons' players another batch of wheezes gone bad," Harry suggested with a laugh.

"I doubt that'd work twice, though it was really funny the first time. If you've had enough fun for tonight, though, I'm beat. Let's get out of here."

Ron left then, but Harry went to his cubicle and worked for nearly another hour before going home to get a few hours of sleep. There wasn't any excitement on Friday, and after doing some running around during the day, Jeffrey was home, and appeared to be in for the night by dinnertime, though Ron and Harry stayed until shortly after nine, when they saw the lights going out. Since the shift change on Saturday would be with the first ferry of the day, that hadn't surprised them, and they were both glad to get home at a decent hour for the first time in days. By the time Harry got home, Ginny had fallen asleep while reading in bed, so he made himself a dinner snack, had a shower, and managed to just barely wake her up when he climbed into bed with her. A couple of soft kisses later, and she was asleep again, and he soon followed her into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.

The last Saturday in February was slightly milder than the past few weeks had been, and the sun was playing hide and seek among the clouds as the Yorkshire stadium filled up before the Harpies-Wasps game. Harry and Ginny had asked their Mum and Dad to invite Christine and Bryce to see their home team play; and the two couples were there already when Ron and Neville got to their seats.

"We got a post from Dawn this morning," Bryce told Harry. "She told us that we were spoiled rotten parents getting to go see the game today while she was stuck at Hogwarts."

"If she thinks this is bad, she'll be really mad if the Harpies make the finals," Harry predicted.

"Why?" Christine asked, and Harry grinned at her.

"Because if my wife is in the finals in her rookie year, then all of our friends who can come will be getting tickets."

"Don't tell Dawn that," Bryce advised Christine. "She'd be tempted to get hit by a bludger or something just to get a trip to St. Mungo's – just in time for that game."

"That's a Hogsmeade weekend, so she'd be more likely to try and get us to pick her up in town and take her along," Christine suggested, and laughed at the looks on Harry and Bryce's faces. "No. She's got a game the weekend after the finals, and exams starting on the Monday after that game. Don't even think about it."

"Yes dear," Bryce agreed immediately.

They chatted while they waited for the teams to be called in, and then were soon all entirely into the match once it started. Bryce and Christine didn't have much to cheer about for their team, but they were on their feet a lot with every great play that Ginny made. Trish was having a great game, and only allowed two goals. The Wasps' Keeper wasn't having nearly as good a day, and Angelina and Valmai were scoring regularly, while Alicia was happy to be the team playmaker, as she usually was now.

When the Harpies were up by more than one hundred and fifty points, Ginny backed off, but then had to nearly immediately get back into the battle with the Wasps' Seeker when he either decided to keep trying to catch the snitch, or had been ordered to by his coach. Unfortunately for him, Ginny had been ready for that possibility. He'd taken a bad angle on his run, expecting to have caught her by surprise, and she ended the game with a rather spectacular catch that had most of the fans of both teams up and cheering.

Ginny was going into a really tough two-week stretch starting on Monday, so she and Harry were going to spend the rest of the weekend together – and alone. After leaving the stadium, and saying goodbye to everyone, Harry went home, and got right to work on a special dinner for two, and except for a Sunday afternoon Seeker duel, he and Ginny stayed inside, enjoying having that little break from work and the real world.

The Harpies' next two games were going to be just five days apart. They'd be playing the Prides a week from Monday, and then the Tornados the following Saturday. Both teams were in the hunt for playoff spots, with the Prides just ahead of the Harpies in the standings, and the Tornados just two spots behind. Harry and Ron were right back to long work days on Monday again, but they had one change in plans that Ron didn't find out about until the last minute.

"Happy birthday!" Ginny told him as he and Hermione walked into the kitchen at Harry and Ginny's place on Wednesday morning. "Are you ready for an exciting day?"

Ron laughed and returned her hug. "Right – because spending sixteen or twenty hours on a stakeout is going to be all fun and games."

"You have to work?" she asked in mock surprise. "Harry's taking the day off."

"What!" Ron exclaimed, and looked around as Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all laughed. "What's going on here?"

Ginny waved for Hermione to answer. "While Ginny and I can't get out of work, your girlfriend, sister, and brother-in-law have arranged for you and your best friend to spend your birthday training with the Cannons." Harry and Ginny both laughed as Ron whooped; picked Hermione up, and kissed her rather soundly for nearly two full minutes. "You are so welcome," Hermione told him breathlessly after he set her down on her feet again; which had Harry and Ginny laughing again.

"This is going to be a brilliant day!" Ron said enthusiastically. "Thank you."

Ron had been running a bit late, so they'd needed to hurry a bit to get through breakfast and the cleanup. The girls had long hugs and kisses goodbye for their little boys, and then they went to work, while Ron and Harry went to the Cannons' practice pitch. They were both a bit surprised that only the team Captain was there, but it did make it easier to do the introductions as the other thirteen players arrived and started getting ready for their workout. Harry only knew about how the Harpies trained, but The Cannons' manager, Ragmar Dorkins, arrived just before his team was ready to go out to the pitch and get to work, and rallied his troops with a pep talk.

"I know that it's going to be a bit strange having two extra players out there today, but I've been assured that Ron and Harry want to experience the full-out team training program, and we've got a game on Saturday, so I expect everyone to be working as hard as always. No holding back, and if our extra teammates for the day have bit off more than they can handle, then we've got waivers, and the medical costs will be theirs."

There was some good-natured laughter about that, and Harry and Ron both joined in. Ragmar had instructions for things he wanted different players to work on, along with more words of encouragement, and then they all headed out to the pitch and got started.

"Show off," Ron told Harry; grinning even as he was breathing hard and trying to catch his breath. They'd all just landed after completing a flying exercise, and Harry had easily out flown everyone else.

"I do go flying with Ginny fairly often, mate," Harry reminded him. "You shouldn't be surprised."

"I'm not surprised – I'm envious," Ron countered.

By that point in the morning, all of the Cannons players were impressed with both young Wizards. Despite their manager's orders to work their hardest, none of them had seriously believed that a pair of amateurs would have any chance of keeping up with them. Ragmar was even more impressed that his team, with the possible exception of Galvin Gudgeon. It didn't say much for the Cannons, but Galvin was easily their best flyer, and it wasn't long before he realized that Harry was better – a lot better.

When they started actual game practice, Ragmar had the Reserve Seeker and Keeper do other training while letting Harry and Ron take their places. Ron was having a blast with that, though the three team Chasers were not enjoying themselves nearly as much, since he was playing great, and they weren't scoring many goals against him. Harry was having fun too, but compared to his Seeker duels with Ginny, Galvin wasn't much competition; though he did enjoy getting to try some of the plays they'd worked on together when there were two full teams playing too. He even tried out a couple of new moves that they were still working on; catching the snitch with one of them, and completely losing Galvin with the other, though that hadn't been when he had a chance to make a catch.

One of the things Harry had done to get this set up for Ron was to get lunch catered in for the team, and Ron had loved spending an hour getting to just chat with his favorite players while they ate, and then it was back to work for another three hours. Most of that was more game simulation, and by the end of the afternoon, even Ron was finally getting tired out, and was quite happy to land when Ragmar called for his team to land.

"I don't know how you guys do this every day," Ron told them. "If I can even manage to walk into Auror Headquarters tomorrow morning, I'll be amazed."

"You'd do well enough once you got used to it," Ragmar suggested. "Both of you did very well today indeed, and hopefully the pain coming your way later tonight and tomorrow will be worth it."

"This has been brilliant, and I really appreciate all of you for letting Harry and I come play with you today," Ron said gratefully.

Ragmar had a few closing instructions for the team, and then they headed for the change room. There was a round of goodbyes when they were all ready to leave, and then Harry took Ron to the Leaky Cauldron, where they were welcomed by Ginny, Hermione, their parents, and the friends who had already arrived for Ron's birthday dinner. They had time for a drink before everyone was there, most of them coming from work, and then they spent the next hour and a half enjoying their meal while happily roasting Ron. Hannah had a birthday cake for him, and they opened presents, with his favorites being another pair of tickets for the Cannons' upcoming season that Ginny and Harry had gotten him.

By then, he and Harry were both pretty much seizing up, so the party wrapped up, and their girls took them home for the night. This time, it was Ginny's turn to help Harry out, and by the time she was finished with him, he was cured, they were both very happy, snuggled in bed together, and sleeping soundly. Harry was up early, made breakfast for Ginny, had nearly an hour to spend with her, and then they both needed to get to work. Harry and Ron knew that they'd be in for a long day, but when they met at Auror Headquarters, only one of them was smiling, fired up, and ready to roll.

"You make me sick," Ron told him as he gingerly sat down in a chair. "It took me three tries just to get out of bed this morning."

"I wasn't doing very well last night either," Harry reminded him. "Ginny and I have just learned a few tricks that help since she started training camp."

"Why didn't you pass them on to me?" Ron complained, and Harry laughed.

"You didn't, and probably still don't, want to know," he answered pointedly, and Ron groaned.

"As soon as that question was out of my mouth, I was sure that your answer would be something like that. Let's get going. Shivering from the cold is technically moving, and if I don't stop for too long, I should be able to get though the day."

"Do you still think yesterday was worth it?" Harry asked, and Ron grinned.

"Oh yeah; it was definitely worth it. Maybe you and I should think about playing Quidditch instead of doing this."

"You're welcome to if you want, mate. I'm not particularly interested in personally finding out just how good Gwenog and Lysa are from an opponent Seeker's perspective, let alone doing all of that work five days a week, and everything else the pros have to do – like dealing with the media."

Ron stood up and grimaced. "I suppose you're right. We'll just have to stick with the becoming world-famous Aurors plan."

Jeffrey and Arnold were sticking with whatever plan they had too, and this time, it was Jeffrey's turn to visit the warehouse, and then pass on the payment to Arnold for whatever services they were providing. Harry used his cloak and was able to listen in on that meeting, but their conversation was casual, and they didn't talk about anything of interest that would help with the case. From where he'd been, he hadn't even seen the money change hands, but he had heard the soft jingle under the table, and Ron confirmed that he had seen the pouch being handed off.

That meeting did prompt them to decide that a meeting with Emma and Josh was in order, so before wrapping up for the night, Harry stopped in to Headquarters to write up a report, and leave it for Emma. He'd sent Ron home straight from the tavern, and while he was sure that an extra hour or so of sleep wouldn't cure his friend, when they met up again in the morning, he did look to be in much better shape.

"Josh is in the field with Neville. I've read your report, and have a meeting in ten minutes," Emma told them as soon as they walked into her cubicle and sat down. "What do you need?"

"For now, we'd like to have another team follow Arnold Chubb starting next Tuesday afternoon when he and Harris get back from their weekend shift," Ron answered. "When we find out what they're up to, we'll probably need more help."

"You're sure this is something more than smuggling contraband into the prison?" she asked, and Ron grinned at her and nodded toward Harry.

"He is. Have I mentioned that I hate it when he gets those feelings?"

Emma laughed. "You love it when that happens, and you know it," she countered. "I can spare Rick and Terry to help. I'll let them know, and you can get them up to speed with your case before next Tuesday. Anything else?"

"Not right now," Harry answered as he and Ron stood up. "We'll keep you posted."

"Okay. Be careful, guys."

Since Friday was a run errands day for Jeffrey, they weren't in much danger, and since the guard was on a four-day shift from Saturday until Tuesday, they were able to take the weekend off again to rest up and take a break. For Harry, that meant taking care of Ginny from the time he got home on Friday until he went to work on Monday while she got ready for her game against the Prides on Monday night. He took care of their meals, cleaning up, shopping for supplies, and playing with Teddy for two hours on Saturday. Ginny had him do two long Seeker duels, and Harry made sure that every night ended very happily for both of them – strictly for the purpose of providing stress relief from all of the hard work.

On Monday, Harry and Ron spent the morning working with Rick and Terry; going through all of the case files with them. They went out to lunch with Neville at the Leaky, and since he and Josh were both in the office anyway, they spent most of the afternoon doing a lesson, since they hadn't had much time to do that recently. Harry went home early so he could make dinner for Ginny, and then she was off again to get ready for her game, while he cleaned up before meeting Ron, Bill, George, and their parents at the Burrow before going on to Ellis Stadium for the game.

"I hear that Gwenog and Meghan McCormack's brother are still being spotted together every now and then," Bill said as they settled into their seats. "Maybe Gwenog will take it easy on her tonight."

"I doubt it," Harry disagreed. "She likes to win, and it won't matter what's going on in their personal lives for either of them. The Harpies only scored two goals on Meghan in their first match."

"Hopefully they'll do better tonight," George suggested. "Angelina and Alicia won't be happy if they don't get some goals."

They didn't do as well, and in fact, didn't score any goals against Meghan and the Prides all night. The good news was that Trish was having just as good a game, and had kept the Prides' Chasers scoreless too – for over three hours. Ginny was in another tough battle with Erin Connelly, and the former Harpies Seeker was even more determined to prove she was the better player. It had taken Ginny hours of hard battling with her, but she did finally outrace Erin to catch the snitch, and give her Harpies the one hundred and fifty to naught win.

"Angelina and Alicia might not have liked that, but I loved that game," Mrs. Weasley told the boys.

"You've always liked the good defensive matches the best," Mr. Weasley said. "Especially the ones like this with a lot of good clean hits, and a lot of great saves."

"True, but I like them even more when our little girl wins the game for our team."

"Your team," Ron countered. "If she were playing for my team, they wouldn't be competing for last this season."

"From what I heard from one of the guys in the Department for Magical Games and Sports, the Cannons' Coach would've liked having you and Harry on his team – especially after that game on the weekend."

Ron laughed. "I was still sore from working out with them on Wednesday. Watching them lose wasn't as painful as the sore muscles still were after sitting in a cold stadium for nearly four hours. That is pretty cool that he thinks we could play for the Cannons, though."

"Well, I'm not surprised," Mrs. Weasley told him. "Percy was the only one of you who didn't play for Gryffindor, and Bill and Charlie were both told that they could've played pro too if they'd wanted."

"Quidditch was too tame compared to dragons, curse breaking, and chasing bad guys," George joked. "Inventing new wheezes can have its own special excitement too."

Harry had left the stadium with his in-laws, and then gone home to wait for Ginny. She'd been tired and sore after a long practice and game day, so he'd spent some quality time helping her to recover, but that was pretty much all of the fun time either of them had for the rest of the work week. She had four days to get ready to play the Tornados, and he and Ron were back to following Jeffrey Harris around after he left the ferry on Tuesday afternoon. There'd been another meeting between Jeffrey and Arnold on Thursday night, and Ron and Harry had met with Rick and Terry on Friday morning to compare notes, but they didn't make any changes, and planned on following the pair again for another week when they got back from their three-day weekend shift on Monday afternoon.

When they finally got to the weekend, Ginny worked right through until curfew on Friday night, and was out and on her way to the Harpies' training pitch right after breakfast. Harry took care of the usual chores and running around while she was busy with the team, and then met up with their parents at the Burrow. He took them out for lunch, and then they went on to Bodmin stadium, where they met up with the family of three that Mrs. Weasley had given their extra tickets to for this game.

The Harpies started out hot, and kept pouring it on; building up a one hundred and sixty point lead by the end of the third hour. From that moment on, while her teammates kept at least that far ahead through the rest of the game, Ginny fought hard with the Tornados Seeker as he first fought to block every attempt she made to catch the snitch, and eventually began trying to catch it himself to try and end the game, and get as many points as he could for the Tornados. He wasn't able to do that, and at the five hour and nine minute mark, Ginny finally took advantage of a mistake, and put the game away; giving the Harpies a four hundred and twenty to one hundred and ten point win.

"That's got to put us in first place for sure!" Mrs. Weasley said enthusiastically. "Ginny's stamina is getting a lot better. She hardly even looks tired after more than five hours."

"Not including all of the work before the game, and doing this with just four days between games," Mr. Weasley added. "I'm ready for a nap, and we were just watching the game."

Ginny wasn't ready for a nap when she got home, but she was ready for a hot dinner, and a quiet night that included a lot of tender loving care from Harry to help her heal and recover from a really tough week. They took the day off on Sunday, though they did spend a few hours with Teddy in the morning, and they met Andromeda for lunch before returning Teddy to her. After that, they spent the rest of the day at home, dedicating the rest of the day to a little play time, a romantic dinner for two, and an early bedtime.

Ginny and the Harpies had just four regular season games left, and their next match was against the Wanderers, a week from Tuesday. Now that they were in first place, they were the team to beat, and every game was bound to be even tougher as every team that still had a chance of making the playoffs fought to get one of those coveted and lucrative spots. Harry and Ron were back to long days again on Monday, though it wasn't until Thursday that they finally made some real progress on their case.

"Same place?" Ron asked as Harry joined him after going to listen in on Jeffrey.

"No," Harry answered. "Jeffrey's going to take the Floo; and then apparate in stages to Yorkshire Stadium. He was complaining about having to do that when Arnold knows how lousy he is at apparating."

"There's no game there tonight," Ron pointed out, and Harry nodded. "I guess we should go find out why they'd be meeting up at an empty stadium after dark."

They didn't have long to wait before finding out, and Ron used Harry's cloak, while he went Animagus and hid; expecting that even if he couldn't work his way close to the two Wizards, he'd at least be able to hear their conversation. Arnold arrived first, and waited for nearly five minutes before Jeffrey joined him.

"So what'd they say?" he whispered once they had walked some distance from the stadium.

"They're happy, and we're going to be very happy, very soon," Jeffrey answered just as quietly. "Twenty-five thousand each next week and the week after; and fifty thousand when the job's done."

"It'd take us fifteen years of guard duty to make that," Arnold said after letting out a low whistle.

"Jobs that we'll be able to keep now, since it'll be the guards who asked us to take the extra shift who'll be the prime suspects on the inside," Jeffrey added."

"If Rigotto wants to keep supplementing my income after we've done this job, I'll think about staying, but if they offer me a job, I'm done with the Ministry and Azkaban – the Lestranges pay is a lot better."

"Maybe," Jeffrey agreed, "but the Ministry doesn't kill you if you mess up, so I'm not looking for that kind of career downside."

"That's a good point," Arnold conceded. "Do we have any new instructions for this weekend?"

Harry and Ron had both been able to get close enough to hear the conversation, and once the two Wizards had finished discussing their plans for the weekend, Jeff handed over their 'usual' weekly payment, and they left for their usual Thursday night Tavern visit, they went on to Auror Headquarters. It didn't take long for them to find out that a schedule change at Azkaban had been approved for Friday, March thirty-first, and that Jeffrey and Arnold had agreed to take the extra shift from two other guards.

"So what kind of job pays two hundred thousand galleons to a pair of Azkaban guards?" Ron asked.

"Something more significant that smuggling booze and tobacco," Harry answered. "Since it looks like Lestrange money paying for the job, it's not a big stretch to guess that at least three of Azkaban's finest citizens are looking for a get out of jail early pass."

"Are we ever going to be done with that lot?" Ron complained. "What was the point of making room for the young, new bad guys to grow and prosper if all they're going to do is try to choke up the garden again by trying to get the old weeds back?"

"I'm sure some of them will continue to be bothersome for a long time, but hopefully we'll keep them locked up where they belong. I'd say it's time for more help. What do you think?"

"We should get Emma to put a couple of teams on the Lestranges. If we just two weeks away from whatever they've got planned, then we should be able to find something out from keeping an eye on them. Too bad we can't get into that warehouse for those Thursday meetings."

"I don't see how we can do that without setting off the wards. I agree that we should start watching Rigotto and Synthea as soon as we can. Why don't you get out of here, and I'll write up the report for Emma and Josh. We can meet with them, and with Rick and Terry, in the morning."

Emma and Josh had agreed with them. Emma decided to pull Josh and Neville, and Nathan, Christine, and Susan off of their cases so they could watch the Lestranges around the clock, though she also had Ron and Harry, and Rick and Terry, help out with that on the weekend while the others got up to speed on the case and got ready to take over. Since they were going to start that surveillance on Friday night, Harry and Ron skipped following Jeffrey all day, and went home for the rest of the day; meeting up again at Headquarters for seven-thirty.

"This seemed like such a good idea when we figured it'd be someone else doing this," Ron joked as he and Harry settled in to their stakeout. "Don't we have two newer trainees for the night shifts now?"

"Sure, but they have trainers with more seniority than ours, so it cancels out, and here were are again."

Ginny was going to be working all weekend to get ready for her game on Tuesday, but Harry would have liked to be there to take care of her while she did that. He was there, but other than making dinner for two each night before he went off to work, and one Seeker duel on Sunday, he spent both days sleeping. The good news was that there was a lot of visitor traffic going on around Rigotto and Synthea's estate, including late into the night, and that kept Ron and Harry busy trying to follow those guests, find out who they were, and anything else they could learn about them, and their connection to the Lestrange family.

Harry got a few hours of sleep on Monday morning, and then had an afternoon meeting at Auror Headquarters to update Emma on the news from the weekend, and to make plans for the coming week and weekend. He was able to spend the evening with Ginny, but on Tuesday, he and Ron were back to following Jeffrey, and he wasn't able to watch her play the Wanderers. The fact that they'd come up with nothing new all night really bugged him after finding out that the Harpies had played a great game, winning by a score of three hundred and sixty to forty, and that Ginny had been brilliant in her duel against the Wanderers' Seeker. The match also left them solidly in first place in the League, and all but assured them of at least a spot in the playoffs.

Thursday night was again the big news night for Harry and Ron. This week, Jeffrey and Arnold met at Bodmin stadium before going for their little walk and chat. Arnold had Jeffrey's twenty-five thousand galleons, and instructions on how they were going to get the 'packages' ready for 'pick-up' on the thirty-first. There was another team meeting on Friday morning, and that was when the pieces of evidence they were all collecting came together. They did have to do a little guesswork, like deciding that the mostly likely 'packages' would be the father and sons Lestrange trio, but they had also picked up solid evidence that Rigotto and Synthea would have ten other Witches and Wizards going with them to help take delivery of those packages. They knew the names of some of those people, and were working on indentifying the others out of a fairly long list of visitors who were continually being checked out now. The last big decision for their own plans was made after everyone except Emma, Josh, Harry, and Ron had left the conference room.

"You want to go to Azkaban for the weekend?" Emma asked in surprise; and Harry grinned at her.

"I wouldn't say 'want to," he answered. "I think that I should, though. We've still got quite a bit we don't know yet, and this could be the way to find out. If our guess is right, then the Lestranges probably know what's going to happen."

"How do you plan on getting in and out of there?" Josh asked. "Do you want to go in as a prisoner?"

"I thought about that, but then I wouldn't be able to move around freely enough," Harry answered. "I'll just go in on my own on Saturday morning, and see how it goes."

"Sure – no problem," Josh joked, "and when you get caught, you'll get to be in prison for real, along with all of those friends you helped to put there. I'm sure you'll be very popular."

"I won't get caught," Harry assured him, "but if I did, it would be nice if you could tell them that I was sent to test the prison security or something."

"If you don't get caught, then you will have tested the security, and it will have failed," Emma pointed out. "That's not a good thing."

Harry shrugged. "It's not really a big deal. I have some tricks available to me that the bad guys don't."

"That's cryptic enough," Emma told him. "I don't like this, but I also agree. I want you back here by Monday morning regardless of what you do or don't find out."

Harry had agreed to that, and he and Ron got back to work; following Jeffrey Harris around for the rest of the day. While Emma hadn't liked the idea, Ginny had really hated it when she found out after getting home to a special dinner for two. She'd only needed to see that, and the look on his face, to know that something was up.

"They've been right all along," she told him. 'You are nuts. Let's get you checked into St. Mungo's and they can verify that for us. It's probably from all of those injuries when you were younger. One too many bludgers to the head or something."

"I love you," Harry said; putting his arms around her and pulling her close for a long, tender kiss. "You know I'll be okay. We've got way too great a life ahead of us for me to mess it up, and besides, you should see Emma's new Auror injury or death report. It'd take an entire afterlife just to fill the silly thing out – in triplicate, of course."

"That'd be the least of your worries," Ginny warned him. "Since there's nothing I can do about this, though, let's eat, and we'll get to bed early so you'll at least be rested and ready to start in the morning."

By the time that Harry was on the dock waiting for the ferry to Azkaban on Saturday morning, Ginny had also made sure that he wished that he was spending the weekend with her instead of at the prison. He was using his cloak, and stayed out of everyone's way while they waited for, and then loaded onto, the ferry. Getting onboard before it left was easy, and he was able to get close enough to Jeffrey, Arnold, and the other guards to listen in on their conversations. When they got to Azkaban, he let out a silent sigh of relief when he was able to get in along with the supplies delivery; his cloak keeping him undetected as he followed along with the line of boxes and bins through both the magical and physical checks.

It took a couple of hours, but eventually, he was able to get inside of the prisoner areas. There had been a lot of changes made since the end of the war, and while it would never be a destination of choice for any Witch or Wizard, the prisoners were at least treated with dignity and were reasonably well-cared for now. The new setup included Common rooms, smaller sitting rooms, and a fair-sized, and well-stocked library. The cells were organized more like dorms now, with sections for Wizards, Witches, and couples. He wandered around, listening in on a lot of conversations with the prisoners, and among the guards too, but the first information he picked up concerning their case came from a conversation with all three Lestrange Wizards, and father and son Avery.

"By this time next week, we'll be out of here," Rodolphus told the others.

"Those two fools don't suspect anything beyond what we've told them?" Rabastan asked his brother.

"They're still blissfully blind to everything except the shiny galleons," Rodolphus confirmed. "They'll do what they're told when the time comes, or be dead."

"The latter would be best for us in the end anyway," the elder Avery declared. "Coddling those two morons is why this has taken so long in the first place. We should have been out of here long before now."

"But then we would've missed out on all of the parties, like at Christmas," he son sneered. "Let's go over everything again before we get sent to our rooms for the night. How many are coming with your cousins?"

Harry had been in a corner of the room for that entire meeting, and after snooping around for another few hours, found an out of the way place to get a few uncomfortable hours of sleep. There was another meeting that he was able to sit in for on Sunday; this time with Rabastan and the Mulcibers. That had mostly been a rehash of the other meeting, and the only other information he picked up was really non-information. From what he observed over the two days, he was quite sure that only some of the most senior former Death Eaters knew about what was going to happen. The Wizards who did know were doing a fairly good job of hiding their excitement, but some knowing glances and other hints helped Harry to identify the others who were in the loop.

On Monday morning, after getting another few, really lousy hours of sleep, he left Azkaban the way he came in; and was very glad to be out of there. His first stop was at home to grab a shower, change, and spend a few minutes with Ginny before they both needed to get to work. The Harpies were playing the Falcons on Saturday, and were trying to get ready for what they knew would be another dirty, unpleasant match with the meanest team in the League.

Emma and her Aurors had a fairly nasty team to deal with too; and they spent the rest of the week alternating between following their suspects and planning how they were going to deal with the plot. Harry and Ron stuck with Jeffrey from Monday afternoon until late Thursday night. He'd done the money run on Thursday, and had Arnold's payment and their final instructions when the pair met outside of Ellis stadium for what would be their last walk and chat – at least as free Wizards.

Harry made a run up to the Azkaban ferry dock in the morning to see that Jeffrey and Arnold both made it there in time for work, and then he, Ron, and the rest of their team spent most of the day finalizing their plans and bringing a second group of Aurors who'd be helping them up to speed. They had everything set up by the time Harry left Headquarters to take the last ferry back to Azkaban. Emma had liked that option even less than she'd liked his first trip there, but didn't have a valid argument for not having someone on the inside to back them up, and make sure that armed Death Eaters and their misguided liberators couldn't use the prison itself for a plan B, highly defensible fortress.

He'd had the whole evening to get ready, and was there when Jeffrey, Arnold, and the Lestranges put their plan in motion shortly after midnight. Arnold 'found old man Lestrange' collapsed on his cell floor, and called for Jeffrey's help. They'd then released Rodolphus and Rabastan to help carry their father to the prison medical center. Harry followed them, and once they were past the other guards working that level, it wasn't long before their sick prisoner made a miraculous recovery, and all five Wizards made their way to the prison entrance. Jeffrey turned off the entrance defenses, and it was only moments before Rigotto, Synthea, and the other ten members of their group joined them.

"These won't be as good as your own wands, but they'll do," Synthea told the three prisoners. "Is everyone else ready?"

"What do you mean by 'everyone else'?" Arnold demanded. "You need to leave now! The shields and wards need to go back up right away, and other guards will be on the way any minute!"

"Shut up," Rabastan told him coldly; pointing his new wand at the guard. "We'll leave when we have the rest of our friends out too. You can help and still get the rest of your money, or die and be heroes with the rest of the guards."

"Or you can all surrender," Emma told them as she walked into the room along with Josh, Neville, and the rest of their team. "For those of you who don't already know me, I'm Emma Ogden, Head of the Aurors, and you are all under arrest." She smiled at the three Lestranges. "Again, for those of you who already have lifetime memberships here."

"Kill them!" Rodolphus shouted even as he already began firing curses at the group of Aurors.

When it came to the bad guys trying to kill his friends – especially the Witches like Emma, Christine, and Susan – Harry still had a big problem, and really didn't like it when they tried to do that. The down side of that for the Lestranges was that he was fairly angry when he threw off his cloak and counter-attacked. When he disarmed Rodolphus, he was blasted into the wall so hard that they could all hear the bones cracking even over the din of the fight. His father didn't fare much better after Harry sliced his wand in two, and the power flashback lit him up like a human torch, and he crumpled to the ground, seriously ill for real now. Rabastan turned to face Harry's attack, having figured out by then that he'd been behind them, but he only managed to get off one killing curse before he was blasted off of his feet by Neville, and thrown head-first into a desk while his wand went flying into Terry's hand.

"Head into the prison," Rigotto ordered everyone. "We'll arm the others and regroup!"

He obviously hadn't noticed that the Aurors had help from the prison side, and three of his group were already down, though everyone still standing did shield, and start backing up in answer to his order. When he turned and ran straight into the shield Harry had put up to block the corridor leading into the prison, he bounced off, and stared in shock as he finally saw Harry for the first time.

"You!" he spat before firing a flurry of curses at him even as Synthea turned and joined in to attack Harry.

"Is there any chance you'll consider surrendering?" Harry asked them. "I really don't like fighting Witches, and I'll really feel bad if your wife gets hurt." He watched as Synthea crumpled to the ground after getting stunned by Susan. "That works too," he said conversationally before blasting Rigotto off of his feet and watching him land flat on his back, already in a full-body bind. He caught his wand, and slid it into his pocket while firing two more disarming spells, and then quickly adding them to his new collection.

"This is your last warning!" Emma shouted over the fight. "Surrender now; or we will end this!"

"You tried Emma," Harry said to himself a few moments later, when none of the remaining fighters had given up. "Let's see how well they do without their shields."

With a wave of his wand, he blew away all of the shields the remnants of Rigotto and Synthea's group had held in place, and then watched proudly as his friends disarmed and bound them with just one more injury caused by a counter-attack that had already been on the way as the shields went down. That ended the fight, and by then a group of the prison guards had gathered in the corridor on the other side of Harry's shield.

"Make sure they're all safely bound, and start triaging the injured," Emma ordered as she walked over to Harry and took a moment to hug him. "Good to see you safe and well," she told him, and then nodded toward his shield. "Let them in, and I'll get started on explaining things to the guards and warden while you and the others start getting our prisoners ready to move to St. Mungo's or Auror Headquarters."

"Yes ma'am," Harry agreed.

There'd been a few other hugs as he got to work doing that, and then he was teamed up with Christine to help assess and treat the injured Wizards and Witches. They treated the few minor injuries quickly, but had six fairly seriously injured captives, including Rodolphus, Rabastan, and their father. Jeffrey had been one of the other three seriously injured, and was one of the Wizards that Harry helped to stabilize and get ready to move to St. Mungo's.

W-what happened?" he croaked. "I don't remember anything since – we were going to help the old man – Arnold found him collapsed in his cell, and called me to help, and then… How did we get here?"

"Try saving that load of hippogriff dung for someone who hasn't been investigating you for weeks," Harry told him, and smiled when the other man's eyes widened in shock. Harry nodded. "Welcome to reality, mate. I'd ask you if the money was still worth it for the years you'll be spending in here for the next twenty-five or fifty years, but then you won't be getting the second half of your payment, and we know where you hid the first fifty."

Jeffrey started to tremble violently, and then suddenly fainted from the pain. "You'll be glad that you're unconscious for the move to the hospital," Harry told him, though he was sure the other Wizard didn't hear him. "Apparating really hurts with broken bones."

It was quite a while before they were ready to go. While most of the Aurors returned to Headquarters with their eleven able-bodied prisoners, Harry and Ron were part of the group taking the six injured prisoners to St. Mungo's for treatment. They each made time to use their mirrors and let the girls know they were okay, and were put on guard duty with Susan and Terry while Neville, Josh, and Christine went on from the hospital to Headquarters to help out there.

"What's the point of all of you Aurors having reserved beds here if you aren't going to use them anymore," the Healer who had treated Harry's broken arm after the assassination attempt on Kingsley asked him. She was working on Rabastan while Harry kept a close watch on the dangerous Death Eater.

"We're good with not needing them as often," he answered; smiling in amusement even as he watched Rabastan glare at him with hate-filled eyes. "If our guests at Club Azkaban are going to keep trying to escape, though, maybe we should keep a standing order of beds available for them."

The Healer laughed and smiled too. "Maybe, but that won't be necessary for Mr. Lestrange. He should thank whoever took care of his triage for making this a comparatively easy job for me. Was that Christine?"

Harry shook his head. "She was busy with Rabastan's father and brother, and I seriously doubt he'll want to thank me for the help."

"This was your work?" she asked; obviously impressed. "I'd heard that you'd done well in your training here."

"That was just because they were comparing him to my pitiful skills," Ron told her as he walked over from the other side of the ward to give Harry the update on how Rodolphus and his father were doing. She laughed and smiled at him.

"I'd heard that too," she advised him.

"My two are going to be here for two or three days," Ron told Harry. "Susan said that they want to keep Harris until tomorrow; and the other two will be good to go by this afternoon. How's your guy?"

"I'll want to keep him for observation at least until this afternoon too," the Healer advised them. "If nothing else comes up, you can take him with the other two."

"Something tells me that we won't be watching Ginny and the Harpies play the Falcons this afternoon," Harry suggested.

"That's probably just as well," Ron answered with a shrug. "You and Mum were both ready to blast that lot during the first match."

"True, but the Falcons ought to be more worried about Ginny's dueling master mother than her Auror-trainee husband." He smiled at the look on Rabastan's face. "Your family knows as well as any just how good she is when protecting her baby, don't you?"

"Since the Falcons send patients to us after nearly every one of their matches, I might sympathize with you, Harry, but you're upsetting my patient, so this might be a good time for us to let him get some rest and let him calm down. I'm finished treating him, so you can bind him again – just not too tightly."

"Thank you. I'll be careful, and can let one of the others watch him so he won't be bothered by me," Harry offered.

"I'm sure that Neville would volunteer," Ron told him, "though he went on to Headquarters, so we'd have to get him back here. You know what a soft spot he has for Rodolphus and Rabastan."

"You're not helping matters, Auror-trainee Weasley," the Healer told him. "Put the body bind on him, Harry, I'll make sure he's okay still, and then you can both shoo."

Harry did that, and then they let Terry take over guarding him while they moved on to help Susan watch the other five patients. They took turns having breakfast and lunch breaks, and by mid-afternoon, they were relieved, and sent on to Headquarters with Rabastan and the other two prisoners. They processed them quickly, and then made a run up to Azkaban in time to take them over to the prison on the last ferry. They'd been back at Headquarters for about a half hour, and Harry had been working in his cubicle when Ginny walked into the office. He jumped up and hurried over, putting his arms gently around her and holding her close.

"What happened?" he whispered. She looked terrible and he could tell just from having his arms around her that she was in pain.

"The good news is that we won – three hundred and forty to one-twenty, and Gwenog and Lysa made sure that the Falcons will remember playing this game for a long time," she answered. "The bad news is that we got pretty beat up too. It's a really good thing that we have two weeks until our next game."

"You should go home and get some sleep," he suggested, and Ginny shook her head.

"I thought that you and Ron might forget with everything else that's happened today. Does dinner at the Leaky ring a bell? George's twenty-second birthday? I've come to fetch you and Ron if Emma can spare you for a couple of hours."

"I definitely can," Emma agreed; returning the smile that Ginny had directed her way as she'd approached them. "That's what I was coming to talk to you about anyway, Harry. I'd like you and Ron to get out of here, get some sleep, and then take over guard duty at St. Mungo's from two o'clock until eight. I'm setting up six hour shifts for that, and then you'll have a couple of hours after that to fill out your reports here, but then you'll be done until Monday morning. I thought you'd rather get the work over with early instead of having your shift tomorrow night."

"I would," Harry agreed. "Thanks. We'll tell Ron and get out of here."

Ginny and Emma talked together for a minute; mostly about how her game went, and then they picked Ron up on their way out, and hurried over to the Leaky Cauldron. George's party had started without them, but the food hadn't been delivered, and Mrs. Weasley had ordered for them, so they did a quick round of hugs and kisses, and then sat down at a table with Bill, Fleur, Percy, and Audrey.

After being awake for something like thirty-six hours, spending half the night crawling around Azkaban, a big fight, and then a double shift of guard duty, Harry really wasn't able to stay all that focused on what was happening at the party. He was pretty sure that he dozed off once during dinner; and as soon as George had opened his gifts, Ginny advised him that they were going home. He was ready to crawl into bed right then, until he saw the terrible bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over Ginny as they'd started to get changed, and he immediately forgot all about being tired.

"I don't know what happened in that game," he told her as he gently picked her up, "but it's probably a very good thing for the Falcons that I wasn't."

"I'll be fine, Harry," Ginny assured him before he silenced her with a soft, lingering kiss.

"You will be," he promised. "I'll see to that."

It had pretty much taken all he had left in him, but by the time Ginny was done with the Jacuzzi, massage, and magic therapy he had for her, she was completely whole again. When he finally succumbed to exhaustion, she snuggled close to him, and for the few hours he had before needing to get up again and get back to work, she watched over and took care of him.

While she lay there listening to his soft breathing and the beat of his heart, she thought about how crazy this weekend had been so far, and about everything they had going on in the weeks ahead. Spring was just starting to make its appearance, and she mused that putting an end to yet another Death Eater plot might speed that along, though se was also sure that there'd always be another case for Harry to work on. She had two tough games left to end the regular Quidditch season, and while they were now guaranteed a spot in the playoffs now, she privately was hoping they'd hold on to first place too. She was trying not to think about the playoffs at all, though she did still have big dreams about that.

Outside of work, Easter was just three weeks away, Teddy's second birthday was the Wednesday after Easter, and Fleur could have the baby anytime after that, though she was due the first week of May. Even with everything else going on, she thought that becoming an Aunt and Uncle would be what she and Harry would be sure was the most amazing moment of the spring and year for them. Anything else that happened would make their lives just that much more brilliant and fun.


	26. Hopes and Dreams Come True

Chapter Twenty-Six – Hopes and Dreams Come True

"Don't fall out of your chair or anything," Ron told Harry, "but I'm good with a week or two of guard duty."

"I won't, and so am I," Harry answered tiredly. "Other than that little break to work on the Zabini case, we've been at this one for four months. Nobody would have guessed it would end up like this, but I am looking forward to having a break in the action."

Ron laughed. "Why do I get the feeling we'll be saying that regularly for a long time to come?"

"Probably because we will. How'd you get your report done so fast? I haven't even gotten half-way through?"

"Easy. I just wrote up what I did when you weren't around, and then put a note in to refer to your report for the rest of the details."

"Auror-trainee Ron Weasley, total loser, was completely useless during the fight…" Harry pretended to write while Ron laughed again.

"That's pretty funny for a guy who's only had a few hours of sleep. I'll get out of here and let you get that done so you can go home too. See you in the morning."

"Okay. Have a good rest of the day, and give Hermione a hug for me," Harry said as Ron got up to leave.

Harry watched Ron leave for a minute, and then returned his attention to the report at hand. He knew that Ron hadn't been joking about the note he'd put on his report, and sometimes he wished that he could just do something like that too, but for some reason, he was actually pretty good at evaluating operations like the one they'd just completed at Azkaban, and he knew that the effort he put into doing that was appreciated. The fact that many of his ideas were beginning to show up in new policies and procedures that helped everyone was what really made the extra work worthwhile.

The couple of hours after their six-hour, two-to-eight, Sunday morning guard duty at St. Mungo's ended up being more like four for Harry, and it was nearly twelve-thirty by the time he got home again. Ginny had stayed awake on Saturday night until after he left, so she'd slept until around eleven. She hadn't eaten yet, so they made brunch together, and then spent the rest of the day doing some shopping, stopping to visit Teddy and Andromeda, and having dinner at the Burrow before going home to a very early bedtime.

Pulling guard duty did have a lot of upside, like having fairly short work days, and getting to take care of Ginny while she got ready for her last two regular season games. The downside was on the trips where Harry, Ron, and Susan in particular were stuck for hours with prisoners who felt it was necessary to continually taunt them about everything, including losing their relatives and other loved ones, and impotently promising the most lurid and ghastly horrors that would be inflicted on them when the Death Eaters and their pureblood allies got their revenge some day. Harry had thought that they had all done quite well dealing with all of that, and even Emma had only half-heartedly, and very mildly, chided Susan for the tripping spell she'd 'accidentally' used on the Death Eater who'd made a particularly nasty comment about what they'd done to her Aunt Amelia. Susan had apologized, after all, and had pulled the old Wizard out of the sea, dried him off, and fixed the broken nose he'd gotten from hitting the side of the ferry face first before falling into the icy water.

While escorting Death Eaters, their new buddies, and the two former Azkaban guards between the prison and Ministry of Magic courtrooms kept Harry busy during the day, he left that behind when he went home each night, and focused most of his attention on taking care of Ginny, and having a little fun with her, and their family too. She studied all week, but the both took Friday night and Saturday morning off, had Teddy stay overnight with them, and played with him. There were a total of four Seeker duels during the week and on the weekend, and they went to a family dinner at the Burrow on Sunday evening that Bill and Fleur, Ron and Hermione, and George were all there for too.

Harry, Ron, Susan, and Terry ended up having four more days of guard duty, and then while Susan and Terry went back to working with their trainers again, Emma met with Ron and Harry on Friday morning, and assigned them a case investigating some Avery family cousins who were now apparently in charge of the family estates and businesses. They spent the rest of the day on Friday in Harry's cubicle, reading over the files that Emma had given them, but were taking the weekend off again before really getting started on their new assignment.

They had a beautiful, warm spring day for the game against the Magpies on Saturday, and Harry and Teddy were both excited and happy to be going to the game together. Ron and Hermione were at a Cannons game, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had brought Percy and Audrey with them. Harry and Teddy had gotten to the Yorkshire stadium early, and had been in their seats for fifteen or twenty minutes before his parents and brother in-laws, and sister-in-law to be joined them. Teddy had hugs for all of them, and then they still had another twenty minutes to go before game time to sit down and catch up on everything that Percy and Audrey were doing, and how everything was going with the wedding preparations.

The Harpies and Magpies played a pretty good match, and there were some pretty exciting moments, but the Harpies had taken a small lead early, and kept it throughout the game. Harry had been sure that Ginny would win the game right from the start too, mostly because the Magpies Seeker seemed to be having problems keeping up with her, and for whatever reason, was not on his game at all today. Ginny made that catch when the score was one-eighty to one-ten; giving her team their twenty-first win. With just one game left, they were also still in first place, and the there were really only two other teams with a realistic shot at passing them, and almost no way that they could now do worse than third place.

Once she got home after the game, the rest of the weekend was going to be Ginny's last chance to have a break until whenever the Harpies' season ended, so she and Harry planned on spending that time together. That time included a romantic night for two at home on Saturday night, and then sleeping in late on Sunday morning. Harry had breakfast ready for them by the time Ginny joined him in the kitchen; and they were both smiling happily as she hugged and kissed him before sitting down at the table.

"I guess you were right," she told him. "Staying in bed with you all day sounded like a good plan, but this smells great, and I really am hungry." Laughing happily, she pulled him close for another kiss when he set a plate down in front of her. "Not that I have to wonder why we might be hungry," she added, "and we can always go back to the other plan later."

"Yes we can," Harry agreed, "though I think we should go out for a few hours first."

"Go out and do what?" Ginny asked as he sat down at the table too, and they started eating.

"Easter is next weekend, and you'll need to work pretty much all of the time, except for the party at Christine and Bryce's, and Sunday dinner at the Burrow, so today is probably our only chance to do some shopping. We've got to pick up Easter presents; Teddy's birthday is the Wednesday after Easter, and you may want to pick up a few more things for Bill and Fleur, since the baby will be along anytime after that."

"I've pretty much picked up everything we're getting for them until we find out whether they have a boy or girl," Ginny answered. "There will definitely be some clothes shopping in my future once we do know. What are you thinking about getting Teddy this year? A real Firebolt?"

Harry laughed. "That'd be a really cool present, but no, I don't think I'd like to find out what Andromeda would do to me if I gave him something like that. Quality Quidditch does have a toy Quidditch set that I thought he'd like, though."

Ginny nodded. "The company that makes that is one of our team sponsors. The set even comes with two sets of kid-sized goals and the bludgers, quaffle, and Beater bats are all soft, stuffed plush toys. Some days, I wish we used them in our games."

"That might be fun, but the games wouldn't last long, since it'd take the Seekers about a second to catch that stuffed snitch on a Firebolt. I thought we could get him another dragon or two for his collection too, and then we can find gifts for Dawn, Jeremy, and Kate for Easter. Do you want to get anything for your parents and brothers too?"

They talked that out while having breakfast, and then, after cleaning up, they headed for Diagon Alley. While spending a few hours shopping for birthday and Easter presents was fun, it was the play time before and after that trip that had made for a brilliant, memorable weekend. It was back to the hard work and long days for both of them on Monday, and while Ginny got ready for her game against Puddlemere United, Harry worked with Ron on their new case, starting with a lot of digging through Ministry of Magic records, and some preliminary field work.

It was actually pretty quiet around Auror Headquarters while they were doing that, and while Harry and Ron weren't in the loop for any of the other cases that were being worked on, either some progress was being made on some of those cases, or their fellow Aurors were just out and enjoying the spring weather after a long, cold winter. Ron was taking the weekend off, but Harry took work home with him, since Ginny would be studying a lot anyway. He made dinner for two after work on Friday, and then they both spent the evening studying until curfew time. On Saturday morning, Ginny got back to her work, while Harry took care of the cleaning, supply shopping, and breakfast and lunch meals for them. After lunch, they picked Teddy up, and headed over to the Campbell's house for the welcome home, Easter weekend party.

"You're not breaking any team rules by hugging the enemy so close to the big game, are you?" Harry joked when Dawn welcomed them excitedly with hugs and kisses. She and Ginny both laughed as she hugged Teddy.

"I'm fairly sure that Teddy hasn't been sorted yet, so he's not the enemy at all, and that rule only applies to the players, not the House non-combatants," Dawn answered. "I'm really glad you could come today. Mum keeps me updated with everything she can tell me about work, but we seriously need to catch up on what's going on with the Harpies, Ginny."

"I would've thought that was all public knowledge," Ginny said with a laugh, and Dawn grinned at her.

"The really good stuff probably isn't," she disagreed. "Like how things are really going between Gwenog and Kirley, or Alicia and Lee. There's almost no news at all on Angelina, except that she's been seen out with your brother, George, and never without being part of a bigger group. You must have the inside scoop on all of that, and anything else that's going on."

"Are you in training to join the Aurors or thinking about a career in investigative journalism?" Ginny asked.

"This week, I still want to grow up to play for the Harpies, though that changes depending on how many bruises I have after any given practice from the bludgers. Come in, do the rounds, and get drinks, and we can talk about all of that later," she suggested. "I'm sure Teddy's more interested in going to play with the other kids instead of sitting around and talking anyway."

Harry had been more interested in playing than talking about the love lives of Ginny's teammates, and though he didn't completely escape those conversations, he did spend an hour or so playing with Teddy and the other younger kids. Having the star Seeker for the Harpies at the party was a much bigger deal for those kids than seeing Harry there, but they were quite happy to let him play with them – especially when Ginny sat down to play with them too.

"Come on, kids," Christine said as she walked into the room. "Time to put your dolls, dragons, and the rest of your toys away. Dinner's almost ready."

"They're action figures, Mum, and do we have too?" Harry asked; which had Ginny and most of the kids and teens in the room laughing.

"Yes you do, and if they're action figures, why is your Wasps' Seeker wearing a dress? I'm sure that he, and the rest of the Wasps team, would find a picture of you and Ginny playing like this very entertaining."

"Or we could just not do that," Harry countered. "After all, Ginny does have a reputation to worry about."

He and Ginny stayed and helped the kids with the cleanup, and then took Teddy with them, and followed the rest of the kids out to the dining room. Teddy wanted to hang out with Dawn and Jonathan while they ate, so Harry and Ginny were able to spend nearly an hour chatting with some of the other grownups, though most of those conversations revolved around kids and what they'd all be doing over the Easter holiday. Harry helped Bryce and some of the other guys with the after-dinner cleanup, and then it was time to head for home so that Ginny could study for a couple of hours before bedtime.

"I'm going to be busy all week, but if you and Jonathan aren't busy next Saturday, how would you like to come to my game with Harry, Teddy, and my parents?" Ginny asked Dawn as she hugged her goodbye. Dawn shouted excitedly, and hugged her back, then hugged Harry and Jonathan.

"We'd love to, and even if we are busy, we'll cancel," she assured Ginny. "Thank you!"

"If that's what you really want, it's okay with us," Bryce told his oldest daughter, while smiling at the looks of disappointment on Jeremy's and Kate's faces. "I'm sure that your brother and sister can find friends to bring along to the Wasps' match while you and Jonathan go watch that second-class game between the Harpies and United." He and Christine both laughed when Jeremy and Kate had big smiles and hugs for them on that news.

"Good timing," Christine complimented him, "though you might regret that comment if our Wasps do pull off a miracle and make the playoffs, since we'd be facing the Harpies in the first round."

Bryce laughed. "I like to dream big like all good Wasps fans, honey, but I don't think we're going to get that miracle this season. I'd put our chances of moving from tenth to eighth at somewhere between slim and zero."

"The good news being that there's always next season," Christine said philosophically.

"Which me, Teddy, and every other Harpies fan will be very excited about – right after we watch our team win the Championship this year," Dawn told her parents as she hugged Teddy.

"Let's just concentrate on the United game," Ginny suggested. "Every match is big now, and anything can happen."

They wrapped up the goodbyes shortly after that, took Teddy back to Andromeda, and then went home for the night. Ginny worked for a couple of hours, and they ended their day with some play time that had them both still smiling brightly on Sunday morning while Ginny got back to her studies, and Harry went outside to do some yard work. All of the kids, and Aunt Muriel were going to the Burrow for Easter dinner, so Harry and Ginny wrapped up their work by shortly before noon, and went over there to help out with everything from de-gnoming the garden to the cooking and baking. By three-thirty, most of the work was done, and the two couples were ready to welcome the rest of their family, and enjoy spending the rest of the day with them.

"What's the problem with the rest of you?" Aunt Muriel asked in her booming voice. "Bill and Fleur finally got around to starting a family. The war's been over for two years now! I remember after the big one – when Dumbledore defeated Grindewald – that everyone and their kneazle cats were getting married and having babies."

"Aunt Muriel, the other boys aren't even married yet, and Ginny and Harry haven't even been married a year."

"Which is more than long enough for them to have figured out how things work by now," Aunt Muriel answered, and barked out a laugh when she heard Ginny's laugh, and saw Harry blushing. "I suppose you won't be getting in a family way for a while, will you?"

Ginny laughed again. "Probably not," she agreed. "Being pregnant would likely really hurt poster and toy sales, and has a tendency to end Quidditch careers."

Aunt Muriel laughed again too. "If you all looked as beautiful as Fleur does now, you'd sell more posters," she suggested before turning her attention to the other boys. "I got the invitation for Percy's wedding, but haven't heard a thing about the rest of you. Molly and I had better not hear that the two of you are just leading these two young girls on," she told Charlie and Ron. "I know you've got that lop-sided ear thing, George, but there must be at least one girl out there for you somewhere. Maybe you just need a little help finding her."

"I'm already getting more help from my friends than I need, thanks anyway, Aunt Muriel," George answered. "You and Mum should definitely keep an eye on Charlie and Ron, though. They have been dating their girls for a couple of years now, and you might be right about them."

"Not if they know what's good for them, and quite trying to stir up trouble for your brothers," Mrs. Weasley told all three of them; which had Aunt Muriel laughing again.

While Aunt Muriel definitely ruled the Burrow from the time she arrived until Harry and Ginny escorted her home, Fleur and Audrey were at the center of most of the conversations as they talked about babies and weddings. Ginny and Hermione were both happy to join in, while Harry and Ron mostly stayed out of the way, and talked about sports and work with the other guys. It was another whirlwind handful of hours together that was over too soon, and after seeing Aunt Muriel home, Harry and Ginny were both ready for a little quiet study time before bed.

The last week of April was even busier than normal. In addition to putting in long days at work, Ginny had Harry do three more Seeker duels with her after dinner on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Dean and Parvati, and Terry and Padma, were getting married on Saturday, but since Harry and Ginny couldn't attend because of her game, they went out for dinner with the two couples on Tuesday night, along with Ron and Hermione, Ernie and Susan, and Seamus and Lavender. On Wednesday, they went to Andromeda's house for Teddy's second birthday party, and spent most of the evening playing with Teddy in the back yard, including a long Quidditch match with his new toy Quidditch set that kept Andromeda, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and the other adults very entertained.

Finally, it was Saturday, and while Ginny went to work in the morning, Harry did his usual work and shopping routine, then got ready to go out, and left to pick up Teddy, Dawn, and Jonathan. They went out for lunch at one of the cafés in Diagon Alley, and then moved on to the Bodmin stadium with lots of time to wander the concession stands before meeting up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and getting settled in to watch the game.

"I'd say that playing with Angelina and Alicia when you were all at Gryffindor is making a big difference today, but the girls practiced against Oliver back then too, and it's not helping them out there," Mrs. Weasley told Harry, Arthur, and the kids after they watched Oliver make another great save on a tough shot from Angelina.

"He does seem to have some advantage against them, though," Mr. Weasley added thoughtfully. "I don't see what it is off-hand, but he's in the right place at the right time for nearly every play."

Harry had been thinking that it was more than just a really great Keeper performance too, though he hadn't seen anything obvious either, and it wasn't like Valmai was having any more luck against Oliver. Ginny was in another tough battle with the United Seeker too, and didn't have any luck with her either when, at the four hour and forty-one minute mark, the United Seeker cleanly beat her to the snitch, and gave his team the two hundred and fifty to seventy victory.

"She won't be at all happy about that," Mrs. Weasley predicted. "It was her mistake in that first loss, but I'd say that this time, the United Seeker just flat-out won."

"United wanted this win a lot," Dawn pointed out. "For them, this will probably be the difference between playing the Catapults or Prides and playing the Kestrels in the first round. It's even possible that Glynnis didn't want to win this game, depending on whether she'd prefer going up against the Falcons or the Arrows next weekend."

"You might be right about that," Mr. Weasley told her; nodding toward where Ginny was shaking hands with the United Seeker, "but I'm sure that Ginny isn't faking how she feels about the loss, even though she is still smiling."

Harry found out later that they were both right. Glynnis hadn't been particularly upset over the loss; and Ginny definitely wasn't happy about getting beat. She was so unhappy that after going out for dinner with their parents, Teddy, Andromeda, Jonathan, Dawn, and her family, she had Harry spend two hours out on the Quidditch pitch with her before letting him help her out with the full Jacuzzi, massage, and magic bedtime treatment.

Glynnis may have been hoping for the loss to drop the Harpies to second place, but apparently the Catapults and Prides weren't interested in taking advantage of the opportunity; leaving the Harpies in first place. That meant they'd be playing the Falcons on Saturday, and Ginny didn't plan on waiting until Monday to start getting ready for that game. Part of that work included three Quidditch workouts.

"I want you to cheat!" she told Harry fiercely. "How am I supposed to get ready for the Falcons if you don't?"

Harry flew up next to her, leaned close, and kissed her tenderly. "That's as close to cheating as I'll go," he advised her, "and I don't want you trying that move out on the Falcons' players, or we'll be having a little talk after the game. Let's work on avoiding those dirty tricks, 'cause there's no way I'll do anything that could hurt you."

Ginny laughed and hugged him. "I love you, and won't try that kissing move with anyone but you," she promised. "How do you suggest that we practice avoiding cheap shots without you using any against me?"

"We've both seen the moves their players have used against you in your first two games," Harry answered with a shrug. "I'm sure that we can come up with some new defenses for those, and maybe throw in a few tricks and fakes of our own to keep them off-balance." He grinned at her. "You have a lot of different spins and rolls in your game, but I was thinking that an inverted over or under flip that puts you on the other side of your opponent might be good – especially if you suddenly weren't there when they try to ram you or block you into a bludger attack." He then demonstrated by doing a fairly slow-motion three-sixty, head-to-head flip over Ginny's head, and then another one that had his broom just brushing her feet as he rolled underneath her.

"I like it," Ginny said enthusiastically, and Harry laughed when she hugged him again.

"It'll be very cool if we can work out doing that at high-speed without crashing. Why don't you try it the same way I just did it, and then we'll start working on it while we're flying around."

They worked on that for most of the morning, and on some other moves during the two hours they worked after lunch. Ginny had George come over for dinner, and then recruited him to play Beater against them, mostly so they could try some of their new moves at full speed while dodging bludgers. Unlike Harry, he was more than happy to try his very best against them, and while Ginny only had one bruise from that practice, Harry had more than a few sore spots to prove that George could still play the game well enough.

It was back to work on Monday, but even after a grueling day of training, Ginny still wanted to go out to the pitch and work with Harry until nearly dark. After that, she took the time to have Harry and their Jacuzzi help her with the soreness and pain, and then she snuggled in bed with him, Arnold, and her Falcons' study material. That's where they were when Mr. Weasley popped over shortly after eleven to advise them that Fleur had gone into labor, and was on the way to St. Mungo's.

"I'll go to the hospital with Dad while you pop over to get Fleur's Mum and Dad," Ginny told him as they both went upstairs again to get dressed while Mr. Weasley waited for Ginny.

Harry nodded and smiled at her. "We can do that, though you've got time if you want to come along."

"Are you guessing, or is this one of those feelings?"

"Let's just say that I'm fairly sure that we're about to be given a very special miracle to celebrate May second for."

Ginny's eyes opened wide, and she threw her arms around him. "I wasn't even thinking about that!" she whispered. "This would be a pretty big day to have for a birthday."

"True, but I'm going to love having something really great to remember that will offset the memories that aren't so good."

"Most people would say that what happened two years ago was really great, but I know what you mean," Ginny said quietly as she hugged him tightly for another minute before letting him go again, and smiling at him. "Does your feeling give you any hints on whether it's a boy or girl?"

Harry grinned too. "Yes, but I'm not telling. You'll know soon enough."

Harry waited until after Ginny and her father left for St. Mungo's, and then he created the Portkey he was going to need to bring the Delacours to London before apparating to their home in France. That had been planned ahead of time, so Fleur's parents weren't surprised with his arrival. They already had bags packed and ready to go for whenever the call did come, so it only took them about fifteen minutes to get dressed, and then they took the Portkey to St. Mungo's. By the time they got there, Ron, Hermione, and George were there, but they hadn't been able to let Percy or Audrey know yet, and since it was two hours later in Romania, they decided not to wake Charlie, and would let him know in the morning.

"How are you doing, Aunt Ginny?" Harry asked as she hugged him in welcome; and Mrs. Weasley led Fleur's parents into the room Fleur was in.

"I'm fine, Uncle Harry," she assured him. "So is Fleur, but Bill's a bit of a mess."

"Since I'll probably be as bad or worse when it's our turn, I won't comment on how Bill's handling impending fatherhood. He is going to be a great Dad."

"Yes he is," Ginny agreed. "Come and sit down in the waiting room. There's not much we can do now except keep everyone company."

They had quite a few hours to wait, and Ginny spent some of that time studying, chatting with the rest of the family, and even having a short nap snuggled next to Harry. Victoire Weasley was born at four thirty-six in the morning, and was a beautiful, seven pound, thirteen ounce, blond-haired, blue-eyed charmer who immediately stole the hearts of her entire family. The proud first-time grandparents went in to see their granddaughter first, and Harry and Ginny were the last to visit Fleur, Bill, and Victoire.

"She seems rather unimpressed with her most famous aunt and uncle," Bill teased as he watched Ginny cradle his little girl.

"That's just fine with us," Ginny told him, "and we're very impressed with her. You and Fleur did good, big brother. She's beautiful. How are you, Fleur? You look beautiful too."

Fleur laughed tiredly. "I don't feel beautiful right now, but the Healers tell us that I'm fine, and the restorative should have me feeling better soon."

"That and some rest," Bill agreed.

"We'll let you get to that," Ginny told her, and passed Victoire to Harry so he could hold her for a minute too before she took her niece back long enough to tuck her in with Fleur again. They chatted for a few more minutes with Bill and Fleur, and then left to meet up with the others in the waiting room.

"We've got a few things to do first, but why don't we all meet up at the Burrow for breakfast in an hour or so?" Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"Let's make it an hour and a half," Ginny answered. "Harry and I have some running around to do too, and then we'll both need to get ready for work too."

That ended up being the plan, though while Fleur's parents left for Shell Cottage, the rest of them apparated to the cemetery to visit Fred. Ginny had been holding hands with Harry as they walked through the cemetery, but left him to go put a comforting arm around George as they gathered around the headstone.

"Our first niece was just born," George said quietly. "I guess you'd know already; and that she lucked out and got Fleur's looks. I guess Ginny's broken the Weasley boys-only thing for good. I don't know if having Victoire join us today is part of some big plan, but if it is, thank whoever is responsible. I still miss you like it happened yesterday, but this does help all of us."

He lost it then when Ginny wrapped both arms around him and cried into his chest, and he held on to her for long minutes before gently passing her off to Harry, and hugging his mother next. Just as they'd done last year, they talked about Fred, and most of those stories were of the happy and light-hearted memories they all had of him. Harry summoned the flowers that he had picked up to put there, and when everyone was ready to go, he and Ginny went on a little tour while the rest of their family went on to the Burrow.

Those stops included delivering flowers to the cemeteries where Remus and Tonks, Colin Creevey, and Professor Snape rested, and then they hopped over to Romania to give Charlie the news, and set him up with a Portkey so he and Julianne could make a trip to visit his niece later in the day after work. By the time they'd gone home to get cleaned up, and then gone on to the Burrow, breakfast was nearly ready, the Delacours had arrived, and they found out that George had gone to let Percy know that he was an uncle now while they'd been running around.

"Will you be able to stay for a week like you'd hoped?" Mrs. Weasley asked the Delacours, and Apolline nodded.

"I can stay and help Fleur at least until Sunday," she agreed. "Grandpapa here will have to go back home later today, and come back on the weekend."

"And by then, they'll be ready to have us out of the way," Monsieur Delacour predicted. "We will need to come and visit more often from now on, though. You are lucky to be so close to them."

"We are," Mrs. Weasley said with a bright smile, "though we'll give them as much space as they need too."

"Along with more free babysitting than they'll know what to do with," Ginny added.

Victoire was pretty much the focus of the entire breakfast conversation, though only the grandparents had time to have a long visit, while Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and George all needed to eat fairly quickly, and then either leave for work, or to go home and get ready for work. Since they hadn't had any sleep, Harry and Ron decided to work in the office all day, since doing field work when tired wasn't a good plan at all. That had made for a fairly easy day for them, and Harry went home early so he could have dinner ready to go by the time Ginny got back from work.

"I'll guess that being up all night, and having a new niece wasn't an excuse for having a light training day," he surmised when Ginny walked into the kitchen. She looked fairly beat up and sore; and he could see dark bruises on both of her arms. She laughed, but there wasn't any amusement in the sound.

"The food smells great, but I'd really appreciate it if you could put dinner on hold, and help me now instead of later," she told him. "Does that give you an idea of how bad it was?"

Harry didn't hesitate, and with a wave of his hand, put a freezing spell on their meal, then gently picked her up, and took her upstairs to take care of what he soon found out were a lot of minor injuries and strains. That took nearly an hour, and then they had a quick dinner, picked up Teddy on the way, and headed for Shell Cottage, where the rest of the family had already gathered with plans to spend most of the evening with Bill, Fleur, and Victoire.

"Vic-toire," Ginny told Teddy, slowly pronouncing the two syllables for him.

"Yik-tor?" Teddy tried uncertainly, and Ginny prompted him to try again, emphasizing the sounds he hadn't quite worked out. "Victoire," he finally said successfully, and she hugged him with the arm she had around him.

"That's exactly right," she told him. "Do you like Victoire?" Ginny was holding the baby too, and he reached out to touch Victoire's cheek.

"I guess," he agreed somewhat indifferently. "I like blue eyes." He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face for a moment, and then looked up at Ginny with a grin. "You like blue eyes too?"

Ginny laughed and hugged him again. "They're very nice, Teddy, but you've made yours sort of a midnight dark blue, and I love your real eye color quite a lot, so you don't have to change it for me."

Teddy laughed too, and after another moment, had changed them back again. "Do you think that Y-Victoire would like to play dragons with me?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm sure she will when she's able to, sweetie, but Victoire won't be big enough to do that for quite a while," Ginny advised him. "I'm sure that Uncle Harry or Uncle Ron will play with you, though."

That quickly had Teddy off and running, and Ginny cuddled with Victoire until her turn was up, and it was time to pass the baby on, with Hermione getting the next turn. Harry, Ginny, and Teddy were in the first group to head for home, along with Ron and Hermione, and they took Teddy back to Andromeda first before going back to their place, where Ginny ended up studying in bed until exhaustion claimed her, and she was out until morning.

Harry and Ginny didn't see their niece for the rest of the week as he and Ron got back to working their case; and she focused all of her time and energy on getting ready for the match against the Falcons. They did Seeker duels on Wednesday and Thursday evenings after dinner, but Harry insisted that she completely take Friday night off, and rest up to be ready for a long, tough day and game on Saturday.

Season's tickets didn't extend into the playoffs, but they did give Harry and the other Wizards and Witches who did have them preferential treatment when it came to buying playoff tickets, so he was able to pick up enough for everyone in the family, and a few extras for some friends to come along to the game too. That guest list included Andromeda, Teddy, and Aunt Muriel, and Harry met up with them; and with most of the Weasley clan and the rest of their friends at the Leaky in time to have lunch before going on to Exmoor stadium for the game.

They had a great block of seats, in three rows, and Harry and Teddy were in the middle row with the rest of the 'youngsters', though he was also next to Andromeda and his father-in-law, and they had Aunt Muriel and Mrs. Weasley in the row behind them. Fleur didn't come to the game, but ordered Bill to go along, assuring him that she and her parents could handle taking care of Victoire for a few hours while he went to watch his sister's very first playoff game.

Harry had Teddy completely set up with all of the best playoff gear from the concessions, along with lots of drinks and snacks, and while Teddy did spend a lot of time with Harry, he was also quite happy to be passed around before the game and chat happily with everyone else, including Aunt Muriel. She'd found the little boy quite entertaining, and he'd charmed her at the speed of a few happy hugs.

There was nearly a half-hour before game time when they got to their seats, and other than needing to make a quick trip to the washroom with Teddy, Harry spent most of that time talking with Ron, Hermione, and the others sitting closest to him. He knew that Ginny and the Harpies had done everything they could to get ready for the game, but this was one match he really wasn't looking forward to sitting through; knowing that the Falcon's players would pull every dirty trick in the book out and weren't just out to win, but to really hurt their opponent players. When the game did finally get started, after a fairly lengthy opening ceremony, it didn't take long to see that the Falcons were out to get Ginny, and were also keying in on Angelina and Alicia too. Harry wasn't a jump up and yell kind of fan, but it he, and everyone else, soon found out where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny inherited their fire from.

"COME OVER HERE AND TRY THAT YOU DIRTY CHEAT!" Aunt Muriel bellowed. "THE REF MAY BE BLIND BUT THE REST OF US SAW THAT. NO WONDER YOUR OWN GRANNY TELLS ME YOU'RE A COMPLETE ROTTER!"

"Did his grandmother really tell you that?" Harry heard Mrs. Weasley ask her quietly, and smiled as he heard both women laugh. That smile hardened when he caught sight of a bludger coming right at Aunt Muriel, and he deflected it harmlessly away from her, and then watched both women get up and start hollering at the offending Falcons' Beater.

The entire game went pretty much like that, and while Harry still managed to be amused by his frail Aunt Muriel's unending energy and the vocal outbursts from her and Mrs. Weasley, he had to grit his teeth and watch with simmering anger as the Falcons systematically beat up on the three rookie members of the Harpies. The plays that he and Ginny had worked on were helping, and she'd obviously worked with the rest of her team on them too, but over an hours-long game, they were all still taking a lot of hard hits, and the wear and tear was showing on all of them. Trish had been playing a brilliant game, and despite everything the Falcons threw at them, Angelina, Alicia, and Valmai had built a one hundred and thirty to fifty lead, though by then, the tide in the game did seem to be slowly turning in favor of the Falcons.

Ginny finally put on a move that the Falcons defense couldn't stop, and she dodged a bludger, pulled a mid-air flip to lose the Falcons' Seeker, and caught the snitch to give the Harpies a two hundred and eighty to fifty win. She wheeled around, raising the snitch above her head in victory, and the fierce pride and joy Harry was feeling drained away as he, and everyone else except Ginny, saw the Falcons' Beater hurtling in from her blind side, and ramming her at full-speed, throwing in a vicious hit with his bat that hit Ginny so hard, the crack echoed around the stadium even over the roar of the victorious Harpies fans.

He had already been on his feet, and watched as Ginny fought to stay on her broom, her face white with pain, and her eyes flashing with anger. As soon as he saw that she was able to do that, and that Gwenog and Lysa were there protecting and supporting her as they all flew toward the ground, he turned toward Andromeda, and held Teddy out to her.

"Can you take him, please?" he asked. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay, Harry," she agreed, "but take a deep breath, and don't do anything you'll regret later."

Harry tried to smile, but it didn't really work very well. "The only thing I'll regret today is not turning that moron into a bludger, and letting Gwenog and George play around with him for a few months."

With that, he turned and apparated directly to the pitch, where he met Ginny as soon as she landed. She was cradling her arm, and Lysa was being very careful not to touch her along that side of her body. Ginny smiled wanly at him, though there was still that spark of anger in her eyes, mixed in with the pain he could now physically sense in her.

"While watching you play with the Falcons for a while might be fun, how would you feel about giving me and the rest of the girls a hand instead?" she suggested. "We've all had a fairly tough time of it at work today."

Harry laughed, and gently took over supporting Ginny from Gwenog and Lysa. A meaningful glance from her had him remembering to take out his wand, and then he re-directed a fair bit of the pent-up anger he was feeling into not only healing Ginny's three cracked ribs, the broken arm, and the dozens of other smaller injuries she'd suffered during the game, but healing all of those little injuries that the other six members of her team had suffered too as they all stared at him in stunned amazement.

"No, you can't have him," Ginny joked; smiling brightly again now. "He's all mine." She hugged and kissed Harry. "Thank you. We really appreciate that a lot, honey." Turning back to the rest of her teammates, her smile brightened several notches. "Shall we go shake hands with the Falcons, and let them know there are no hard feelings?" she suggested sweetly, which had the other girls laughing.

"That's so deviously brilliant," Angelina complimented her, "and it'll be the last thing they expect."

"You go have fun," Harry told her. "I'll go back and let the others know you're alright, and I really don't think I should hang around anywhere near those jerks until I'm done being mad at them. Congratulations. You all played a brilliant game today."

Ginny hugged and kissed him again. "Thanks; I love you too; and trust me – seeing us happy and healthy so soon after the game is going to bug them all through the off-season, and be a lot worse than anything we could get away with in front of a whole stadium of witnesses. I love you, and will see you back at home later." Harry nodded, hugged her one more time, and then apparated back to his seat, where he spent the next fifteen minutes being grilled by their family while waiting for the worst of the mad dash for the exits to be over.

"I'd say Ginny's right about that," Hermione suggested as she nodded toward where the Falcons' players were now all looking quite dour and sullen after the Harpies had moved on from congratulating them for a well-played match. They had all been smiling, and looking like they'd won the game instead of losing it when they'd first landed; enjoying getting to see the Harpies players in so much pain, and Harry had to agree with Hermione, even if he still had a very strong urge to blast the whole team all the way back to Falmouth.

"Maybe," Ron agreed, "but that's not nearly as satisfying as a good brawl would be, like they'd have in the old days before the game got civilized."

Hermione just stared at him in disbelief. "You call what happened out there to your sister civilized?" she asked incredulously.

Ron shrugged. "The Falcons play dirty, but that's just part of the game, and that wasn't even as bad as some of the injuries Harry had playing for Gryffindor."

"I wouldn't have had any major injuries if it hadn't been for Dementors, rogue bludgers, and idiot reserve Keepers bashing me in the back of the head with bludgers," Harry pointed out. "I'm with Hermione on this one, mate – not that I expect the game to be cleaned up anytime soon."

"You'd go nuts if anyone cheated playing Wizards Chess against you," Hermione added. "I don't know how you don't see how the Falcons played today the same way."

"It's not the same at all," Ron said stubbornly. "This is Quidditch, and it's not like other teams and players don't play dirty sometimes too, including some of the Harpies. I don't remember you guys protesting when Ginny crashed into Zacharias Smith after that one game, and he wasn't even playing that day."

"She didn't break his arm and ribs, and wasn't trying to put him in St. Mungo's," Hermione countered.

"And he had it coming to him," Harry added, "though you do have a point. That just means that we could have played a little better too."

"Stop it," Ron pleaded. "You're scaring me."

While Harry had been talking with Ron and Hermione, Mrs. Weasley had been busy with Aunt Muriel, who had still been quite vocally offering commentary on 'that brute' of a Falcons' Beater that mostly entertained everyone within hearing distance of her – which pretty much included everyone still in the stadium. Quite a few fans looked as disappointed as Ron seemed to be that a brawl hadn't started up, and there were a lot of Witches and Wizards waiting to make sure they didn't miss any fireworks between the two teams before finally making their way to the exits. George, Lee, and some of the others started leaving shortly after the game was over, and Harry had assured them that Ginny was okay, but he, Ron, and Hermione stayed with their parents, Andromeda, Teddy, and Aunt Muriel until the crowds in the aisles had thinned out considerably.

Harry went straight home after the game, and had dinner ready for Ginny by the time she joined him there. A lot of Harpies fans were likely out celebrating late, but their team was already starting to focus on the next playoff round. They'd finished cleaning up from dinner by the time that Ginny found out, from listening to the WWN, that they'd be playing Puddlemere United in the semifinals. She quickly pulled out her files on the team, and then spent the rest of the evening cuddled with Harry; studying the same material she'd just spent two weeks poring over until just a week ago. Harry was happy to snuggle with her, listen to the WWN, and talk Quidditch strategy with her for playing against the talented United Seeker.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and after ending their night on Saturday with Ginny having a rather brilliant and enthusiastic thank-you for Harry's help after the game, they were both in high spirits when they got their day started early in the morning. They were hosting the Mother's Day dinner, and had a lot of work to get done before their guests would be arriving starting around mid-afternoon. After breakfast, they went shopping for groceries, and a first Mother's Day gift for Fleur. When they got home, they spent a few hours working around the house and yard, and then got cleaned up and ready to welcome their family and start getting some of the dishes for dinner ready.

"Molly told me that they'd used a freezing spell on the place, but even so, it looks exactly like it did the last time I was here," Aunt Muriel said loudly as Ginny hugged her. She'd come over with Arthur and Molly, and they were both smiling as Ginny hugged them next and wished her mother a happy Mother's Day.

"Did you know my grandparents well?" Harry asked her as he made the rounds of hugs too.

"Well enough," she answered, "though I knew your great-grandparents and others, like Charlus and Dorea quite a bit better."

"You should tell Harry and Ginny about them sometime," Mrs. Weasley suggested. "I'm sure they'd love to find out more about Harry's family. I think that Charlus and Dorea had a son, but he was five or six years ahead of Arthur and I at Hogwarts, and we didn't really know him at all."

Aunt Muriel nodded. "They did, but he died too young, like our Fabian and Gideon did. Some years before Charlus and Dorea died too, if I remember correctly. We've lost so many of our best and brightest during these wars."

"Yes we have," Molly agreed tearfully, and Ginny hugged her again.

"We're going to have dinner indoors, but since it's such a nice afternoon, we thought it'd be nice to sit outside until then," Ginny told them. "Would you like a tour of the house before we do that, Aunt Muriel? We have made a few changes over the last couple of years."

Aunt Muriel had wanted to do that, so while she, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley did that, Mr. Weasley joined Harry in the kitchen, and they chatted while Harry continued working on making dinner. They were both smiling when Aunt Muriel led the way into the kitchen, continuing a running commentary that they'd been able to hear pretty much the entire time they'd been on the short tour.

"Ginny tells me you've a House Elf," she declared. "Why on earth are you not getting it to do all of the cooking and cleaning? Is it defective?"

Harry laughed. "Kreacher is quite old, but has proven to be a very good House Elf. We like doing the work around here ourselves, and he's quite busy enough taking care of Grimmauld Place for us."

Aunt Muriel snorted. "You'd need an army of House Elves for that place. Molly and Arthur have told me stories about what it was like when the Order was using it for a hideout. Too bad - it was a grand old place once. I still can't believe that scoundrel, Sirius, used the master bedroom to keep a hippogriff."

"That wasn't very nice," Mrs. Weasley conceded, "but Sirius had some anger issues when it came to his parents that he maybe didn't deal with very well."

"Let's get some drinks, and go outside while we wait for the others to get here," Ginny suggested. "Can I call first dibs on playing with Victoire when she gets here with Bill and Fleur, or do grandparents and great aunts get to cuddle with her first?"

Harry helped her with doing that, and by the time that Bill, Fleur, Victoire, and the Delacours arrived, Ginny had won the 'who gets to hold the baby first' battle, and happily took custody of Victoire while everyone else was doing the hugs and kisses welcome. Andromeda and Teddy, Ron and Hermione, Percy and Audrey, Charlie and Julianne, and George all joined the little party over the next few hours, with George coming over after closing the store for the day. Harry and Ginny timed dinner to be ready for then; and the next hour and a half was filled with entertaining stories about the mothers in the group.

The Delacours needed to pack and head back to France shortly after dinner, so Bill, Fleur, and Victoire went back to Shell Cottage with them, and Charlie and Julianne left for Romania then too. Ginny recruited Harry, Ron, and George to play Quidditch with her after they'd cleaned up, and their parents, Percy, and Audrey stayed to watch them for the hour or so that Harry and Ginny chased the snitch, while George and Ron both batted bludgers around at them.

Ginny studied in bed for a couple of hours after everyone else had gone home, and that was pretty much all she did every night for the rest of the week. She and Harry worked all day, he made dinner for them, and then they had a nightly Seeker duel before she went back to working on the game plan the Harpies were putting together, and going over everything about the United team until she had nearly everything memorized.

There was no shortage of Witches and Wizards willing to come to the game on Saturday with Harry, though Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Hermione, and Teddy were the only members of the family at Ilkley stadium with Harry this week, and he gave the rest of the tickets he'd bought away to other friends. Lee Jordan was the only member of that group who'd come to the last game with them; and this week, he was joined by Seamus and Lavender, and Susan and Ernie, along with the other friends Harry and Ginny had invited.

When the game started, both teams came out strongly, and the action was fierce as the Chasers battled back and forth, each trio getting great chances to score, while Oliver and Trish were both playing brilliantly, and stopped everything coming at them. The fans of both teams had a lot to get up and cheer about, but as the game went on, they eventually settled in and just enjoyed the non-stop action.

The Seeker duel was just as intense as the battle between Chasers and Keepers, and while Ginny was smiling all of the time, both players had to constantly be alert for the fakes and runs at the snitch that they were both trying on each other, and for the bludger attacks that would come in waves, and unexpectedly. Oliver finally let in the first goal early in the third hour of the match, and then the lead changed hands five times over the next three hours.

Gwenog and Lysa had spent some quality time trying to soften Oliver up with their not-so-tender bludger attacks, and by the fifth hour, their efforts were beginning to pay off. The Harpies took the lead for good then, and had built up a modest two hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty lead over United by the end of the sixth hour. Harry had needed to take Teddy to the washroom three times, and they hadn't made it back to their seats yet when he spotted Ginny making another run for the snitch, with the United Seeker quickly right there with her.

He pointed them out to Teddy, and they both stood on the steps and watched to see what would happen. One of the United Beaters whacked a bludger at Ginny, and Harry cheered as she used the side-to-side, over-the-head flip to dodge the bludger that then hit her opponent solidly on the shoulder. He'd had nowhere to go, with Ginny right next to him, and hadn't seen the bludger coming anyway. He'd been holding his broom with that hand, and lost his grip as the bludger hit numbed his arm. The little bobble and loss of speed he had while grabbing on with his other hand was all Ginny needed to pull ahead and make what was then a fairly easy catch.

"YES!" he shouted excitedly; his eyes flashing emerald fire, and his smile bright as Ginny seemed to hear him, and turned to look right at them. She had that look in her eyes that he loved seeing so much, and though their eyes only met for a moment before she was mobbed by her teammates, it was enough for both of them for now.

"I take it you got back in time," Mrs. Weasley joked when he and Teddy joined them again.

"You've been hanging around with Mum and Aunt Muriel too much," Ron added. "We heard you over everyone else."

"Can you blame me?" Harry countered. "She pulled that move off at near top speed, even after playing for more than six hours straight!"

"It was brilliant," Ron agreed, "though it's too bad she'll get all of the glory, while Oliver and Trish both played brilliantly too."

"I think they'll get their due," Harry disagreed. "I'd say that the mother-daughter rivalry might be the biggest story of the game," he added; pointing out Glynnis and Wilda. They were at center pitch with the rest of their teams, and sharing a hug that showed everyone just how far they'd come in reconciling over the past year.

"That is one of the really good stories this season," Mr. Weasley told them. "Wilda and Angelina were the two best Chasers today too; and both teams ought to be very proud of how they played."

"Especially our baby," Mrs. Weasley said proudly. "Her first season, and she's lead her team to the Championship game!"

Most of their group were going out after the game to celebrate, but once again, the Harpies players were not doing that – they'd celebrate when the season was over for them. Harry dropped Teddy off with Andromeda, and then went home to make dinner for two, and enjoy what was pretty much a repeat of the last Saturday night. The other semifinal match had already been over by the end of the Harpies-United game, and the Pride of Portree had fairly easily defeated the Caerphilly Catapults to set up what was sure to be another defensive battle between the two teams.

Harry and Ginny had finished breakfast on Sunday morning, and were just deciding whether to start another Seeker duel or have Ginny study for a couple of hours first when Neville came over to see them, and he quickly had them both forgetting all about Quidditch. Ginny had met him at the door with a warm hug, but had led him into the kitchen right away after seeing the serious expression on his face.

"What's up?" Harry asked as he waved Neville to sit down at the table. "Do you and Josh need help with your case?"

"Yes, but our case involves you and Ginny," he answered. "We decided to wait until after Ginny's game yesterday to talk with you, but now we need to have you come in to Headquarters so we can let you know what's going on and get you to help out with what we've got planned."

"Does this involve Goyle?" Harry asked. "He'd be making a big mistake by coming after me, considering he owes Ron, Hermione, and I a life debt."

"He's involved," Neville agreed. "The plot is against both of you, though, and it'd be best if we went over all of this with everyone."

"Do you know when they plan on coming after us?" Ginny asked, and Neville nodded.

"They've left that open to some degree, but hope to go ahead with their plans tomorrow."

Ginny stood up again and held her hand out for Harry. "Then let's go find out all about this. I've got a Championship game to get ready for, and having to worry about being attacked by junior Death Eater wannabes just does not work with my training schedule."

Neville smiled ruefully. "Sorry about that. We'll try not to mess things up too much for you, but thought that you'd both really like to still be around to go to that match."

"We're not worried about that," Harry told him. "Not when we've got our friends watching our backs."

Ginny went to get changed before they all went to Auror Headquarters, and Emma was in the conference room with all of the Aurors who had been working the case. That was actually cases, since Josh and Neville; Nathan, Christine, and Susan; Reggie and Dan; and Rick and Terry had their cases come together to this point. Ron was there too, but it was obvious that he'd just been brought into the loop too.

"So what's the plan this time?" Harry asked Emma after they were all sitting down. Ginny squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

"Ours or theirs?" Emma joked.

"Let's start with theirs," he suggested.

"Okay," she agreed. "Why don't you give them the bad news, Christine?"

"This really isn't funny, so try not to laugh," she warned them. "Gregory Goyle, Colby Warrington, Lester Montague, and Tracey Davis have gotten together, and decided to avenge their families by abducting and killing Ginny, and then going after you, Harry."

"That doesn't sound funny at all, and I'm totally opposed to the plan," Ginny told her, and Christine laughed and nodded.

"So are we," she assured her friend. "The funny part of the plan is that right now, as we're in this meeting, they're busy putting very large wagers on the Championship match – betting against the Harpies. Apparently they think that making millions on what they believe will be a sure thing when the Harpies have to play without their star Seeker is a brilliant financial coup."

Ginny and Harry both laughed. "Alright, so that is pretty funny," Ginny conceded. "Is that a first for the Aurors?"

Emma answered that question. "We're fairly sure this is the first time for a case like this. There have been betting scams on Quidditch before, though those usually involved injuring players or making them disappear, not killing them."

"How are they planning on abducting Ginny, and how are they coming after me?" Harry asked Christine.

"They've been watching outside of the Harpies practice pitch, and except for Glynnis and Gwenog, Ginny's usually the last to leave, and almost always by herself," Christine explained. "The plan is for Goyle and Warrington to grab her there. While they're doing that, Tracey's job is to use polyjuice and impersonate Ginny to get close to you. Depending on how that goes, she's either supposed to play sick all week, either by fooling you, or by getting you to go along with it by threatening to kill Ginny if you don't. If it doesn't look like that's going to work, she and Montague are to kill you."

"I'm totally against that plan too," Harry declared. "Have you got a better plan?"

Christine laughed again. "We think so," she confirmed. "There are going to be several Ginny Potters running around tomorrow, and Neville and Josh think that we should have at least two Harry Potters too, though that part of the plan is flexible."

"I think that you should let us handle this one," Neville told him. "You could back us up, or what I'd really prefer is that you just stay with Ginny and take care of protecting her in case anything goes wrong with what we're doing."

"We can do that," Harry agreed, "but I'm telling Hannah this was all your idea if you get caught snogging my wife – even if it would be an imposter."

"The guys want to draw straws for who gets to snog the Ginny-imposter," Neville joked. "Seriously, though, we're not planning on dragging out the ruse, so whichever one of us poses as you will just tell Tracey right away that we can tell they're not really Ginny. All we want to get from them is the admission they've abducted Ginny, and the threats to kill her if you don't do what they want. We've got everything else we need to put Davis and Montague away. We'll catch Goyle and Warrington as soon as they've met up with Tracey and Lester after they've 'caught' Ginny, and they've gone on to your house."

"You're going to be Ginny?" Harry asked Christine.

"Yes, but we know where they plan to take her, Nathan and the others will be able to track me if that's a problem, and I'll have a couple of backup wands," she answered. "Don't worry – I'll be fine."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment; trying to sense anything about the impending confrontation, or at least whether there was any danger to himself, Ginny, or the others in the room. "I'm not so sure you will be," he countered when he opened his eyes again. "A lot could happen to you before anyone could get to you, and I'll guess that they'll at least have anti-apparition shields and other defenses around that place they'd take you."

"I don't like how sure you sound about that," Christine said seriously. "What can we do to improve my chances?"

Harry grinned at Ron. "How would you feel about being Ginny's equipment bag for a little while tomorrow?" he asked, and Ron laughed.

"I'd be fine with it, though Christine might find me a bit heavy to carry around over her shoulder."

"We can lighten the load for her once you've transfigured," Nathan told him. "They would likely bring the bag along so Tracey could take it from there, and that'd give us one more Auror there until she and Lester left, and then Ron would be there to back up Neville and Josh at Harry and Ginny's house too. I like the idea."

"That works for me too," Emma agreed. "Any other suggestions?"

There were several, and they discussed them, and worked on their plans for nearly another hour. Harry and Ginny learned that Goyle and Warrington were going to be using Polyjuice too; and posing as fans looking for Ginny's autograph. Montague was going to use an invisibility charm to follow Tracey around, and there were a number of other details that the eight Aurors working the case passed on to them. When they were finished, Harry asked for Emma and Christine to stay behind while everyone else left, and was smiling at the three Witches once they were alone.

"I've got one other suggestion for tomorrow," he told Emma and Christine, "but you'll have to be brought in on a little state secret first."

"Should we sit down again for this?" Emma asked, and Harry shook his head at the same time as he sealed the room so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"I think you'll be able to take this news standing up," he assured them, and then changed into his Animagus.

"That was not exactly what I expected," Emma told him with a laugh as she reached down to scratch him behind the ears. "Since you said this was a state secret, I'll take it that this little trick is one of the Minister's eyes-only secrets, since that's the only way that you'd be able to hide an Animagus registration that I can think of."

"How exactly will this help us tomorrow?" Christine asked, and Harry's tongue fell out of his mouth as he grinned at her and then levitated several of the chairs and the conference table. All three Witches laughed, and Ginny picked him up for a hug. "Okay, I'm convinced. Have you used this much on other cases?"

Harry yipped out an answer; and the girls all laughed again. Ginny put him down, and he changed back; laughing too. "Sorry about that. Yes, I've used it a few times with Ron on our surveillances. You're the first outside of our family and the Minister, besides Josh and Neville, who've been told about this. I'll have to advise Minister Shacklebolt that you're in the loop now, but this seems like a very good reason to use it to make sure you're safe, Christine. You can just tell them that you're dog-sitting for a friend when they wonder why you've got me with you tomorrow, and you'll still have backup after Tracey takes Ron with her."

"Unless they decide to send you along too," Ginny suggested.

"I can make sure they don't," Harry told them. "They won't try taking me along if it looks like I'll be a problem to control, and I'm not against the idea of biting one or two of them to prove that."

"If he does, save that memory for me to look at later," Ginny told Christine.

"I can do that, but I hope he doesn't," she answered with a laugh. "He probably wouldn't like the taste of them much at all."

With that addition to the plan decided, Harry and Ginny went home again, and Ginny got back to focusing on her game against the Prides. Harry did an afternoon Seeker duel with her, and they had George over for another dinner and Quidditch night. Ginny might have had two wins against Erin Connelly and the Prides, but she knew that for Erin, any game against Ginny and the Harpies was going to be big, and there was nothing bigger than the Championship game. She was going to make sure that she was ready to meet that challenge. They went to bed early, and Ginny studied for a while longer before they both found something more interesting to end their weekend doing.

They didn't want to tip off Goyle and the others, so on Monday, Harry and Ron went to work as normal, and spent the day out in the field on their own case. It wasn't until they were ready to go home for the day that Neville took Harry's place; leaving from Headquarters as Harry, and going home to his place while Harry left under cover of his cloak, and he met up with Ron and Christine at Ron's flat. They waited for Ginny to advise them that everyone except Glynnis and Gwenog had left using their mirrors, and then Harry changed into his Animagus, and then they apparated straight into the locker room at the Harpies' practice pitch from there.

"You've talked with Glynnis and Gwenog already?" Christine surmised as she saw the grim looks on their faces.

"Yes, and we'd both like to come along and teach them a lesson that wouldn't be nearly as gentle as a long stay in Azkaban will be for them," Glynnis told her.

Christine laughed. "We might enjoy letting you do that, but the Minister and Auror Ogden have banned that kind of extra-curricular activity. I'm not so sure their stay in prison will be very gentle – at least for the three guys – once their families find out they've bet all of their combined estates against the Harpies on the hope their plan would work, and lost all of it."

"I wonder who's going to get rich on that bet?" Gwenog wondered aloud; and Christine laughed again.

"Let's just say that the Ministry won't need to raise taxes again any time soon," she answered; which had everyone grinning broadly, including her little dog, Paddy.

"We would still need to win for that to pay off for you, though," Glynnis pointed out, and Christine nodded.

"True, but there wouldn't be a payoff for them even if the Prides win, and the Ministry would probably confiscate the collateral for the bet anyway. Time to get the show on the road."

She pulled out the little bottle of Polyjuice potion, and Ginny soon had an identical twin. It took Ron another minute to transfigure into an exact copy of her equipment bag, and then Christine put a charm on him to make him lighter before throwing the bag over her shoulder.

"Why've you got the dog?" Glynnis asked; reaching out and scratching Harry under the chin. "Aren't you worried it'll be in danger?"

"He'll be fine," Christine assured her. "There's a chance they'll search me, so the dog's collar is what the other Aurors will be tracking."

"And he can always bite the bad guys to protect Christine," Ginny added; giving Harry a scratch too and laughing. "It's probably very hard to point a wand and fire if you've got a dog clamped onto your hand."

Harry licked her hand, which had all of the Witches laughing, and then Christine left the locker room carrying both Auror-trainees. She'd just gotten outside when two young-looking Wizards approached her. Goyle and Warrington were doing a lousy job at looking shy and innocent, but Christine smiled as if they were exactly what they were trying to appear to be.

"Could we get your autograph, Mrs. Potter?" one of the men asked in a rush that sounded more like a demand than a humble request. They were both holding quills and posters of Ginny out to her, and Christine nodded as she reached out to take the quill and poster from the Wizard who'd spoken first.

"Of course," she agreed cheerfully. "What's your name? Have you been a Harpies fan for long?"

"I've got her!" the second Wizard said in an exultant whisper as he grabbed Christine's arm. "Go and I'll meet you there." With that, they both apparated out of sight; with Christine, Ron, and Harry getting pulled along for the ride.

"You did it!" Tracey said enthusiastically as she held the door to the house open to her. She had already used the Polyjuice potion, and looked like Ginny, though Harry was sure she'd have never fooled him, since the dark expression on her face would have never been on his wife's face.

"Don't even think about doing anything stupid," the Wizard holding on to Christine growled at her. "Keep your mouth shut, and keep your hands where we can see them."

Christine held her hands away from her body, and allowed herself to be roughly shoved through the door while the first Wizard and Tracey kept their wands pointed menacingly at her. The door was slammed shut when they were all inside, and equipment bag Ron was yanked off of her shoulder and dropped unceremoniously on the ground.

"What's up with the dog?" That was Montague asking the question, and he joined his three partners.

"Dunno," Goyle said as he waved his wand and returned to normal. He'd been the one who grabbed Christine. "Where'd the mutt come from?" he demanded. Christine kept her mouth firmly shut.

"Answer him!" Warrington demanded; shoving his wand in her face.

"A friend asked me to watch him for a couple of days," she answered curtly.

"We didn't see any dogs being brought in all day," Goyle pointed out suspiciously.

"Except this one," Tracey said with a laugh, "though she walked herself in, so I guess that doesn't count." She tossed her hair and sneered at Christine. "It was all I could do not to throw up when I looked in the mirror after taking the potion."

"How'd you get the dog?" Warrington asked; ignoring Tracey's comments.

"I went and picked him up at lunchtime," Christine explained. "Using the Floo network," she added when they still looked doubtful.

"What do you want to do with it?" Goyle asked.

"Leave it here," Montague told them. "Get her wand, though. We'll need that, and then we need to get going."

Christine had left the wand sticking a few inches out of her pants pocket; and Goyle grabbed it and tossed it over to Tracey. She slid it into the same pocket on the pants she was wearing, and then walked over to where Goyle had dumped the equipment bag. Grabbing the strap, she had to try several times before getting it over her shoulder the same way Christine had been carrying it.

"Any words of advice for me before I take over being you?" she asked Christine.

"Don't do it," Christine answered. "Harry will know you're not me the second he sees you."

"How disappointing," Tracey said mockingly. "I was hoping for, you know, some bedroom advice, but then I'm going to be quite ill for the rest of the week, so there'll be none of that happening." The three Wizards laughed, and she grinned at them. "Shall we go?" she asked Montague, and he nodded. They quickly left the house, and presumably walked outside of the anti-apparition charm so they could apparate to Harry and Ginny's house.

"Whatever should we do while we wait to hear back from them?" Warrington asked Goyle. Both Wizards were now leering at Christine. "I'm surprised that you were so easy to get, if you know what I mean. Being a war hero and all, we expected at least a bit of fight out of you."

"Maybe she's just sick of being stuck with that loser husband of hers and wanted to spend some time with a couple of real men," Goyle suggested. "We could help her find out what that's like."

"But then she'd never want to go back to Potty," Warrington said with a laugh.

"She won't be going back anywhere when we're done with her," Goyle reminded his friend. "We'd be doing her a favor – kind of a last request thing."

"Those are good points," Warrington agreed. "Should we flip for who gets her first?"

Harry growled at them, and Christine scratched him gently as his growl got both Wizards' attention. "I don't think my friend's dog likes your comments at all," she told them.

Warrington and Goyle both laughed. "Well, if the dog doesn't like what we're doing, I guess we just won't do that then," Warrington said derisively.

"Or we could just kill the dog and do what we please," Goyle countered, "and I'd really like to find out for myself what the Chosen Chump sees in this little blood traitor."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about my friend Ginny," Christine told them.

"What?" Goyle asked dumbly.

"You heard me," Christine said in an authoritarian tone of voice. "I'm Auror Christine Campbell, and you, gentlemen, are surrounded, and under arrest. Hand over your wands and surrender." Both Wizards jumped back and pointed their wands at her. "You really don't want to do that," she warned them.

"What are you going to do to stop us?" Goyle said with a sneer. "Nobody's getting past our shields, and you're unarmed."

"Put her in a body bind," Warrington told him. "If this is just some stupid trick, we'll make her pay for playing games with us."

"Petrificus Totalis!" Goyle said loudly, and then stared open-mouthed when his spell bounced harmlessly off of the shield Harry threw up to protect Christine; giving her time to pull out her own wand and counter-attack.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Warrington shouted.

Harry met that attack by throwing a chair between them to intercept the spell, while Christine blew apart the shields protecting the house. Those shields had been built to defend against attacks from the outside, so doing that from the inside was actually fairly easy.

"We've got to get out of here!" Warrington yelled, but by then, it was already too late, and the Aurors outside had put up a new anti-apparition shield.

"Last chance to surrender peacefully," Christine warned them as they all heard the running footsteps coming quickly toward the door.

"Kill anyone who tries to come through the door," Warrington told Goyle. "I'll deal with the Witch and her little dog too."

Harry lashed out with a cutting curse, and sliced Warrington's wand in two, and Christine blasted him across the room. The door burst open at the same time, and while Goyle fired off several killing curses, Nathan, Susan, Reggie, and Dan met those attacks with flying objects and engorgement charms before their combined counter-attack hit Goyle so hard that he was actually thrown through a door into an adjoining room.

"Having fun?" Nathan asked Christine. "We'd give you a round of hugs and kisses, but maybe we should wait until you're you again."

"Or not," she told him before hugging him. "Good timing. "Things were getting interesting for Paddy and me. We had to draw the line when they started talking about playing games that I just did not think were appropriate for a happily married Witch to play."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Susan asked. "They were lewd and disgusting when they were at Hogwarts too." She handed Nathan Goyle's wand. "Would you like me to check them over, or would you like it done right?"

"I'll do it," Christine told her. "Warrington's likely alright, but Goyle took quite a hit, so I won't be surprised if he'll need to make a visit to St. Mungo's. Any word from Josh yet?"

"No, but we didn't expect anything yet," Nathan answered. "Emma decided to go along, so with Rick, Ron, and Terry there too, I don't expect that Josh and Neville will have any problems."

They needed to deal with their own prisoners, and Reggie and Dan took Gregory Goyle to St. Mungo's, while Nathan and Susan took Warrington to Auror Headquarters. Christine promised to meet them there after dropping the dog off to its owner. She apparated to Ron's flat, where Harry changed back and then he went to join Ginny, and Christine apparated to the Ministry of Magic.

"Is everyone okay?" Ginny asked as she hugged him tightly, and Harry grinned at her.

"Are you the real Ginny?" he countered, and she laughed, pulled him close, and kissed him for a long minute. "I'd say that's a yes," he confirmed while Glynnis and Gwenog laughed. "Everyone in the group I was with is. We hadn't heard from Ron or the others yet when I can here. They'll send word to us here as soon as they find out."

"We'll stay with you until then," Gwenog told them. "Why can't that lot leave you alone? The war's been over two years now, and they lost. Time to get over it and on with their lives; pitiful as they are."

"That would be nice," Harry agreed, "but we're not quite there yet, and I don't expect to run out of enemies anytime soon."

They sat down and talked for nearly another hour before Susan came to let them know that the other team had captured their two prisoners and brought them in. Ginny had hugs for her Manager and Captain, and then went to Auror Headquarters with Harry. By the time they arrived in the Atrium, there was a group of reporters and quite a group of Witches and Wizards gathered there trying to find out what was going on with the Aurors as word spread about a big operation, arrests, and at least one injury.

"Maybe we should have come here instead of staying at the practice pitch," Ginny suggested once they were in the lift and alone again.

"It sure didn't take long for word to get out," Susan said with a nod. "Hopefully this won't make it harder for you to stay focused on your training, but I'm sure the sports media will be all over this once the rest of the story gets out."

"The Harpies will deal with that for me, and when we're done here, I'll have no problem getting back to concentrating on the job again," Ginny assured her.

When they got to Headquarters, Emma was there to meet them, and had hugs for Harry and Ginny before leading them into the observation room next to where they'd put Warrington, Montague, and Davis. They all got drinks and then sat down. The rest of the team was there, except for Reggie and Dan, who were with Goyle at St. Mungo's; and Josh and Nathan, who were in the interrogation room with their prisoners. The Polyjuice hadn't worn off for Christine, Neville, or Tracey, and it was very odd to have two pairs of Potters in the observation room, and another Ginny sitting with the other two prisoners.

"Will the Polyjuice wear off before you guys go home tonight, or will Bryce and Hannah be in for a really strange evening?" Ginny asked as she sat down next to Christine. "You'll definitely start some rumors if Hannah's seen snogging Harry in front of everyone at the Leaky, Neville."

"We'll be back to normal within the next hour or so," Christine answered, while Neville and the others in the room laughed.

"How'd it go at our place?" Harry asked Neville. "Will we have any repairs to make, or did they come quietly?"

"There was a little damage in the kitchen, but we fixed that up before we left," Neville answered. "They definitely didn't want to come quietly."

"I'm just glad that you're all okay," Ginny told them. "What happens now?"

"We thought you might both be interested in watching Josh, Nathan, and I talk with them," Emma answered," and after we've finished here, Harry and Ron are getting first watch at St. Mungo's, and need to relieve Reggie and Dan. Mr. Goyle will be spending a day or two there before we'll send him off to join his father and friends in Azkaban."

"I'd love to watch this," Ginny agreed enthusiastically, and smiled at Harry. "Harry gets to watch me work all of the time, so it only seems fair that I should get a turn to see you in action."

Emma laughed. "The action is pretty much over with now, but this should at least be entertaining. Sit back, and enjoy the show."

With that, Emma left the room, and a few moments later, walked into the interrogation room. She sat down next to Nathan, who slid a folder to her; which she opened up and pretended to read over, since she already had the full details of the crimes each of the three prisoners. Nobody in the room had said anything since she'd walked in, and it was Tracey who broke the silence.

"Why are you holding me here?" she asked, trying to look confused. "How did I get here?"

"That's pretty good start," Emma complimented her. "Are you shooting for the 'I've been Confunded' story, or are you going all out and using the 'I've been Imperiused' defense? That one is a fine line to walk, since your partners in this little scheme of yours would be facing a lot of extra years on their sentences for using an unforgivable on you, along with everything else they've done."

"It's not a story – it's what must've happened!" Tracey said vehemently. "Everything's just a blur right now, and I feel like I'm just waking from a bad dream."

Emma laughed. "The bad dream is just getting started for you. Would you care to hazard a guess why they'd go through all of the trouble of Confunding or Imperiusing you for this? If all they wanted was a Ginny look-alike, they could have used Polyjuice themselves."

"I have no idea," Tracey answered. "For all I know we're all just being used by someone else."

"You're not being used by anyone; and neither are they," Emma said with a sigh and shake of her head. "If I didn't still have a lot of work to do, I'd let you play this out, but I'm too busy to do that." She held up her hand when Tracey opened her mouth to protest again. "Give it up, Tracey. We've been on to the four of you for quite a while now. You've been watched day and night for weeks, and thanks to your own actions today, we've got enough evidence to put all of you away for a very long time."

"That's ridiculous," Tracey shot back, though her face – Ginny's face – had paled considerably.

"I'd say by the look on your face that even you don't believe that," Josh told her; smiling as Tracey glared at him. "You should listen to Auror Ogden. We've got stored memories of every meeting you've had with the others, with most of them being from more than one Auror. Trying this as a defense plan is just a bit under-baked, and rather childish."

"I'd say their whole scheme was half-baked," Emma told him. "We get why Goyle, Warrington, and Montague have a beef with Harry, but other than the fact that he was one of the Aurors who caught your ex-boyfriend for murdering his own mother, why on earth would you get involved in this idiocy, Tracey? I'd say Harry and the others did you a favor by catching Zabini, and Ginny had nothing to do with any of this. Going after her was colossally stupid."

"He ruined my life!" she spat back angrily. "Blaise was going to marry me."

"Sure, and it never occurred to you that if he could kill his own Mum, that he'd have no problem at all killing you someday too?" Emma asked. "He did learn all about things like that from his mother, after all, though he didn't quite figure out how to do it and get away with it like she did."

"Blaise loves me!" Tracey told her hotly.

"He loves money and himself," Emma disagreed. "You'd have been a fat insurance policy and the minimum waiting period away from being a memory if you'd married him – especially after he'd found out that his mother had hidden the majority of her various husband's inheritances and left him nearly broke."

"That's a lie!" Tracey screeched, and Emma smiled brightly at her.

"It's true, and while that information wasn't needed in his trial, it was quite useful when that money was split up and returned to the families of each of Mrs. Zabini's former husbands a few months ago." She shrugged. "You'll have a chance to ask Blaise about that soon enough, and if he really does love you, I'm sure the warden at Azkaban will be happy to perform the ceremony and set you up with a nice double cell in the couple's wing of the prison."

"That does explain why she got involved, though it's a pitiful excuse to risk throwing your life away over," Nathan told Emma. "Why don't we move along, tell them what we have on them, and then give them the chance to make a deal? Maybe once they've figured out that they're all looking at spending the next fifty or seventy-five years in Azkaban, along with blowing the majority of three family fortunes, they'll smarten up and do something to help themselves before it's completely too late."

"What are you talking about?" Montague demanded; suddenly looking truly scared.

"We know everything," Nathan answered. "Win or lose on Saturday, those bets you placed will not be coming through for you. The Ministry does appreciate your donation, though. I'm sure the money will be put to very good use." Montague and Warrington were now both looking at the three Aurors in horror; and Montague started to shake slightly.

"Let's get started," Emma said with a nod. "I think that at least two of our young prisoners are figuring out that what we have on them isn't even close to being their biggest problem anymore."

Harry, Ginny, and the others spent the next two hours watching Emma, Nathan, and Josh lay out their case to the three prisoners, and soon had them falling all over each other to be the first to make a deal. Warrington and Montague wanted protection from their families and the other Death Eaters, they all wanted lighter sentences, and were willing to give up a lot of information about other Witches and Wizards they were networked with to get those concessions.

"That was fun," Ginny said as she hugged Christine goodbye. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Christine assured her. "If I don't see you before Saturday, good luck in the big game."

"Thanks," Ginny said with a nod as she moved on to hug Neville next. "Give Hannah a hug for me when you see her later. Thanks for taking care of us this time." There were a few more hugs, and then Harry, Ginny, and Ron went back to Harry's cubicle.

"Are you guys going straight to St. Mungo's now?" she asked, and both Wizards nodded.

"Yeah, but I'd rather make sure you get home safely and that everything's okay back there first," Harry told her. "You'll have all of those reporters hounding you too."

"I'll leave with you guys, and if it'll make you feel better, I'll get Hermione to go along with me in case I have any pushy reporters trying to bother me at home."

The boys thought that was a very good idea, and Ron used his mirror to set that up with Hermione before they started making their way out of the Ministry. It took nearly a half hour to get through the Atrium, even though by then, the Minister's office had issued a statement on the arrests; assuring the public that Harry and Ginny were at no time ever in any danger during the Auror operation and captures. Harry and Ron went with her to Hermione's flat, mostly so Harry and Ginny could have a private goodbye, and so Ron could see Hermione for a few minutes, and then they left the girls there, and headed for St. Mungo's.

"Lunch is on you this Saturday," Reggie told Dan when Ron and Harry joined them in Goyle's room. "I knew that Emma would give them first watch. Did Susan and Terry get stuck with second?"

"Yes they did," Ron confirmed, "and that was a lousy bet, since I'm pretty sure that lunch on Saturday is on Harry and Ginny for everyone going to the game with us."

Reggie groaned while Dan laughed. "I so have to keep up with things like that. We'd stay and chat, but we need to get started on our reports, and I expect we'll be back here in the morning. Goyle's out right now, but should come around fairly soon. I know it sounds impossible, but apparently going through that door softened that thick skull up a bit, along with having quite a list of internal injuries. I'm sure one of the Healers will be in eventually to give you the full report."

"How did things go with the other prisoners?" Dan asked them.

"Tracey tried pretending that she was Ginny, and that they'd confunded her," Harry answered. "Once Emma, Nathan, and Josh laid the case you had on them all out, they all caved in, and spent the rest of the time trying to give us anything and everything that they thought might get them lighter sentences."

"The bad news with that being that we've probably got years worth of new leads to chase down," Ron added. "Maybe we should just talk with the kids of all of the bad guys. Their parents seem to shoot their mouths off around them about secrets they shouldn't trust their children to hear." Reggie and Dan only stayed for another few minutes, and then left for Headquarters.

"We've got some time," Harry said as he and Ron sat down. "Why don't you tell me all about what happened over at my place?"

Ron grinned at him. "You'll love this story," he predicted. "Montague used an invisibility charm before he and Tracey apparated to your house, though it wasn't very good, and I could see the shimmer from it as he followed us up the lane. We all went inside, and Tracey called out an idiotic 'Honey, I'm home,' that you'd have seen through without having even gotten a look at her yet. I could smell the cooking, but she still called out to ask where you were."

"Maybe they didn't know enough about the house to be sure where the kitchen was," Harry suggested, and Ron nodded.

"Wouldn't surprise me," he agreed. "Anyway, so Tracey dumped me in the hallway, and she and her shimmering shadow headed for the kitchen after Neville answered her. I waited until they were with Neville, and then changed back." He reached into his cloak and handed Harry his invisibility cloak. "Before I forget," he added. "Thanks. That came in handy today."

"You're welcome," Harry told him as he put it away in his own pocket. "It must have been crowded in the kitchen with all of the invisible Wizards."

"I went through the dining room and stayed in the doorway into the kitchen so I wouldn't be in the way – or the line of fire," Ron explained. "By the time I was in position, Neville was already telling Tracey that he knew she wasn't Ginny. Since Christine had just told her that she wouldn't fool him for a second, she seemed a bit ticked off that she'd been right about that."

"Was that before or after the usual welcome home songfest?" Harry asked, and grinned when Ron rolled his eyes.

"We've talked about that before, mate. Stop doing that to me – it's too much information. There was no snogging involved, and while I wasn't there right at first, I'm fairly sure Tracey didn't even try to hug and kiss Neville."

"Which would have been another total giveaway that it wasn't Ginny," Harry added, and laughed when Ron groaned again.

"You're seriously starting to bug me," Ron told him. "Keep that up, and I'll let you wait until the next time you see Neville to hear the rest of the story." Harry waved for him to go ahead, and Ron snorted once before continuing.

"Tracey tries to deny it, and tells Neville he's imagining things, and it's probably just because she's coming down with something and isn't quite feeling herself. She gave up on that right about the time that Neville pulled out his wand, and demanded to know where Ginny was right then, or they'd take a little trip to Auror Headquarters, and get the answers out of her the hard way."

"Did she buy that, coming from me?" Harry asked curiously; and Ron laughed.

"It's not like you've got a great reputation with their lot," he reminded Harry, "and they wouldn't think twice about doing the same thing. Yeah, she bought it, and that's when she told him not to even think about touching her, or her partners would kill Ginny before he ever found her."

"Which is exactly why it was a good thing Neville was there instead of me," Harry said with a nod and grim smile. "Even knowing what was going on, that might've just had me losing it."

"Neville and I weren't all that happy either," Ron assured him; then grinned. "She didn't look quite so smug when Neville asked her if Ginny might be exactly where they had Christine. Things quickly went downhill from there, after he also advised them that they were surrounded and under arrest, and that Goyle and Warrington were being arrested right then too."

"I imagine," Harry said dryly. "So what happened then?"

Ron shrugged. "Tracey and Montague both started firing curses while trying to escape. Montague actually got the back door open, but it was over for him after that, since Emma and Josh were there waiting for him. Once Tracey saw that he was down, she tried for the front door, but I shielded the doorway, and Neville and Emma disarmed and bound her after she ran into it full-on. That was pretty much the end of it, though Emma did find some bottles of poison on her, along with enough Polyjuice to keep her playing Ginny for at least a week. I'd say she had some plans for you that were going to be fairly unpleasant, had she been able to pull it off."

"Give me back my wand, and fight me like a real Wizard, Potty, and I'll be happy to show you just how unpleasant dying can be." Harry and Ron both stood up, and walked over to the bed; where Gregory was awake and staring daggers at them.

"You're one to talk about acting like a real Wizard," Ron said derisively. "If all you wanted was a fair duel, you could have just come and demanded one. There are rules for such things, you know." He snapped his fingers. "Oh right – you can't do anything to Harry, or me, or Hermione yourself, can you? That whole life-debt thing is getting in the way."

"I don't owe you anything, traitor," Gregory snarled, and Ron laughed.

"You'd find out soon enough you were wrong about that if you tried," Ron disagreed. "Life debts aren't something you can choose to ignore. In fact, I was wondering if you'd really thought that whole plan through. This is a foreign concept to you, but Harry would give his life in a second to save Ginny, and since he would do that, if you'd harmed her in any way, that might have been enough to trigger your life-debt by trading your life for hers."

"That's an interesting theory," Harry told Ron, "but I don't think it's one I'm willing to test out with Ginny's life on the line." He gave Gregory a hard look. "I heard about what you and Warrington were going to do to Ginny after the others left. Be glad that the Aurors investigating you were on top of your plot the whole time. If you think this had turned out badly, it's nothing compared to what would have happened if you'd actually abducted my wife instead of Auror Campbell."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Gregory asked, laughing coarsely. Harry pulled out his wand, and smiled at Ron.

"Just so you know ahead of time, I'll take the heat for this, won't be sorry, and we'll be right back."

With that, Ron stared open-mouthed as Harry, the hospital bed, and Gregory Goyle all disappeared. They were only gone about two minutes, and then they were back again – along with about a foot of snow piled on the bed, while Harry was fairly covered with it too. Goyle was shaking, and Ron was sure it wasn't just from the cold. Harry waved his wand again, and the snow was gone, and he and Gregory were both warm and dry again.

"Not much snow in these parts in May," Ron pointed out; grinning at Harry. "Where'd you go?"

"The Arctic," Harry answered; grinning too. "I'd have stayed a while longer, but Gregory seemed to have gotten the point of the lesson fairly quickly, so I dug him out and we came right back."

"Emma won't be happy about that," Ron suggested. "She'll be impressed, but not happy."

"Like I said before we left, I'll take the heat, and won't be sorry," harry assured him. He turned to face Goyle next. "Your buddies have been busy making deals with Auror Ogden, and you'd be smart to do the same, but whenever you do get out of Azkaban, remember this little lesson, and stay far, far away from me, my family, and my friends. You definitely don't want to find out what would happen if I was really angry with you."

"I'd say this is a good time to send you for snacks and drinks," Ron told him. "Would you like anything, Goyle?" he asked solicitously. "Maybe an ice cream or a snow cone?"

That little conversation and demonstration was about the only excitement for the rest of the night. They were relieved by Susan and Terry at three o'clock, and then went home to get a few hours of sleep before going back into Auror Headquarters. Harry had secretly hoped that he'd get suspended for a week or two for taking Goyle on that little Arctic adventure, but Emma had only given him a verbal reprimand, and sent him back to work.

On Tuesday, he and Ron had spent the day working on reports, and ferrying prisoners to Azkaban. Goyle had idiotically and stubbornly refused to make a deal, and spent Tuesday night in a holding cell while waiting for his trial, but the other three had taken deals, confessed, and were sentenced in the early afternoon before Harry, Ron, and Neville took them up to the prison. They were on guard duty again on Wednesday for Goyle's trial, and again headed up to Azkaban late in the afternoon after he'd been given a fifty year sentence by the Wizengamot.

Josh hadn't done any training with them in a while, so he decided to work with his three trainees on Thursday and Friday before he and Neville would start their next case, and all of that worked just fine for Harry, since he was able to spend each evening and morning taking care of Ginny while she got ready for the biggest game of her Quidditch career.

The Championship match was being held at the Quidditch World Cup stadium, and the tickets had sold out in just days. Harry had bought quite a block of seats; and everyone met for lunch at the Leaky. Fleur had decided to come and bring Victoire too, so the whole Weasley clan met at the Burrow before going on to the Leaky, joining all of their friends there; spending an hour or so having their meals, and then going on to the World Cup stadium.

While her family and friends had been having fun together, Ginny had been working all morning; including warm-ups at the stadium, and a long, last team meeting. She was getting more and more nervous, and excited, as game time got closer, and then finally, it was there, and she, and the other Harpies walked out to the home team entrance into the stadium, and waited, just out of sight of the spectators, to be called out for their fly-around.

"Just pretend this isn't the biggest game of your life," Gwenog told her; smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Play like you're out in your back yard pitch, having fun with Harry, and ignore the hundred thousand or so fans."

Ginny laughed. "I'd do that, but I promised Harry I'd never try snogging the other Seekers to try and get the win," she joked. Gwenog, and the rest of her teammates all laughed, and Gwenog gave her a hug.

"You promised, but maybe one of us should try that," Angelina suggested. "Don't try it on Meghan McCormack, though. I seriously doubt it would work, and she wouldn't be amused."

They were called out then, and Gwenog led them out and around the stadium. Ginny was able to find 'her' fans just by listening for her mother's loud cheers, and she smiled brilliantly as she made eye contact with Harry for just a moment as she flew past where they were sitting. He had Teddy in his arms, and their Godson was decked out with the League Quidditch Championship hat, banner, and shirt. He waved wildly at her, and she waved back before she and the rest of the team were past them, and then needed to get ready to land on the pitch.

The Prides were already on the pitch, having been called out first, and the Harpies lined up on the other side of the officials and dignitaries that were there for the opening ceremony. She couldn't keep from smiling brightly as the speeches got started, and she was thrilled by the immensity of the moment, and just how much bigger everything was in the World Cup stadium now that she was seeing it from a player's perspective. The nerves were gone now, and she couldn't help but feel like this was her day and moment to shine. Her smile brightened even more when Gwenog nodded at her approvingly.

It was nearly twenty minutes before they were finally allowed to get the game started, and Ginny shook hands with Erin Connelly as they lined up for the start. The other Witch looked irritated to see Ginny smiling like that, but there was a competitive fire burning in her eyes too, and she looked focused and determined.

The snitch and bludgers were released, and the referee threw the quaffle into the air, and they were off! Ginny's takeoff was better than Erin's but there was no sign of the snitch, and it wasn't long before they were right into the battle for position as they each looked for the snitch, and dodged bludgers and the other players. Being in a non-stop battle with the Prides' Seeker didn't leave Ginny any time to sit around and enjoy the rest of the game, but both teams were playing great. The Chasers were throwing everything they had against Meghan and Trish, but the two Keepers stopped everything, and both Witches looked like they were having a blast.

Trish gave up the first goal shortly before the end of the second hour, and had given up three before Angelina put one past Meghan as the fourth hour started. Each time had scored just one more goal each, and the Prides had the slim forty to twenty lead as they came up on the end of the fifth hour.

Ginny spotted the snitch first, and it was zipping along maybe six or seven feet above the pitch, heading toward a spot nearly directly below where she and Erin had been fighting for position. She dove straight down, and wasn't surprised when Erin wheeled around to make a run for the snitch at a much different – and safer – angle of attack. Blocking out the sudden roar of the crowd, and everything else, there was only her, the snitch, and one hard-hit bludger that she dodged on the way down.

Throwing her broom into the one-eighty flip, she held on for dear life as she quickly decelerated, while reaching out with one hand and grabbing the snitch on the way past. She didn't look down – didn't dare to – and instead looked up to where she wanted to go, and put all of her effort into making that happen before crashing to the pitch. Erin blasted past, and below her; since by the time she reached that point, Ginny was already thirty feet above the pitch again, and accelerating away. Wheeling around, she searched for Harry, and her heart leapt with joy as she saw the victorious, 'that's my girl!' look on his face. His eyes blazed emerald fire, and the joy and love she saw there was exactly what she needed to make that a perfect, remember forever moment.

She literally only had that moment to share with him, and then her team was mobbing her in mid-air, and the enormity of it all crashed in on her. The Harpies were League Champions, and she'd won the match for them! Gwenog had been the first one to reach her, and she practically lifted Ginny off of her broom with the huge hug she had for her friend.

"I knew it!" she said with fierce pride. "Right before the game, I saw the look in your eyes, and I knew we'd win today!"

Ginny laughed. "Funny, that's exactly what I was thinking then too," she answered. "Thanks for taking a chance on me, Gwenog. This is just absolutely brilliant!"

Gwenog had time to assure her that she was welcome, and then the rest of their team was there, and the mid-air gang-hug was on. The fans of both teams were on their feet, cheering, and when the Harpies landed, there was another round of hugs and handshakes with the Prides' players and Manager. The awards ceremony was started shortly after that, and if everything else hadn't been enough, Ginny was completely floored when she was given the Championship MVP award.

"You do deserve it," Trish whispered when she rejoined her team after being called forward to receive the award; and Ginny put an arm around her and squeezed affectionately.

"I'd same the same thing about you and Meghan too," she whispered back. "Do these things drag on long? We've got some serious celebrating to do tonight."

"No, they don't, and yes we do," Trish answered. "We do still have an hour or more of post-game interviews to deal with, though, so relax, and try to enjoy the ride."

Harry, Teddy, and the rest of their group had been on their feet a lot during the game, and he'd loved watching Ginny as she played a brilliant match, and then won it with what she probably didn't even yet know had been a spectacular, impossible-looking catch. He'd held his breath, and it felt like his heart had stopped for what had felt like a long time as he, and everyone else, waited to see if she'd complete the daring move, or crash into the pitch. Her broom tail wasn't more than three feet above the pitch when she started rising again, and though he'd had one of those flashes of insights, that hadn't diminished the moment in the slightest.

His attention was focused on her, but he didn't miss seeing and hearing the reactions from their friends and family to Ginny's catch, the Harpies win, and everything that happened after that, including Ginny's MVP award. There were lots of hugs, kisses, and more than a few happy tears. Ginny was able to exchange a few more waves and fiery, exhilarated looks Harry, but the rest of the time, she was busy celebrating with her team, and dealing with the awards ceremony. When the press was finally set loose to begin interviewing the players and Managers for both teams, the fans began filing out of the stadium.

"Hey, aren't you Ginny Potter's husband?" Hermione teased as they waited for the crowds to thin before heading out, mostly for Aunt Muriel's benefit.

"I could get used to being the second best-known Potter," he answered with a laugh.

"You might be that for the next day or two," Ron told him. "Just be glad you're not competing with a whole family full of over-achievers."

"Yourself included," Harry added. "I'm fairly sure that your chocolate frog card won't say 'famous for being Ginny Potter's youngest brother'."

"No it wouldn't," George agreed, leaning in to talk with them. "That's a great idea for a new wheeze though."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "Like some kind of card set for un-famous Wizards and Witches?"

George laughed. "Exactly – or of relatives or friends of famous people. Do you think Aberforth would be offended if he was on one, for example?"

Harry was glad for the diversion, and enjoyed listening to Ron, George, Lee, and some of the others discuss that, and other, possible new wheezes. When they decided to pack up and leave, they were all heading for the Burrow, and the celebration party that their parents were throwing for Ginny. She and Harry would only be able to stay for a short visit once she was able to join them when she was done at the stadium, but then they had the team party to attend at Glynnis' home for the rest of the evening.

"You're amazing!" Harry whispered as he picked Ginny up and spun her around when she got to the Burrow. Everyone was outside in the yard, and there were a few catcalls, whistles, and a lot of laughter as everyone watched the happy couple share a long, enthusiastic kiss. "How was work today? Did you have fun?"

Ginny laughed and hugged him tightly. "Definitely top five ever so far kind of day," she agreed. "I hope you're rested up, because we are definitely going to celebrate, and I don't have to worry about curfew again until training camp starts in July."

"I'm good with celebrating with you for the rest of the weekend, but keeping the party going for the next nearly two months won't be an option, since I'll still have to go back to work on Monday." He stepped back, and held his hand out to her. "Come on. Your adoring public is waiting to get that celebration started with you."

Once Ginny was surrounded by her parents, family, and the rest of their friends, Harry stepped back and mostly watched the show as his incredible wife was cheered and toasted by the people they loved the most. He'd had a couple of hours to visit with everyone while they'd waited for Ginny, but since she wasn't going to be able to stay that long, after doing a first round of hugs and kisses with everyone, they both spent some time talking with Luna and Rolf. They'd taken the weekend off from their current excursion to be home for Ginny's big game, and the two Witches were very happy to get to see each other again, even if it wasn't for very long.

"You've got time now," Harry reminded Ginny when she was getting ready to say goodbye to Luna. "We could get away for a long weekend at least, and meet Rolf and Luna somewhere so you can spend a few days together." He grinned at their friends. "If they're not studying some kind of Wizard-eating magical creatures, we could even take our tent along, and join the excursion."

"We're not working with anything too dangerous right now," Rolf assured him, "and we'd love to have you join us for a few days if you could manage that."

"Then we'll definitely get that set up soon," Ginny promised as she hugged Luna again.

It took another half hour to do the goodbyes, and then Harry, Ginny, George, and Lee all apparated to Glynnis' estate. Lee was Alicia's date for the party; and they'd badgered Angelina into inviting George to come too. The rest of the team was there by then, though there were still some other guests arriving over the next hour or two as various VIP's stopped in to either stay for short visits, or join the party.

Ginny had kept Harry with her while they made a first pass around the yard to chat with everyone who'd been there, and then she was pulled away into some conversations with the other Harpies, and to do some PR work with their sponsors' representatives. Harry had been amused by that, but understood why the Harpies wouldn't waste this opportunity to promote their team.

"I'm learning a lot tonight," George told Harry as he came and sat down at the table next to Harry. "The girls don't talk about how much money they make, but their team has the whole marketing thing down to a science."

Harry laughed. "Are you going to start selling wheezes sponsorships? The all-new no-body robe; brought to you by our good friends at Gladrags."

"That's a great idea," George said enthusiastically. "For the robe, not the sponsorship," he added. "When I was talking about the marketing, I meant from having my stores be a sponsor. Quidditch teams probably aren't quite what I need, but they've got great ideas that I can use for sure."

"Why am I not surprised?" Lee asked as he sat down next to George. "You're here with a beautiful date, there's soft music, and dancing is an option, and here you are talking business. What else can we do before you'll get the hint?"

"Nothing would be good, and Angelina and I both get all of the hints, since they are rather obvious. We just have other priorities, and aren't interested in having a serious relationship with each other, or anyone else."

Lee shook his head. "This isn't the time for it, mate, but that's a load of hippogriff droppings. You both have the same problem. That stupid rule you guys had doesn't apply anymore, she loves you as much as she loved him, and he'd be happy for both of you." He held up his hands when George glared at him. "I'll drop it – for now – but somewhere down deep, you know I'm right."

"Somewhere down deep, I know that you need to spend less time hanging out with girls," George shot back. "Next thing you know, you'll be asking me to go shopping for clothes with you, like they do all the time, and asking for help with your hair and makeup."

Lee laughed. "A real friend wouldn't have a problem with letting me know if a pair of pants makes my butt look big, or if certain colors don't work with my eyes or skin tone."

George groaned and rolled his eyes; then stood up. "I've changed my mind. Dancing with Angelina would be way better than listening to that rubbish. I'll let Harry talk fashion and shopping with you. Talk to you later." With that, George left them, and Harry and Lee were both grinning as they watched him go over and ask Angelina to dance with him.

"I do hope they'll come around eventually," Lee said; almost to himself, and then smiled at Harry. "Was that little chat a news flash for you?"

Harry shrugged. "Yes, but I'm not surprised. They're just not ready to move on yet, though I do think they will." He watched Angelina laugh at something George told her as they started dancing, and laughed too. "With you, Alicia, and Ginny helping them along, they don't stand a chance anyway, so they might as well start getting used to the idea." He stood up too and put a hand on Lee's shoulder. "You've promised to drop that with George for now, and I'm fairly sure neither of us really wants to talk Wizard's fashion, so I think we should follow your advice, and go dance with our girls."

"No wonder I thought that was such a good idea," Lee joked as he got up too. "It was mine."

Now that the season was over, Ginny and her teammates were seriously ready to have some fun, and it was after three before Harry and Ginny got home. Even after an incredibly long day, Ginny was still in a celebratory mood, and had no problem convincing Harry that the private party she had planned for them was worth, um, staying awake for. When they did finally snuggle close and drift off to sleep, they were serenaded by the birds, and had ended their amazing day by watching a glorious sunrise together.

While that Sunday morning really wasn't anything different than any other day for the rest of the Wizarding World, as his mind happily floated along in that place between being awake and asleep, Harry mused that it was another of those endings and beginnings for them. He vaguely remembered reading somewhere that there were long periods of time in history when nothing much happened at all, and then other, shorter times when big events happened that would shake the world. There'd been the suggestion that those world-changing times were when you wanted to be alive, since that's when all the exciting things happened.

There was no doubt in his mind that they were living in one of those exciting moments, and the last two years with Ginny had been brilliant, but he thought it might be nice to have a little quiet time too – at least for a while. He was smiling as he fell asleep, his last thought being another of those insights, and it was telling him that there wasn't going to ever be a time that life was not going to be brilliant, fun, and exciting for them.


	27. 27 The Firestorm

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – The Firestorm**

****Note** The After the War storyline resumes after skipping Year Three. This is going to be a very long story, and I've decided to choose certain times in the storyline that would most likely be most eventful for Harry, Ginny, their family, and friends.**

****START OF YEAR FOUR****

"Happy twentieth!" Hermione said; hugging Ginny once she and Ron stepped through the doorway into the front hall.

"Thanks," Ginny answered. "Come on into the dining room. You're the last to get here, and I can't wait to find out why Harry wanted everyone over here for breakfast."

'Everyone' included her parents, George, Ron and Hermione, her Harpies teammates, manager, and any significant others. None of them had said a word about it to her at work, and when Gwenog and Kirley had shown up, it had been a complete surprise for Ginny. She led Ron and Hermione into the dining room, after hugging Ron too, and then the couple did a quick round of hugs and kisses before sitting down at the table. Harry started sending bowls and platters in from the kitchen; and when he had that done; he came and sat down next to Ginny.

"Dig in while it's hot," he told everyone, though Ron had already started doing that.

"You're seriously going to make me wait until after breakfast to find out what's going on?" Ginny asked, and Harry leaned close to kiss her before answering.

"I have to," he answered. "You'll understand why soon enough."

"That's so not fair," she complained; pretending to pout.

"You'll survive, and I promise it'll be worth the wait," Harry assured her. "If nobody else has any opening topics, I'd like to hear this week's Adventures with Victoire report from Mum."

Molly laughed along with everyone else, and was happy to tell them all about her week with Victoire. She'd been babysitting her granddaughter during the week since Fleur had gone back to work at Gringotts, and now that Victoire was into the toddling stage, she was in to everything; and Molly, and Bill and Fleur, had a never-ending supply of entertaining stories. Those stories did keep Ginny distracted while they had breakfast, but eventually, even Ron managed to eat his fill, and Harry stood; ready to get started on the cleanup.

"Forget it, buddy," Ginny told him firmly. "You're not going to make me wait for another hour or more while you putter around the kitchen." She took his hand and pulled him back onto his chair.

"Well, if you insist," he conceded with a shrug.

Waving his wand, he brought her presents flying into the room, and they landed on the table in front of her just after the dishes that had been there were sent off into the kitchen. He wasn't the only one around the table laughing when she immediately started tearing the wrapping paper off of the top gift; sending paper flying around them as she worked.

"I think she likes it," Arthur joked as they watched Ginny fairly seriously snog Harry after opening the box. "What do you think he gave her?"

"He got me a _Firestorm!"_ Ginny exclaimed after letting go of Harry and laughing at her father's comment. "How did you manage that?" she asked Harry. "They won't even be on sale for another two weeks, and we're hearing that they're going to be nearly impossible to get at first." Harry grinned, and Ginny laughed again. "Okay, so we put this down as one of those times that it doesn't always suck to be famous," she joked.

"Is this why you asked us all to come over for the day?" Angelina asked. "So we can drool over how great the Firestorm is?"

"I can't wait to find out what Ginny can do with one of them," Demelza told them. "They're supposed to be able to do zero to two hundred in ten seconds!"

"You're going to need bigger stadiums to play in," Lee suggested.

"More like an entire Moor," Kirley added. "You're going to have a lot of Witches and Wizards out there who are really jealous, Ginny. Every professional player in the world wants one, and Meghan told me the other day that the Prides are being told it might even be early next year before they'll be able to get seven of them."

"There is a group of jealous Witches and Wizards right here in this room," Gwenog told him before turning to Ginny. "Let's have a look at it, and then maybe the boys can handle the cleanup while we go outside and see what that thing can do." Ginny took it out of the box; and after caressing its polished handle affectionately, she passed it around so everyone could take a look at the incredible broom.

"Why don't you open the other present while your new broom is being admired," Harry suggested.

"I can do that," Ginny agreed, "though if you wanted to save the best for last, you should've put that one on the bottom."

"Or not," Ron said with a laugh as Ginny snogged Harry again. "Will you please cut that out? You're scaring the kids. What'd you do to top the Firestorm, mate?"

"He topped that by getting six more!" Ginny answered for Harry, and then hugged him again before starting to pull the other brooms out. "Gwenog Jones," she said, reading the name on the tag aloud before passing the broom down toward her team Captain. "Angelina, Alicia, Demelza, Lysa, and Trish," she added as she passed each broom out. The seven Witches were now all talking excitedly together, and the noise level in the room had hit Burrow standards.

"You knew about this!" Gwenog said suddenly and loudly. Everyone else turned to look first at her, and then to Glynnis; who was smiling rather smugly as she watched her girls having fun.

"Harry had the pull to get his hands on the first batch of brooms, but this is a pretty big birthday present, and the Harpies were quite happy to chip in a bit when he came and talked to me about the idea," she answered, and then grinned at Ginny. "Don't even think about coming over here and thanking me like you just thanked Harry," she warned.

"I won't," Ginny promised as she walked around the table to where Glynnis was sitting. "You are definitely getting a big hug, though. Thank you. This is absolutely brilliant."

"Glad you think so," Glynnis told her. "Maybe by now, some of you have figured out that the reason we've all been invited here is because we're going to have an extra practice so you can all get ready to use those new brooms at our game on Tuesday afternoon against the Tornados. One practice on Monday probably won't be enough."

"Which you can get to while I take care of cleaning up," Harry added. "Your equipment bags are out by the pitch. I'll have drinks and snacks available soon for you, and for any spectators who want to go watch you play."

He was on the receiving end of seven more hugs, and one fairly brilliant kiss before the girls went outside, along with everyone else except Molly, Arthur, and Hermione. They stayed to give him a hand with the cleanup, though they did all keep an eye on the action from the kitchen windows. Since it was the much faster speed and maneuverability that made the Firestorm so much better than the Firebolt, or any other broom, the girls started out by just flying around the pitch; testing out what their new brooms could do, and in some cases, how close to the broom's limits they were willing to go before backing off. Flying at two hundred plus miles per hour did take a fair bit of nerve, and you probably needed to be a little crazy to try any of the most difficult Quidditch moves at those speeds.

"That was close," Hermione said after seeing Lysa just barely recover from a spin move that she lost control of. "Wasn't the game already dangerous enough without making brooms more than a third faster? Those Firestorms are more than twice as fast as most other brooms."

"They'll be too fast for a lot of Witches and Wizards," Arthur stated. "Look at Ginny, though. It's like that broom was designed with her in mind, and she's going to play brilliantly with it."

"She was already the best Seeker in the league," Molly told him. "Brooms have always gotten better and faster, but Hermione might be right, and these are just too fast."

"Most of the other Seekers might argue that point," Harry said; smiling as he watched Ginny fly around while he washed dishes. "She is the best Seeker, though, and will be even better now, but I don't think that's going to be as big of a deal this season."

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"The faster speed of the game is going to be a huge advantage for the Chasers, at least for the first couple of years," he explained. "It'll take the Keepers longer to adjust how they defend the goals." He turned and grinned at her, and his eyes were flashing with emerald fire. "We're going to see a lot of high-scoring games until then, and until the other teams can get their hands on full sets of the Firestorms, the Harpies are going to put up some big numbers against their opponents."

"How did you manage to get first shot at them?" Hermione wanted to know next, and smiled too when Harry's smile shot up a couple of notches.

"I asked, and the owners thought that a couple of professional demonstrations of just how good their new broom is would be a big, and free, advertising coup." He laughed. "Actually, they made money on the deal, since we also paid a premium to get the first set."

"How fast can they go, and when are you going to tell Ginny that you have one somewhere around here too?" Molly had laughed too, and was smiling now as she saw Harry's reaction to her questions.

"It's in one of the guest bedroom closets, and I'm not sure how fast; other than over two hundred. I buried the needle on my air speed indicator. They don't make one yet that goes past two hundred, though it probably doesn't go much faster than that."

"Ron's going to be green over that," Hermione predicted.

Harry shrugged. "Not much I can do about that, though I have got an order in, and maybe it'll get filled in time for his birthday next March. They told me that getting it by Christmas would be impossible. You're not into brooms, but I remember that it took something like three years before they'd made enough Firebolts for all of the professional players and broom racers to get one."

"I wonder if they'll still sell the Firebolt?" Arthur mused. "If they do, maybe they'll cut the price so more Witches and Wizards can afford them."

"I haven't heard," Harry answered. "They should think about doing that. It's still faster than the newest Nimbus, Cleansweep, and Comet brooms."

"What's the plan for the rest of Ginny's birthday?" Hermione asked him. "Please tell me it's not going to just be eight or ten hours of watching Quidditch."

Harry laughed. "There'll be enough of that," he confirmed, "but I've also invited the rest of our family, and all of our friends to stop in to help celebrate. We'll do lunch outside with whoever is here sometime around noon or one, depending on when Glynnis and Gwenog will be ready to have the team take a break, and I'm sure you'll have fun hanging out with everyone, and playing with the kids."

"And maybe play a little Quidditch scrimmage too?" Molly guessed. Harry laughed again.

"The Weasley boys and their friends might not be near as good as the Harpies are, but we will probably give it a go sometime today. I did suggest that anyone interested in playing should bring their broom and equipment."

"You're going to prove Gwenog right about Witches being better," Hermione predicted. "Especially when they're flying those brooms."

"We'll see," Harry said with a shrug. "They'll still be getting used to them for a while, so it won't be quite as big of an advantage today. We may not have any professionals on our side, but Bill, Charlie, George, and Ron are all pretty good, and we'll have some other recruits available – like Gabrielle, Dawn, Seamus, and Dean."

"Gabrielle is going to love it if you let her play," Molly told him. "Fleur told me that she made team captain this year, and Quidditch, and the Harpies, is all she ever wants to talk about."

"Gwenog and Lysa would need to take it easy on her, since she's only fifteen, but I'm sure they'll be happy to let her play too," Harry said. "From what I've heard, she's got what it takes to play the game, and then some."

"Would that be the same genes as her war hero, Tri-Wizard school champion sister, or just that she's as crazy as the rest of you?" Hermione asked.

"I'd vote for both," Arthur told her. "Her team won whatever their school version is of the Quidditch Cup, and she must be pretty good, since Fleur told us that she caught the snitch in every game."

"She is good," Harry assured him. "Bill and Gabrielle came over and played with Ginny and I for an afternoon the week she was here with them after they picked her up on the way back from Charlie and Julianne's wedding in Romania in June."

They continued chatting, moving on from Quidditch to what was going on around the family. When the cleanup was done, Harry got drinks and snacks ready, and then they all helped getting them out to the pitch and set up on the table that Harry summoned from the garage. Breakfast had been at shortly after nine, and by then, it was after eleven. Molly, Arthur, and Hermione were able to sit down and watch the Harpies in action, but Harry was kept busy with greeting guests as they arrived, and starting on getting everything set up for their lunch. There were tables and chairs to set up, and then he needed to split his time between hanging out with everyone at the Quidditch Pitch, and working on making lunch in the kitchen.

Not everyone was able to come and spend the day with them, or wouldn't be there until later in the afternoon. He was expecting, and cooking for the forty-seven Witches and Wizards who had confirmed they'd be coming for lunch, plus enough for another half-dozen in case they ended up with a few extras. He was doing a refill of the drinks and snacks table when Bill and Fleur got there with Victoire and Fleur's sister and parents. The Delacours had come to visit for the weekend, and drop Gabrielle off with Bill and Fleur for a week-long visit before she'd be going back to school in September.

"They've got Firestorms, Mum!"

He turned around and smiled as he saw the excitement in Gabrielle's face and eyes. She was trying to take in all of the action as she watched the Harpies fly around the pitch, and that look wasn't all that much different than the one that was on Ginny's face as she played with her friends. Harry laughed quietly when Apolline looked around worriedly, and asked her younger daughter where the fire storms were.

"Their brooms, Mamma," Gabrielle clarified. "The Harpies all have the new Firestorm brooms. They aren't even supposed to go on sale for two weeks. I've told you and Papa all about them."

"Over and over again," her father agreed; laughing jovially. "It looks like Ginny is having a very happy birthday."

Harry went over to greet them, and had hugs for everyone, along with kisses for Fleur and Victoire. "You look beautiful," he told Fleur. She smiled and put a hand over her slightly swelling stomach. "Are you getting to the end of the morning sickness?" She was right around the end of her first trimester, and she nodded; letting out a happy sigh.

"Yes, and good riddance to it," she confirmed. "Now we know why you wanted Bill and Gabrielle to bring their Quidditch gear," she added; waving toward the pitch. Harry nodded, pulled out his wand, and summoned his Firebolt.

"That's why, but I have a surprise for Gabrielle too," he answered; handing the broom to her. "It's not new, but I thought that you might like to have my old broom," he told the suddenly wide-eyed teen.

"You're giving me your Firebolt?" she asked incredulously, and then hugged Harry excitedly when he assured her that was exactly what he was doing.

"Is that okay, Mum?" she asked, and her parents both laughed.

"Like we could say no after seeing that look on your face," Apolline said; smiling when Gabrielle hugged her next. "Thank-you, Harry. This is a wonderful gift."

"You're welcome. We're going to play a scrimmage match against the Harpies sometime after lunch, Gabrielle. You don't want to get in the way of their training right now, but you're welcome to take your new broom out for a spin around the yard so you'll get used to it before we play."

That earned him another hug, mostly because of the implied invitation to play in that match, and then Harry went back to work, while they joined the rest of the family and their friends next to the Quidditch pitch. He had everything ready by one o'clock, and everyone moved from the Quidditch pitch to the tables and chairs that were set up closer to the house. Some of the tables were in the shade, which he'd done mostly for the kids, grandparents, and three pregnant women. Hannah was due pretty much any time now, and while she was still running the show at the Leaky, she wasn't waiting tables or doing any of the hard work, and was working a lot fewer hours. Audrey was about six months along; and due in November. Neville and Percy both doted on their respective wives, and were very excited about their impending fatherhood.

It was about twenty after one by the time Harry could actually fill a plate and join everyone, and he sighed when he sat down on the comfortably-cushioned patio chair next to Ginny. She was sitting at a table with Ron, Hermione, Angelina, George, and Teddy. Ginny leaned close for a one-armed hug, and kissed him.

"Don't look, Teddy," Ron advised the little three-year old Wizard. "You'll lose your appetite – or what lunch you've finished so far."

Teddy laughed. "That's silly, Uncle Ron. They're just kissing."

"It's not silly," Ron disagreed. "That's how it starts out. Then before a Wizard knows it, he's married, and not long after that, there are babies and kids everywhere. You probably shouldn't sit so close to them, or you might catch what they've got."

Ginny leaned over and kissed Teddy next. "Don't you listen to Uncle Ron," she advised him. "Besides, if you do catch what we've got when you grow up, I'm fairly sure you won't mind being as happy as Uncle Harry and I are."

"Which just begs asking Ron why he doesn't want to catch it," George offered helpfully.

"Maybe it's because of my experience with those Weasley love potion-filled chocolates," Ron answered. "In my case, love quite literally nearly killed me. I'd say that makes it all your fault."

George laughed. "The instructions for the potion clearly stated that use after the 'best before' date was dangerous, and you can't blame me for everything else that happened – like Harry not taking that girl's bait, Malfoy putting the poison in that bottle Slughorn had, or the Professor giving you a drink."

"Not to mention that story is a total cop-out," Angelina added. "How long are you planning on dating Hermione before you get married too?"

Ron groaned. "You're scaring me," he told her, "and you may be scaring George too if you've hopped on the marriage bandwagon."

"I've always been on the marriage bandwagon; George has nothing to get scared about, since we're best friends, not a couple like you and Hermione; and you totally didn't answer the question."

"Three years, three months, and ten days and counting," Ginny told Angelina. "Or is it eleven days? Was that Battle of Hogwarts snogging session before or after midnight that night?"

"I'm pretty sure that May second should count as the first official day," Harry suggested, "though I've never really thought about the fact that Victoire's birthday was also on the second Anniversary of the day they started dating. That should make it easy for you to remember, mate."

"Wouldn't that be the same for you too?" George asked, and Harry shook his head and smiled at Ginny.

"I suppose that we technically started dating again on the third, right before Ron, Neville, and I ran off to become Aurors, but I'll always think of that first kiss after Ginny won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor in her OWL year as 'the day' for us. She's definitely had my heart ever since then."

"That's so romantic," Hermione said happily. Ginny kissed Harry again, and Ron groaned.

"That's so sickening," he declared. "So, Teddy, what do you think of Aunt Ginny's new broom?" He was smiling at the little boy, but was obviously getting desperate, and was ready to try anything to change the subject.

"It's very fast," Teddy told him excitedly. "Aunt Ginny's the best flier."

"What about Uncle Harry?" Ron asked.

"I think she's the best flier too," Harry joked, and Teddy laughed and nodded. "How are things going at your stores?" he asked George. "The back to school crush must be about to hit you. Will this be your last day off until September?"

"Probably, though I'm thinking that I should take Tuesday afternoon off and go see the game. It's going to be a lot of fun finding out how much of a difference those brooms are going to make."

Harry grinned at him, and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "Thanks for reminding me." He pulled three tickets out, and passed them around to George, Ron, and Hermione before handing the envelope to Ginny. "You should probably pass them out when you're done eating, so we don't miss anyone who has to leave early. I was fairly sure that everyone would feel the same way George does about this next match."

"Are we going too?" Teddy asked; looking worried when he didn't see tickets for them.

"We've got season's tickets, Teddy, and we're definitely going," Harry assured him.

"Which is good for you," Angelina told him. "I have a feeling that extra tickets for Harpies games, at least for the rest of this season, are going to be a lot harder to get after Tuesday."

"Which I'm sure Glynnis and the Harpies were thinking about when they agreed to help get these brooms for us," Ginny added. "I wonder if they'll change our new action figures to have little toy Firestorms instead of Firebolts?"

"Knowing Glynnis, I'm sure they had that set up to happen before they even knew when they'd be able to get their hands on the new brooms," Angelina answered. "I haven't had a doubt about how good they are at all of that since getting my first bonus."

Once the conversation moved along, Harry concentrated on eating so that he was done and ready to get back to work. There was a birthday cake to have Ginny make a wish over while blowing out the candles, and then it needed to be dissected and passed out, along with any requested ice cream side-orders. When it was time to start cleaning up, he took care of that, while Ginny and her Harpies teammates went back to playing, and the rest of their guests either watched them, visited with each other, or played with the kids. By three o'clock, Harry was ready to play too, and had his team put together. They had too many Seekers in their family, so Charlie played Chaser with Bill and Dawn, and Harry teamed up with George at Beater. Ron took on what was, at least today, an unenviable job of being their Keeper, though despite the obvious disadvantage, looked quite happy to be going up against Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza. He'd have loved giving his new broom a go against Ginny, but they'd have lots of time to do that later, and they'd made Gabrielle's summer by having her be their Seeker instead. Since they had extra players available, they also had a handful of Reserve players who were more than happy to take a turn as the Harpies tired out their opponents; running them ragged as they all tried to keep up with them.

"We need to get out and play more," Bill told the other guys when they all took a break for drinks and a snack. "The best players on our team are Gabrielle and Dawn; and Jonathan when he's taking a turn."

"That's for sure, and I hope none of you tell anyone that Gabrielle outraced me to the snitch today," Ginny said with a nod and smile for Bill's sister-in-law. "You've been practicing hard all summer, haven't you? I can see the improvement since you were here at the end of June."

"Every day," Gabrielle confirmed, "but you're holding back, and I wouldn't have made that catch if you weren't."

"I'm keeping my speed to the Firebolt's limit to make it fair," Ginny answered. "You made a great move, and that catch definitely counts."

"As much as those goals you've all scored on me count," Trish added. "You're quite the little playmaker, Dawn. You play a lot like Alicia does."

The two fifteen-year old girls were smiling happily at the praise from their heroes, and both looked ready to get playing again whenever the others were ready to go. They did take fifteen or twenty minutes, though, and then went back up and played for another hour before everyone called it a day. By then, the party was beginning to wrap up, and Harry and Ginny spent another three-quarters of an hour on the goodbyes, and for him, the clean-up. When Ginny finished seeing the last guests off, and they were finally alone, she joined Harry in the kitchen, and diverted him from his work for several minutes with a long, fiery, thank-you kiss.

"You're welcome," he assured her after she'd leaned back to smile happily at him. "I'd tell you that the birthday fun isn't over yet, but that was all I had planned for today; since I was sure you'd need to get back to studying for the game, and you've got curfew tonight anyway."

Ginny laughed, and kissed him again. "Your plans for the day may be done, but I'm fairly confident that we can make sure that the birthday fun isn't over. We'll get back to that again after I'm finished studying." She looked around the kitchen, which he nearly had cleaned and back to normal. "Let's go out and grab something light for dinner at one of the Cafés in Diagon Alley. I think you've done way more than enough work for one day."

Harry was happy to go along with that suggestion. He finished his work, including getting the tables and chairs that were in the yard put away again, and then they apparated to Diagon Alley. Ginny really did need to work, so they didn't take long to have their meal, and then went straight back home again so she could get to that. They were used to the routine, now that Ginny was into her third season with the Harpies, and Harry was quite happy to have a quiet night cuddling with her while she studied. Ginny had worked for about two and a half hours, and then she leaned over and kissed Harry.

"I nodded off again?" he asked; opening his eyes and smiling at her.

"Yes, but that's okay, because it's later, and now you should be all rested up," she answered. "Let's go to bed. We've got a few more birthday memories to make, and then this will definitely be my best birthday ever so far."

Glynnis had set up another extra team practice for Sunday morning, so after having breakfast with Ginny, and sending her off to work with a hug and kiss, Harry had the morning free to take care of some of the running around and work that needed to be done, but had been pushed off while getting everything ready for Ginny's birthday. He had all of that done by noon, and had lunch ready and waiting for when Ginny got home again.

"Will you be ready by Tuesday?" Harry asked as they sat down to eat. He'd set up a table in the yard, and they were glad to be outside where they could enjoy the beautiful summer day.

"We'll be using the new brooms," Ginny answered. "Trish and Lysa are having some problems, but they'll work them out eventually, and for now, they're just not going to take their Firestorms to the limit."

"That would cut back on how much of an advantage your team will have, but I guess that's better than crashing and getting hurt," Harry suggested, and Ginny nodded.

"I'm sure you saw the few close calls we had yesterday, and there were a few more this morning. It's the acceleration and more precise turns that are giving them problems. Their timing is all messed up, which has Trish completely whiffing on saves if she tries going full-out, and Lysa was completely missing bludgers left and right until Glynnis had her slow down."

"They'll get up to speed soon enough," Harry predicted. "Anyone who pushes the limits if they're not ready to handle it is going to get hurt on those Firestorms."

"Which is why you're going to help me this afternoon," Ginny told him. "I'm not going to be one of those casualties, or worse yet, knock myself out of a game and cost my team a win."

Harry laughed. "I'll do that, but you should seriously reconsider your priorities there. The Harpies have lost some games, and we've both managed to survive without permanent damage. I can't say the same about any of the times you've been injured, and I don't even want to think about you getting seriously hurt."

"I am seriously hurt when it's my fault that we lose," Ginny protested, but then leaned close and kissed him. "Thanks to you, though, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances for not having that happen this season."

After lunch, they spent two hours flying around the pitch, mostly testing the limits of their new brooms, and working on moves like the one-eighty flip and vertical dive moves, all at altitudes that allowed them room to recover from the occasional mistakes they each made.

Harry talked Ginny into having an afternoon nap that they didn't end up getting much rest during, and then they wrapped up their weekend with a quiet dinner, evening study session, and early bed time. They were both at work early on Monday morning, with Ginny wanting to go in early to play on her broom, so Harry decided to go in early too. He was sitting at his cubicle when Ron dropped into one of the chairs and sighed heavily.

"That doesn't sound good," Harry said; putting his quill down and giving Ron his full attention. "Problems in paradise?"

"Hermione's mad at me," Ron answered. "Again."

"That would have been my first guess," Harry advised him, though Ron didn't think that was funny. "What's the problem this time?"

Ron shrugged and grunted. "How should I know?"

"By using your finely honed Auror skills and finding out?" Harry suggested.

"Why bother? It's the same every time anyway. Eventually she'll tell me what I've done wrong; I'll cave in and beg for forgiveness, even though I don't think I did anything wrong anyway; and it'll all blow over – in a week or two."

"You could try sitting down and asking her, and save yourself all of the pain and suffering you usually go through during those weeks when you're fighting."

"I think that's against the rules," Ron countered, "though maybe I could try suffering a bit more obviously. That might cut down my penance time."

"That's up to you, mate, but I wouldn't advise trying to con Hermione with something like that. She'll see right through it, and we both know how much she hates being lied to."

Ron snorted, but didn't comment on that. "What are we working on today?"

"This is just something I'm putting together for when I start working with my new Auror-trainee next week," Harry answered. "Emma's letting Neville and I work out our own training program."

"I still think that you and I should train the pair of them," Ron said grumpily, and scowled when Harry laughed.

"Really?" Harry asked, and then pointed to a stack of parchment on his bookshelf. "Those are the new training reports. Neville and I each have to fill them out and hand them in to Emma – once a week."

Ron's mouth opened in an 'Oh', and he shook his head. "Okay. Now I know why she didn't want me to be one of the trainers this year," he conceded, and then laughed. "My reports are the worst in the department, and I don't mind admitting that it's the one part of the job I really hate."

"The good news is that you'll be training Dennis with me anyway, and won't have to do any of the paperwork. We'll work with Neville and Natalie when we're doing training sessions here at Headquarters too."

"How come he gets the pretty girl?" Ron wanted to know next. "I thought you had some pull around here."

"I do, which is why we've got Dennis," Harry explained, then lowered his voice. "We're going to make sure that Colin's parents don't have to worry about losing his little brother – at least as long as I can be there to watch his back." He smiled then. "Besides, you're always telling me that I need to stay away from the pretty Witches so that Ginny won't get jealous or mad at me."

Ron shrugged again. "I'll cut you some slack on that one, but Natalie has turned out to be quite the looker. I barely recognized her from Hogwarts."

"She was thirteen or fourteen when we finished sixth year," Harry reminded him, "and we were a bit busy back then. I don't remember much about her at all, but then, I could say that about most of the kids who weren't in our year, or friends of ours. Anyway, I thought that today we could do the rounds, and see if there's anything new going on that we should know about. It's going to be too nice outside to stay cooped up in here all day."

"That works for me," Ron agreed. "I've got a couple of things to do first, but I can be ready to go in about fifteen."

Harry had agreed with that, and spent the time finishing what he was working on before packing up the parchment and quill and getting ready to leave. There had been a lot of changes in the three years and three months since they'd joined the Aurors. There were still most wanted criminals out there, and new cases investigated all of the time, but it wasn't the nearly non-stop, seven days a week action the job had often been during the first couple of years. Harry, Ron, and Neville had only been promoted to Aurors back in May, though that had mostly been done because of form, since their training had been completed well ahead of their third anniversary date.

Through their case work, Harry and Ron had begun developing quite a network of informants, and they regularly made the rounds to visit those Witches and Wizards. They always did that in disguise, to protect their contacts, and not all of the information was reliable, but that network had become a fairly valuable resource for the Aurors, and one which they were going to continue developing. The big, headline-grabbing captures were fairly rare now, and Harry was quite happy about that too. Auror Headquarters was becoming better organized, more professional, and with the few Aurors gone who hadn't been willing to deal with the new reality of life at the Ministry of Magic, the entire department was finally moving in a direction that Harry whole-heartedly approved of and helped advance.

"It may be a beautiful day to be out, mate, but that last place was seriously disgusting, and hotter than a sauna," Ron told Harry a few hours later. "Let's hit the Leaky for lunch. I seriously need a couple of cold drinks before we do anything else today."

"We did get some information that made the stop worthwhile," Harry pointed out. "I'm sure that Reggie and Dan will appreciate the tip on their case, if it pans out."

"As long as it's not another one of those bogus leads," Ron said with a nod. "That guy isn't exactly the most reliable source we have."

"That's true, but I've got a feeling this lead's legit."

"I hate it when you get those feelings. Let's get out of here. We can talk more once we've got those cold drinks."

They did that, spending a bit less than an hour at the Leaky, and then got back to work for the rest of the afternoon. By the time they got back to Headquarters, and Harry finished doing a few things there, he ended up getting home shortly after Ginny did, so they cooked dinner together, ate outdoors again, and then cleaned up together too before going out to the pitch for one more Seeker duel. Ginny had a bit more homework to do, but they went to bed early again, and she happily let Harry help her out with the full Jacuzzi, massage, and magic bedtime routine, which definitely had her feeling her best by the time they woke up on game day.

There were a lot of Aurors taking Tuesday afternoon off to go see the game, and that was pretty much an issue Ministry-wide, since the Harpies were two-time Champions, and definitely the most popular team in the League. Harry left work shortly before noon; meeting up with about half of the members of their family, Andromeda, and Teddy at the Leaky for lunch. The game was at Ilkley stadium, and they were all there and in their seats with fifteen minutes to spare.

"This should be fun," Harry said quietly as they waited for the teams to be called out. He had Teddy in his lap; Ron and Hermione on one side, and Victoire, Dawn, and Jonathan on the other.

"The Tornados' players will go nuts," Ron predicted. "The fans likely will too – at least the Harpies' fans."

"I'm surprised word didn't get out," Hermione told Harry. She was sitting with Ron, but things were still ice-cold between them, even if they were pretending everything was just fine when they were in public.

"So am I, but they seem to have managed," Harry answered. "If it wouldn't have been unfair, knowing what we do, I'd have taken a couple of the bets I was offered at work by a pair of Tornados fans."

"You actually bet on Ginny's games?" Hermione asked in shock. Harry laughed and patted her arm affectionately.

"I never bet on anything more than who's buying lunch, and I don't think there's anything wrong with a little friendly bet. There've been some lunches that I've had to pay for when the Harpies have lost."

"Six losses out of fifty-four matches the last two seasons; including the playoffs," Dawn said with a bright smile. "Make enough bets, and you'd never have to buy lunch again with those odds."

"Must be nice," Ron told them. "I'd be the one buying lunches for everyone if I bet on every Cannons match like that."

"Maybe," Harry agreed, "but just think of how satisfying it'll be when they win their next championship. That's the kind of dedication that separates the true fans from the pretenders."

Ron nodded. "That's what I keep telling myself – every year, after every game."

The Harpies were called out into the stadium then, and there was no chance to continue a conversation as the crowd started buzzing with excitement. Most probably hadn't even noticed before the stadium announcer practically yelled out – "They're on Firestorms!" That had everyone taking a closer look, and the buzz was soon a roar of approval coming from the Harpies fans. The angry shouts and protests didn't start until the Tornados were introduced, and they were all still flying the 'old' Firebolts.

Ginny was smiling the brightest, but all of the Harpies looked more fired up than usual, and there was quite a contrast between them, and their opponents. They couldn't hear the exchange from where they were in the stands, but the Tornados Manager was definitely letting Glynnis, and the officials, know what he thought about the fact that they had the new brooms already.

"That's Mark Summerby," Dawn leaned over and told Harry; pointing out one of the Tornados players. "He was Hufflepuff's Seeker until he graduated in June."

"I remember him," Harry answered with a nod, and grinned at Dawn. "He's probably in for a bad day – Especially if he's still getting used to flying a Firebolt."

"If he hasn't, by the time he does, he'll likely have a Firestorm, and need to start all over again," Dawn suggested. "The scouts do seem to be coming to our games more often since Ginny's first year. It'll be interesting to see how many of the players they recruited this year work out with their new teams."

"Planning for your own future?" Harry teased, and Dawn laughed.

"Absolutely, and Laura thinks that Jonathan and I both have a shot if we keep working hard."

"Laura Madley?" Harry asked; looking wide-eyed and shocked. "Puddlemere United's rookie Chaser sensation, and best new player of the year, according to Wilda Griffiths?"

"Jonathan thinks his sister is the best rookie this year too, though I'm going to have to give Demelza a slight edge, even if my Ravenclaws did beat her team this past year."

"That broom will give Demelza a lot more than a slight edge until the other players all have them too," Jonathan told her. "They were pretty closely matched on opening day. Laura scored three of United's nine goals."

"Demelza scored five," Dawn reminded him, and he laughed.

"Laura said that Oliver was sleep deprived, and that's why your team scored twenty-six goals on him. I guess that he and Katie are up half the night every night with their new baby, Belinda."

Harry was smiling as he listened to the teens chat, but the game started then, and there wasn't much conversation going on after that, except for a lot of cheering, and comments like – "Did you see that?"

For the next three hours and eleven minutes, the Harpies were a one team advertisement that proved just how good the new Firestorm was. Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza combined to score forty-seven goals. Harry had been the only other person in the stadium who had actually flown one, so he knew that they'd done that without taking the brooms to the edge even once. Averaging fifteen goals an hour, or about one every four minutes, was amazing – especially compared to the two goals that had been all the Tornados managed before Ginny ended the game.

Her teammates were holding back, and Ginny hadn't gone full-out all of the time, but she had definitely pushed the broom's limits, and when she did catch the snitch, it was with a two-hundred mile an hour spin that had everyone in the stadium open-mouthed with awe and amazement before they roared out their approval. Harry was on his feet cheering too as he watched her fly over to her teammates for the usual post-game hugfest, and though he'd seen her practice that move a lot, he was just as amazed and impressed as everyone else.

"No wonder you make such a great couple. She's as crazy as you are," Hermione joked as they sat down again. Both teams were landing by then, and they had some time to wait while the first rush for the exits kept the aisles clogged.

"That move is only crazy if you're not good enough to pull it off, though I won't disagree that you have to be a certain type to do jobs like hers, or Ron's and mine. Do you guys have any plans for after the game?"

"I've got work to get back to," Hermione answered. "Ron's on his own if you're looking for someone to hang out with."

Harry didn't comment on the unspoken message in her answer. "The Harpies play the Prides a week from Saturday. By the time Ginny gets home from work, she'll want to get started on studying and training for that."

"She could take the week off and run circles around the Prides," Ron said with a snort of laughter.

"Knowing Ginny, she'll work even harder now," Hermione disagreed. "From what I saw on Saturday and today, it's going to take her, and all of the other players, quite a while to get used to everything those Firestorms can do."

"And she won't stop until she's done that," Harry agreed. "I see a lot of long days and extra Seeker duels in our immediate future."

"Which you love," Hermione countered. "Just don't let Ginny run herself ragged. It's a long season."

Harry had agreed with that, and while he chatted with Hermione, Ron, and the others, he watched Ginny out on the pitch. She was doing interviews, and the Harpies had a pack of reporters around them, while the Tornados players weren't getting much attention at all. While Hermione was right about it being a long season, he wasn't seriously worried about his incredible wife burning out at all. There was a Firestorm sweeping the Quidditch nation, and he was sure that Ginny's star was going to burn even brighter as Quidditch was taken to a whole new level, and she and the Harpies led the way.


	28. 28 Game Changers

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Game Changers

Neville got the message that Hannah had gone into labor late on Thursday morning. He was a nervous wreck, but had ongoing Auror support taking turns being there for him throughout the rest of the day. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all at St. Mungo's after dinner when Alice Longbottom was delivered at seven fifty-one. They didn't go in to see Hannah, but Neville brought Alice out to the waiting room to meet them. She was a healthy eight pounds, four ounces, and Harry and the girls could easily see how much she looked like Hannah, even if Ron couldn't. He hadn't wanted to take a turn holding the baby either, and while Hermione and Ginny fussed over the beautiful baby, he mostly cracked jokes about how terrible Neville's immediate future was going to be, and the fact that he could look forward to having no life at least until Alice went off to Hogwarts.

"Couldn't you have tried congratulating Neville, or offer him even one supportive comment?" Hermione demanded in a fierce whisper after Neville took Alice back into Hannah's room. "You wouldn't even hold the baby, and while you may have thought all of those jokes were funny, this is one of the happiest moments ever for parents, and all you could do was tell all of us how lousy it is to have kids."

"I congratulated him," Ron protested.

"You offered your condolences," Hermione shot back. "Big difference."

"What's the big deal, Hermione? Sure, I was joking, but it's not like anything I said wasn't true. Am I the only one here that listens to the stories Bill and Fleur, Andromeda, or other new parents have about their kids? The stories Mum and Dad have about us could scare anyone."

"We hear those stories just fine," Hermione told him. "The ones about hours spent cuddling with babies, and first hugs and kisses. How about the stories when Victoire learned to say Mommy and Daddy? Or learning to crawl and walk?"

Ron shook his head. "Now you know why I didn't want to hold the baby."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded.

"It means that you've probably caught the baby bug," he answered; seemingly oblivious to the brightly flashing danger signs that were all around Hermione now, and that Harry and Ginny could see clearly. "First, nearly everyone we know is all in a rush to get married, and now they all want to get tied down to a house full of kids. They've all gone mental, and don't even know it."

"I want to get married," Hermione told him in a quiet, serious tone of voice that was filled with hurt and sadness. "I want to have children too." There were tears in her eyes now, and she brushed them away angrily. "Our friends, and your sister and brothers are getting married because they love each other, and want to spend the rest of their lives together. They want to have kids because they're amazing, brilliant miracles. How do you think it makes me feel to know that you think that everyone who wants that is mental?"

"I'd like to think that you'd agree," Ron answered. "Is this what you've been mad at me about all week? Those jokes I made last Saturday at Ginny's party? Why are you mad about that? I've said the same things a hundred times before. When you're not mad at me like you are now, I'm quite happy with things the way they are. Why should we go and totally mess up our lives by rushing out to get married and start a family?"

'I'm an idiot," Hermione said; talking to herself before speaking to Ron again. "You're happy because you get all of the benefits and none of the responsibility or commitments. You think it's okay to go around ogling and flirting with other Witches because you're a bachelor, and apparently think that your girlfriend is blind and stupid. I want a husband, a family, and everything that goes with that, and I really thought it was going to be with you, but maybe I've been wrong about that. I've waited more than three years for you to come around, Ron, but I'm not waiting any longer. Either you love me and want to have a life and family with me, or you don't, and it's time for me to move on and find someone who will love me that much."

She waited for a few long, silent, heartbreakingly painful moments, but all Ron did was stand there; open-mouthed and staring at her blankly. He still hadn't said a word when she turned away from him and rushed out of the room; though not before Harry and Ginny could both see the tears that were now streaming down her face. Ginny turned on her brother once Hermione was out of sight, and her eyes were blazing with hot, unbridled anger.

"You're such an ass!" she spat at him. "The best thing that ever happened to you in your life just walked out that door, and you didn't do a thing to try and stop her!"

"Like I could have," Ron shot back just as hotly. "I don't want to get married yet, or rush out and have kids, but I should just cave in because she's crying?"

"You ought to marry her because you love her, and if you don't, then you really have just been stringing her along," Ginny said angrily. "I'm going to help my friend, since you quite obviously are incapable." She turned and hugged Harry, and there were tears in her eyes too. "You should stay and say goodbye to Neville for us," she told him. "I'll see you later."

"I love you," he whispered; and kissed her softly. "Do you want me to meet you there, or back at home?"

"Better make it back at home," Ginny decided, and Harry nodded his agreement before hugging her again. Ginny headed for the waiting room door, and when she got there, turned around again.

"Oh – I almost forgot, Ron. Mum and I really love Hermione a lot, and we made a promise to each other that if you ever hurt her, we'd have a special message for you." Having said that, she whipped out her wand and blasted her brother off of his feet. He flew back about six feet, and fell hard into one of the chairs behind him. She'd turned and walked out the door without another word, and didn't look back to see the results of her bat-bogey hex.

"Get 'em off me!" Ron yelled at Harry. The bats were coming out of his nose at a furious pace, and were swarming around his head. Harry got his wand out, and somewhat reluctantly countered Ginny's hex; though it did take nearly another full minute before the last bat was out and disappeared.

"I'm gonna blast her!" Ron growled; jumping to his feet and pulling his wand out. He'd taken two steps before coming up short when Harry stepped in to block his way.

"You are not going to do anything of the sort to my wife," he advised Ron.

"She's not getting away with doing that to me, and this is between me and my sister, so stay out of it."

"You've already royally botched things with Hermione, mate. Don't make it worse than it already is."

"That's none of your business either," Ron said angrily; glaring at Harry. "I'll deal with Hermione and Ginny, and I don't need your help, so just get out of my way."

"Hermione's not the idiot – you are," Harry told him bluntly. "You should've asked her to marry you years ago, and you know it. You don't want my help, and want me to stay out of it? Fine. Deal with this on your own – but know that I will be there to help Ginny or Hermione, and I'm quite sure they'll be happy to have me do that. I'd seriously think about that before making your next stupid move."

With that, he restored Ginny's bat-bogey hex with a little added zip to it, and left the room too. Neville, and quite a few other Witches and Wizards had heard the commotion, and were out in the hallway watching the show. Harry ignored the stares from everyone else, and led Neville off to the side so they could speak in private for a moment.

"I'm really sorry, mate," he said quietly, and Neville shook his head.

"Not your fault," he answered. "He was bound to take all of that too far one day. I just hope he comes to his senses before it's too late."

"Me too," Harry agreed. "Congratulations, Neville. Alice is beautiful. Give Hannah hugs for Ginny, Hermione, and I, and we'll stop in to see all of you once you've had a chance to settle in at home. If you need anything, just let us know, and we'll be there."

"What are you going to do about Ron?" Neville asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"He's my best mate and brother-in-law, and I love him, but since he doesn't want my help, and wants me to stay out of it, I will. Ginny's got a pretty ingenious twist to her bat-bogey hex. I'm sure it will be interesting to see how long it takes the Healers here to figure out how to counter it."

"That was nice of her to teach you the counter," Neville said, and he was grinning now too. "I guess she never plans on getting mad enough to use it on you."

Harry laughed. "Actually, she taught me the counter expecting that she would get that mad sometimes, and then feel bad about blasting me later."

"She may have thought that, but I really doubt she'll ever blast you," Neville told him seriously. "I'd better get back in with Hannah and Alice. Thanks for coming, and good luck. I have a feeling that you're not going to have much fun working with Ron for a while; though hopefully it won't be too bad by the time I get back to work next week."

"Check in with Emma about that," Harry suggested. "I could get someone else to help me with the testing for Dennis and Natalie. Maybe you could take the extra time off until we start their training a week from Monday."

Neville shrugged. "I'll see. Hannah may be ready to get me out of our flat at the Inn by then – or at least have me out so Gran won't be there all day, every day."

Harry hugged his friend, and then left the hospital. He'd seen Ron being led to a treatment room by one of the Healers, but had ignored the glare from his friend, though it had been hard to see through the swarming bats. He'd gone home from there, and got to work. He had a feeling that they were going to have company, and got one of the guest bedrooms ready. When he had that done, he went into the kitchen and started baking a little treat for his friend, and some muffins that they could have with breakfast. That effort earned him some hugs, and had Hermione crying again when she, Ginny, and Crookshanks joined him in the kitchen.

"Would this be a good time to remind you that I've had more than my fair share of idiot moments?" he asked as he hugged Hermione. "My research into the matter suggests that it's some kind of genetic flaw that only affects the Wizard half of the population. Nobody seems to know why, and while it seems possible to overcome the condition; even after getting control of the problem, the best of us have still been known to lose control and mess up periodically."

Hermione and Ginny both laughed, and after letting go of Harry, Hermione let Ginny lead her over to the table, where they sat down while Harry served up their bedtime snack and glasses of wine, and Crookshanks was set free to go exploring. He joined them once that was done, and put a comforting hand on Hermione's arm.

"It's going to be okay," he promised, and she smiled sadly at him.

"I know it will be," she agreed. "What I don't know is whether it'll be okay with or without him. He didn't even try to come talk to me when he got back, though he made sure that we heard him stomp up to his flat."

"Yelling loudly all the way," Ginny added with a grin. "What exactly happened at St. Mungo's to have him calling you such nasty names?"

"You told Hermione about your bat-bogey hex?" he asked, and Ginny nodded. "He yelled at me to help him, so I did, but then, when I told him I'd be on your side if he tried to blast you like he wanted to, and that I wasn't going to let him do anything else to Hermione either, he told me this was none of my business, he didn't need my help, and to stay out of it."

Ginny started laughing. "So you put the bat-bogey hex back?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"It didn't take the Healers as long as I thought it might for them to figure out that little twist you have on that hex, though if he just got home, it did take a couple of hours."

"What twist?" Hermione asked, and Ginny laughed again.

"It doubles if a normal counter-hex is tried," she answered. "Both in quantity and size. Hopefully they didn't try that more than once. It could hurt quite a lot if they got too big."

"He must be furious with all of us then," Hermione said, and shook her head dejectedly. "I hate to do this to you, Harry, but I think it's time for me to find a new place to live. I'm serious about being done waiting for him, and the thought of living right there in the same building with Ron is just impossible."

"Don't worry about how I feel, or about your flat," Harry told her, "but you should at least sleep on it before making that decision. Whatever you want to do, though, we'll be there for you."

Hermione tried to smile, but there were tears in her eyes, and Ginny leaned close to put an arm around her. "I was hoping you'd tell me that Ron would come to his senses by morning and everything would be all better again."

"We all know that he won't come around that easily," Harry said gently. "He really does love you, Hermione, and deep down, he knows he's being an idiot, but I have no idea how long it'll take him to deal with this."

"Hopefully not long, once he finds out that truly being a bachelor can be very, very cold and lonely," Ginny added. "Especially when he finds out that his family and friends are all on your side. I doubt he even wants to think about what Mum will have to say to him. He'll probably try to dodge her if he can."

"Or he'll go find some other Witch and forget all about me," Hermione said tearfully. She wiped at her face, and shook away those thoughts. "I guess there's nothing I can do if that's what he chooses."

Ginny laughed. "Maybe not, but if he does, Mum and I definitely can do something about it, and I'm sure he would not like that at all. Gwenog's taught me her wood lice transfiguration. That might be an option for a month or two, or maybe he'd like to try being a ferret for a while. Draco didn't like it much when Barty Junior did that to him, but maybe Ron would."

"Shouldn't you discuss things like that when an Auror isn't in the room?" Harry joked. "I'd have to take steps if I knew that a crime was about to be committed, you know."

"Like you didn't know Ron was about to get hit with that bat-bogey hex," Ginny countered. "Besides, are you absolutely sure that it's against the law to turn brothers into bugs or ferrets? I really don't think that's fair at all if it is, and we should get that law changed."

They sat at the table and talked for nearly an hour, had their snack, and then Ginny spent the next hour or so in the guest room with Hermione before eventually climbing into bed with Harry and snuggling close to him. They shared a few soft, lingering kisses before either of them said anything, and Ginny sighed contentedly when she put her head on her pillow, moving back so they could look at each other.

"Has she gone off to sleep yet?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, but she was talked out, and told me to go to bed. She's got Crookshanks to cuddle with, and I think she'll get a little sleep eventually. I'd so like to go and blast Ron again. She deserves to be as happy as we are, and he's totally blowing it with her. I know he doesn't think he's good enough for her, but what's he going to do? Wait until he does think he's famous enough? He'll never get there, because he's always comparing himself to you, me, and everyone else, and thinking he comes up short."

"That's definitely part of it," Harry agreed. "It's ironic that I'd give nearly anything to not be famous, and he wants it more than nearly anything." He leaned close and kissed Ginny again. "The good news is that I'm nearly positive that he's about to figure out that the one thing he does want more than that is Hermione."

"If he knows what's good for him," Ginny added. "Is that prediction because you've got one of those feelings?"

Harry nodded. "There are some things that are going to happen first, I think, but they're meant to be together."

"Do any of those things include me hexing him a few more times? Maybe George is supposed to test a 'Rat Fink Boyfriend' wheeze on him."

Harry laughed quietly. "I don't know about that, but if it makes you feel better, he is going to be doing some suffering first, even if it's mostly all of his own making. You need to get some sleep, honey. Gwenog isn't going to take it easy on you just because we've been awake half the night."

When Hermione and Ginny met him in the kitchen in the morning, they both looked tired, and Harry hugged Hermione for a long minute; his heart breaking to see her so sad and unhappy. Ginny hugged and kissed him too, but then took care of their friend while Harry finished making breakfast and putting it on the table for them.

"I want you to come back here tonight," Ginny told her. "A quiet night, some Jacuzzi time, a glass or two of wine, and a good night's sleep is exactly what you need to start your weekend off right."

"Thanks Ginny," Hermione said gratefully. "I'd go home for a couple of days until I figure out what I'm going to do, but Mum and Dad might just decide to go to Diagon Alley and pull all of Ron's teeth – without anesthetic – until he sees the light."

Ginny laughed. "Is that an option? It's not like he can't grow them back later. No wonder I like you parents so much."

"No, it's not an option," Hermione answered. "I don't want anyone trying to force Ron to do anything he doesn't want to do. I could just Imperius him myself if that's all I wanted."

Hermione may not have thought that was an option, but an hour and a half later, Harry wasn't so sure they shouldn't let her parents have at Ron. He'd gotten to work first; going to the Ministry with Hermione, and walking her to the House Elf Liason Office before hugging her goodbye and going on to Headquarters. Ron had shown up right on time, as usual, and stomped into his cubicle. He didn't flop into a chair like he normally did; but instead put his hands on the desk and leaned over it to glare at Harry.

"Did you have a good laugh last night?" he demanded. "It took them an hour and a half to counter that hex, and they botched it so badly the first time, that the stupid bats broke my nose coming out, they were so big. I ought to pound you for that."

"Pound yourself, then," Harry said unsympathetically. "You didn't want my help, remember? Don't blame me for doing what you asked."

"Like you were going to be any help anyway," Ron shot back. "I don't think that promising to side with Hermione and Ginny against me is any help at all. Not that it matters. I'm done with her anyway."

"You've gone completely nuts if you are. I guess you didn't really love her at all."

"She didn't come home last night," Ron advised him. "I'd say she's the one who doesn't care about me, since it didn't take her two hours to go find another Wizard to be with."

Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron; who stepped - leapt - back in dumb shock. "Don't ever, and I mean _ever_ talk to me about Hermione like that or she and Ginny will be the least of your problems. For your information, she stayed at our house last night, not that you deserve to know that after such a ridiculous, moronic comment as that. I can't believe that you'd even think about implying something like that about her." His eyes were flashing with anger, but Ron's back stiffened, and he glared obstinately at Harry.

"Yet you have no problem accusing me of not loving her," he said in a fierce hiss, trying to keep his voice low so they wouldn't be overheard.

"That's not what I said," Harry corrected as he put his wand away. "You told me you were done with her, and I said that if that's true, then you must not have loved her after all. I don't think you're done with her, even if you think you are."

"Quit turning everything back on me, and if you're not going to be my friend and stick by me when I need you, then I don't want to even talk about this with you, and I definitely want you to stay out of it."

"I'll always be your friend, and I'm trying to help you, even if you don't want to see that right now," Harry answered. "If you don't want me involved on your end of things, that's up to you, but Hermione does want Ginny and I helping her, and we will be there for her."

"At least I know whose side you're on," Ron said coldly. "I think I'll work on my own today. If you need any help between now and never, call someone who cares."

With that, he stomped back out of the cubicle, and left Headquarters. Harry sighed, but then picked up his quill, and got back to work. Some things people just needed to learn the hard way, and this was apparently one of those times. He spent the morning at Headquarters, took Hermione out for lunch at a Muggle restaurant so they wouldn't accidentally bump into Ron, and then he worked in the field for the afternoon before picking up some special groceries and going home a bit early so he could make dinner for three – four including Crookshanks, the Kneazle-mooch. Ginny went to the Ministry after work to meet Hermione, and after a stop to get extra clothes, they got to the house just as he had dinner ready for them.

"I've definitely decided to move out," Hermione blurted out suddenly. They'd been sitting down for about twenty minutes, and had been talking about something completely unrelated, and intentionally neutral; so her statement was a bit of a surprise.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, and Hermione nodded.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day – or last night. Staying at my flat just isn't going to be an option. I don't want to fight about this with him anymore, or feel the way I do about being with him like we've done for the last two years." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm going to move on, and he'll either come along, or get left behind. There's no middle road for me anymore."

"Then we'll help you," Ginny promised. "Got any spare houses around, Harry? I think a house would be much nicer than another flat. You could have a garden, though it's a bit too late to start one this year."

"There's Grimmauld Place," Harry suggested with a grin, and the girls laughed. "What? You'd have Kreacher there to help you keep the place up, and if you gave him a hand, in ten or fifteen years you could have the place looking great."

"Um, thanks, but no," Hermione answered, "and a house would be nice, but I'll probably be renting for a long time. It's not like I can put my Ministry of Magic job down on a Muggle mortgage application, and I don't want to deal with Gringotts for something like that."

Harry smiled, held out his hand, and then put the set of keys that were suddenly in it onto the table next to Hermione. "I don't think that'll be a problem," he assured her. "Let's go take a look at another house we have after dinner, and see what you think of it."

"Where is it?" Hermione asked. She tentatively touched the keys, but left them on the table.

"About a mile east of Topsham," he answered.

"That'd only be ten or twelve miles west of the Burrow," Ginny said excitedly.

"And a bit south," Harry agreed. "We do have a few other choices, but why don't we start with that one, and see what you think?"

They'd taken their time finishing dinner, and after cleaning up, Harry side-along apparated with both of them to the house he'd bought over a year ago with Ron and Hermione in mind. The house was on about five acres of land, and he smiled as Hermione and Ginny both looked very pleased with what they saw. There were quite a few trees, including some fruit trees, along with some flower gardens, and one area that had obviously been a vegetable garden, though it hadn't been planted this year. There was a small storage barn that doubled as a garage, and the two-story house was well-cared for. While it was nowhere near being a mansion, it was maybe a third or so larger than Harry and Ginny's house.

"Let's go take a look," Ginny said enthusiastically; taking Hermione's hand and leading her toward the house. "This looks great, Harry. Is it as nice on the inside, or does it need work?"

"I expect that Hermione would want to paint and decorate, but it doesn't need any fixing up." He followed them inside, and enjoyed watching them go from room to room as they explored. Hermione had brought Crookshanks along, and had set him free to wander around too, though he mostly stayed close to her.

"The sitting room and dining room are perfect for any entertaining you need to do for your job," Ginny told her friend. "The kitchen is pretty awesome too, and you'd love that library for your office, though it's not as bright as the one you have in your flat now." She was leading the way up the stairs as she talked, and was again holding hands with Hermione as she pulled her along.

"True, but this is all way more than I need, Ginny, and do you have any idea how much a place this big would go for? A lot more than the Witch in here who's not the Quidditch superstar can afford."

Ginny laughed and squeezed her hand. "Says you, but there's no way Harry would suggest something like this for you if he wasn't sure you'd be happy with whatever deal he has for you." She laughed and smiled brightly at him. "He only sucks at business. Friendship is something he's learned to do pretty well."

"Depends on who you ask today," Harry joked, "and I was thinking along the lines of a rent to own deal," he told Hermione. "If you decide this isn't for you after trying it out for a few years, then we can just look for another place, but I think that you'd love it here."

Hermione definitely loved the four bedrooms and three baths – especially the master bedroom and bath that coincidentally had a magical Jacuzzi just like Ginny's did. After looking around upstairs, they went outside again; where they checked out the barn-garage; and then took a walk around the property before going back toward the house.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked, and Hermione smiled.

"You both know that I love it," she answered, "but I know this isn't some lucky coincidence. How long ago did you get this place with Ron and me in mind?" she asked Harry. "It's beautiful, perfect for raising a family, and conveniently located to future grandma babysitting services."

"I love you," he said evasively, and she laughed.

"Nice try. I'm waiting."

"A year or so ago," he admitted. "I had a feeling about the place."

"I'd say your feelings have gotten out of whack," Hermione suggested.

"This isn't happening like I expected," Harry admitted, "but I still feel like this is where you're supposed to be – and where you're both supposed to be once Ron gets over his bout of temporary insanity."

"What if he doesn't?" Hermione asked.

"Then you'll have one of the coolest bachelorette pads in Wizarding England," Ginny told her; putting an arm around Hermione and hugging her. "Crookshanks looks like he loves this place too."

"He would like being able to run around again," she agreed as they watched him prowl around the yard. "My flat doesn't give him much room to roam." She sighed and held out her hand to Harry. "Okay, what's the deal that I won't refuse? I might as well just concede now and get it over with." Harry laughed; pulled the envelope out of his pocket, and handed it to her while Ginny laughed and hugged her again. Hermione read it over, and looked at Harry again after she was done. "The rent's too low, but at least if I decide to buy it, that price seems fair."

"That's what we paid for it," he explained. "The rent covers the costs, just like your rent on the flat did. Ginny and I won't make money on something like this when it comes to our best friends."

"We have so got to figure out a way to tell him no once in a while," she told Ginny. "Anyone bring a quill?" Harry summoned one, and handed it to her. She signed the agreement, and laughed when Ginny and Harry both had hugs for her.

"Let's pop over and see if Mum and Dad want to come see your new place," Ginny suggested, and then hugged Hermione again. "Don't worry. They're going to love having you so close, and Mum will love helping us decorate the place."

"You've got a game to get ready for," Hermione protested. "I don't want you spending what little time you have when you're not working helping me, and your Mum is already busy taking care of Victoire during the week."

"I can do both," Ginny assured her, "and you're at work too when Mum's babysitting. We could have your bedroom ready by the end of the weekend, and the rest of the house done in a week – two at most."

"You're as bad as he is," Hermione accused, and Ginny laughed and hugged her again.

"We do both like to get to it and finish a job once it's started. Let's go over to the Burrow. We'll get Mum to help us with decorating ideas, and then we can start tomorrow out with a bit of shopping for paint and whatever else we need."

"Do your parents even know what's going on?" Hermione asked worriedly; and Ginny shook her head.

"I don't think so, but we'll be there for you, and once they do know, so will they. Ron's the one who needs to worry about what Mum and Dad will say, not you."

"That really doesn't make me feel better. I don't want to cause any problems between Ron and your parents and brothers."

"You're not, and to be honest, we expected that you'd lay it on the line for him long before now. You have way more patience than Mum or I would have had with our Wizards. I didn't have any patience. Harry just was smart enough to take the easy way when I gave him his choice."

"And I'm glad that I did – especially after seeing that hex of yours on Ron. Did I mention that it took the Healers an hour and a half to counter it?" He skipped over telling them about the bats breaking Ron's nose, though the look Ginny shot his way had him sure that she guessed there'd been more to the story.

Hermione was crying within about two seconds of being wrapped up in one of Molly's hugs, and was laughing too when the first thing she'd wanted to know was whether Ginny had hexed her brother yet. Arthur had a big hug for her too, and then they got drinks and sat down at the table to hear the whole story.

"You did exactly the right thing," Molly told Hermione after she'd finished telling them everything. "That boy of ours is way overdue for a swift kick of reality. So you're getting a new place over by Topsham?"

"Harry and Ginny made me an offer I couldn't refuse – again," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Ginny and I were hoping you'd help with decorating ideas."

"I'd love to help," Molly assured her. "Did you want to go over there now and get started on that?"

"No need to ask where you get it from," Hermione told Ginny. "We'd love to do that. Thank you."

Molly got up from the table and hugged her before starting to clear the glasses, wash them, and put them away. "You're quite welcome. I'd think that the last place you want to be right now is in your flat with things as they are with Ron."

"A little distance between you will be good for him too," Arthur told her. "He's got a stubborn streak in him a mile wide, but I give him a month – two at the outside – before he figures out that he really can't live without the girl he loves."

"I really hope you're right," Hermione said fervently. "If not, I don't see another Wizard sharing that house with me – I see me, Crookshanks, and a house full of new kneazle buddies for him to hang out with."

"If he doesn't come around, I'll get you a kneazle cat named Ron," Molly said pointedly; which had everyone else laughing.

They went over to Hermione's new house then, and after doing the tour, Harry went outside with his father-in-law to wander around while the girls talked decorating. Arthur was interested in the barn, gardens, and fruit trees, and the two Wizards talked about what they each liked about the place while they did the tour. Arthur didn't say anything about Ron until they were out along the back boundary of the yard; and he looked a bit grim when he did finally ask Harry about him.

"I take it that things aren't good between you and Ron either," he began, and Harry nodded his agreement.

"No, but he doesn't need a friend to pat him on the back and tell him everything will be okay this time."

"Maybe, but I'm not sure he'll get this figured out on his own either," Arthur said, and Harry nodded again.

"Probably not, but he's not alone. I expect he's hanging out with George right now, and he'll hear a lot about this from us, and from his friends. He's not going to like hearing what we all have to say, and I think you're right that it'll take him a month or two to get there, but once he does, everything will work out."

"I don't know if hanging out with George will help or not," Arthur pointed out. "Ron's used George and the other boys as an excuse for why he shouldn't rush out and get married, even though they're all different, and there was a war going on that got in the way of such things – at least for Bill, Charlie, and Percy. George just hasn't found the right girl, and isn't ready to move on yet."

Harry smiled; sure that George had found the right girl, even though neither of them were ready to deal with that yet. "George's situation is totally different than with Ron and Hermione. They're meant to be together, and he's apparently going to find that out the hard way. I think that George will give it to him straight why he's not able to get serious about any girls yet, and Ron is not going to like what George tells him any more than he liked hearing what Hermione, Ginny, and I had to say."

Arthur smiled too. "If Ron thinks that's bad, he really won't like what Molly will have to say to him whenever she does get her hands on him next. As far as she's concerned, Hermione is as much her daughter-in-law as you're our son."

"And we both know how protective she is of her little girls," Harry added with a laugh.

They continued to chat as they headed back toward the house, but moved on from talking about Ron to work at the Ministry, and Harpies Quidditch. When the three Witches were finished their decorating chat for the night, they had a round of goodbye hugs and kisses, and then Harry went home with Ginny, Hermione, and Crookshanks, while their parents went back to the Burrow after working out their plan to meet up again in the morning for a shopping trip.

The girls had decided that the game plan would be to get the master bedroom and bath, and the kitchen ready over the weekend, and then they'd get the rest of the house, except for the three guest bedrooms, decorated and furnished by the end of the month. Hermione had Ginny or Molly with her for most of the weekend, including the shopping trip on Saturday morning; afternoon and evening painting and decorating sessions at the house; and dinner with her parents. Arthur and Harry joined the girls for that; mostly to give Hermione support while she told her mother and father about what was going on with her and Ron.

Ginny made some time to study on Saturday too, and on Sunday, she spent the morning studying and having a Seeker duel with Harry while their parents, and Hermione's, helped her at the house. Hermione had stayed with them on Saturday night too, though they'd worked at the house until late, and hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. After spending the morning studying and playing Quidditch, Harry and Ginny met Hermione and their parents for lunch at the Leaky, and then went on to her flat together to pack and move her bedroom and kitchen furniture, and pack up and move everything else she'd need to at least be able to stay at her new house. Harry sent everything there as they had each piece of furniture or box ready to go, and when they had everything Hermione wanted to get for the day, they apparated back to the house again.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked Hermione. They were in the master bedroom, and had just finished making one more change to how the furniture was laid out.

"It's perfect," Hermione answered. "We've even given Crookshanks a great little spot to do his bird watching from." The kneazle was in that spot, bathed in warm sunlight, and twitching his tail as he watched the birds flying around among the trees in the back yard.

"We should go have dinner," Molly told them. "It's already getting on, and you've all got work in the morning."

"So do you," Arthur reminded her. "Keeping up with Victoire is a full-time job and then some."

"Compared to our kids, she's easy to care for, and the best part is that I get to play with her all day, and then send her home with Bill and Fleur. Maybe we should have skipped having kids, and gone straight to the grandchildren stage."

"I'm fairly glad you didn't," Harry joked.

"Me too," Ginny agreed. "Where should we go for dinner? I'm fairly sure that none of us are interested in cooking and cleaning tonight."

Hermione's parents suggested a Muggle restaurant that was one of their favorites; and they headed there after Hermione did one last check to make sure she didn't need anything else that she could get while in the city. They had dinner, did a round of goodbyes, and then Harry and Ginny went back to Hermione's house with her, while their parents headed for their own homes.

"Are you going to be okay here tonight?" Ginny asked worriedly when she and Harry were getting ready to go home too after spending nearly another hour with Hermione. "I could stay if you need me to, or you're welcome to stay with us longer if you want."

"I'll be fine," Hermione assured her, and smiled at Ginny's look of disbelief. "Really, Ginny. Crookshanks is here for me, and while I'm sure that there will be more crying and the rest, I really do feel like I'm going to be okay. You've all told me that this will be good for Ron, and I hope it will be, but it's going to be good for me too. Do you realize that I've never really been on my own before? My Mum and Dad have always been there, and after that, I had that year with Harry and Ron, and for the last two years, Ron's been there, and it's been more like we've just had one, two-level flat. A little independence could be just what I need."

"Maybe I should've thought about that instead of insisting that Harry and I get married right away," Ginny suggested; grinning at Harry.

"Or not," he disagreed. "If you feel the urge for a little girls-only time, try a weekend getaway instead."

"You got to spend nearly a year out on your own," Hermione pointed out. "That doesn't seem fair."

"It wasn't," Harry agreed. "Having Ginny away at school for most of that time was awful, and I never want to feel like that again." He laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "That's actually one of the reasons I'm so sure that Ron will come around. He had Mum and Dad there for him the whole time you were at school, so it wasn't quite the same for him back then. This is going to be very different, and that flat of his is going to be very lonely."

They'd talked for a few more minutes, and then Harry and Ginny went home, where she studied for an hour or so, and then they'd ended their weekend by making some very happy memories together. On Monday, Harry stopped in to see Hermione in her office after seeing Ginny off to work and cleaning up from their breakfast. He wasn't surprised that she was in early, and he hugged her before handing her the bag with the two pastries in it that he'd brought along.

"Just in case your breakfast for one was a bit on the light side," he explained. "How are you, other than not getting much sleep?"

"That obvious?" Hermione countered, and Harry nodded.

"You look beautiful, as always," he answered, "but I can tell. Did you even get two hours of sleep?"

Hermione shrugged and sat down at her desk again. "About that," she agreed. "I'm dealing with a lot of doubts right now. I wasn't surprised that we didn't see Ron all weekend, but even though I do think that I'm doing what's right for me, I feel really helpless and out of control too."

"The good news there being that at least this time, you're not feeling that way while being chased down by a Dark Lord and his Death Eater buddies," Harry told her. "I'd better get going. I've got trainee testing starting this morning, so I should be on time for that. Would you like to do dinner with us tonight?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've already been booked for dinner at the Burrow tonight, with Mum and Dad tomorrow night, and with you and Ginny on Wednesday," she advised him. "At the rate you're all going, I'll have to learn to cook all over again by the next time I have to cook for myself."

"Get used to it," he advised her. "Your family and friends are going to be here for you. Have a good day, and I'll see you sometime after dinner for tonight's decorating party at your place."

He still had time to get a little work done before his new trainees arrived, and there'd been a note on his desk from Emma to advise him that Nathan would do the testing with him instead of Neville. He didn't see Ron at all, and expected that he'd decided to work in the field again, but didn't have time to worry about that at all once Dennis and Natalie got to Headquarters. This was his first time doing the testing, and he was happy to have Nathan to do that with, since the whole process likely went much more smoothly than it would have if he and Neville had been doing it on their own.

Josh had taken his three trainees through the process once so they'd know what it was like, but it was a bit different administering the test, and for some parts of it, evaluating the candidate's responses and abilities in a non-biased manner. They spent the morning in one of the conference rooms, took Dennis and Natalie out for lunch, and then worked in a training room all afternoon. He was back in his cubicle, wrapping up for the day after sending Dennis and Natalie home, when Ron stormed in.

"Where is she?" he demanded loudly. Harry immediately put up a shield around his cubicle, since Ron was obviously on the verge of losing it. He looked at his watch and shrugged.

"Right now? Probably at the Burrow having dinner with Mum and Dad. Why? Have you decided to stop being a jerk and make things right with her?"

"I want to know where she's been! She didn't spend the night at your place."

"How would you know that?" Harry asked, and then smiled at the guilty look on Ron's face. "She wasn't staying with us because she went home."

"No she didn't!" Ron shouted. "I knew there was…"

"Hermione has a new place," Harry interrupted, "and you know nothing – especially if you think I'll let you get away with making another accusation like that again. How far are you personally able to apparate? If you can't make it from the North Pole to here, then don't go down that road." His eyes were flashing dangerously again, and Ron took a step back.

"Whadya mean she's got a new place?" he demanded hotly. "Where?"

"I mean what I said," Harry told him. "She didn't want to stay in her flat with things the way they are with you, so we spent the weekend getting her set up in a new place. When I see her next, I'll ask her if she wants you to know where, or maybe you'd like to pop over to the Burrow and just talk to her about it yourself. I'm sure that Mum would love to see you."

"If she doesn't want to be around me, that's just fine with me," Ron growled, "and I don't need to know, or give a rat, where she's living."

Harry shook his head. "That's not what I said, so stop trying to make yourself feel better by doing that, Ron. She loves you, and wants to spend the rest of her life with you; and you're breaking her heart. All she's told you is that she is not going to settle for anything less than that. Now it's up to you. Either you want that bonded for life kind of love with her, or you don't."

"If she really loved me, she'd accept me the way I am. I was happy the way things were, and if she doesn't want that anymore, then so be it – and you can tell her I said that."

Ron spun on his heel and left, while Harry just watched him go for a moment before going back to work again. That last comment had been so much like things that he, Ron, and Hermione had all said to each other when they were kids and having their mostly childish little fights that it had been hard not to laugh. If his friend was already down to that level, Harry was sure that he was fighting a losing battle – even though that fight was with himself.

After work, he and Ginny had dinner together, and then went over to Hermione's house to work for a couple of hours with the small crew that Molly had recruited. They'd done a short Seeker duel after that, near dusk, and then Ginny had studied in bed until after eleven. For Harry, nearly everything that had happened on Monday was repeated every day through Friday, including at least one Ron Weasley visit and venting session, and nightly decorating and Quidditch sessions.

Hermione made them take Friday and Saturday off from helping her, though she did have help there on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning before going out for lunch and to the game with Harry, Molly, Arthur, and some of the guests they had going with them to the last game of the summer holidays.

"You're done the decorating already?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded. They were at the Leaky, and had just ordered their food. Harry had been the last to get there, after running a bit behind with getting Teddy. He'd been busy all morning getting caught up on the work around the house and yard that had been put off while helping Hermione.

"All we have left to do is move the rest of my things there, so we're going to do that tomorrow. We didn't do the guest bedrooms, but that'll give me something to putter away at when I'm bored and need something to keep busy with."

"Dennis will be happy to hear that," Harry told her. "He'll be able to move in sooner than he expected if he wants."

"You've rented it to Dennis Creevey?" she asked in surprise, and Harry nodded.

"It worked out rather well. He was just starting to look for his own place, but had wanted to wait until he passed his Auror testing, and your place was going to be available." He leaned closer to Hermione so only she'd hear his next comment. "I'm sure his neighbor will find having Dennis there very helpful – especially if Natalie is over visiting him a lot. They're a really cute couple, don't you think?"

Hermione laughed and hugged him. "That is so devious," she whispered back. "I love it."

They had a fairly quick lunch together, and then headed over to the Ellis Moor stadium in time to pick up drinks, snacks, and a couple of souvenirs, and then find their seats and meet up with the rest of their group. That had included the Campbells again, so Harry and Teddy had Dawn and Jonathan on one side of them for this game too. Hermione looked sad to not have Ron sitting next to her, but Fleur and Molly had her sitting with them in the row behind Harry, and were doing their best to make sure that she still had fun while they watched the game.

"Could you imagine if we had those brooms at Hogwarts this year?" Dawn asked Jonathan as they watched the game.

"I can imagine me spending time in the Hospital Wing after trying," he joked. "Maybe you'd be ready for one, but I'm fairly sure that I'm not, and I'm quite happy with my Nimbus, though Laura did tell me that she might be able to lend me her Firebolt whenever her team finally gets their Firestorms."

"That'd be really cool too," Dawn said excitedly, "though not so much for me when we play against each other in November."

Harry smiled; knowing that Ginny planned on stopping in and lending Dawn her Firebolt to use at school, but didn't say anything that would spoil the surprise she'd have later at the going away party that Bryce and Christine were having at their house for the kids. The game was fun, if you were a Harpies fan, but it wasn't close, which was very strange; since Meghan McCormack was arguably the best Keeper in the league. That didn't matter going up against three Chasers on brooms that were so much faster than she'd ever faced before. Angelina in particular had a lot of success, scoring twenty-one of the thirty-seven goals the Harpies put past Meghan before Ginny outraced Erin Connelly to the snitch at the two hour and forty-seven minute mark to give them a five-twenty to forty win.

Harry and Teddy went back to the Campbell's house with everyone who was going to that party from the game, and they both mostly played with the other kids in the back yard while the grown-ups sat around talking, or helped Bryce and Christine out with keeping drinks and snacks supplied, and making dinner for everyone. There was quite a difference in ages among the children that were there, with Dawn and Jonathan the oldest at fifteen, through to the two youngest, Reggie and Maria's six-month old daughter, Daniella, and Dan and Jennifer's three-month old baby, Jensen.

"Are you having fun?" Ginny asked as she knelt down next to Harry so she could hug him.

"Yes we are," he agreed before leaning close to kiss her; which had the girls who were playing with him and Teddy giggling. "Our Harpies team isn't doing quite as well as yours did this afternoon, though."

"They might do better if the dragons didn't keep flying off with them," she suggested. "How come the Wasps players aren't having dragon troubles?"

"Dragons like chasing girls better," Teddy advised her. "Dawn says it's because the Wasps stink," he added with a laugh.

Ginny hugged him next, and ruffled his hair. "I'd say she was just trying to get Jeremy riled up by saying that. The Wasps have a pretty good team, even though they are in a rebuilding phase this year, and have a few rookies."

Ryan Bradley, one of Dawn's Chaser partners on the Ravenclaw team, was one of those rookies, and was a decent player, but Ginny thought that the Wasps might find out that it had been Dawn's playmaking that had been what made the Ravenclaw Chasers look so good during the last couple of Hogwarts seasons. Demelza and Laura had definitely been the two best Chaser recruits; and the Harpies would have tried to get both Witches if they'd had room on the team.

"Every team is going to have a tough season this year against the Harpies," Dawn told her as she and Jonathan joined them. "Until they all get Firestorms too, they're not going to have much of a chance against you."

"We'll see," Ginny answered with a shrug. "The other teams will start trying to find a way to stop us anyway – or at least slow us down. Speaking of being slowed down, Harry and I were thinking about picking up a Nimbus for Jeremy, since he's got a good shot at making your team this season, but I seem to have a spare broom around that I was thinking you might like to borrow, and then Jeremy could use your Nimbus instead. Would that work for you?"

"I think that's a yes," Harry joked as Dawn hugged Ginny, and had happy tears in her eyes.

"It's fairly special to me, Dawn, so I will want it back eventually, but you're welcome to use it until you make the pros and get your own Firestorm."

"Thank you!" Dawn said excitedly, and hugged Ginny again.

"I left it in the front hall," Ginny advised her. "Take good care of it for me, and hopefully it'll help you win a Quidditch Cup or two too."

She and Harry both watched Dawn rush off, with Jonathan following her, and then she had him wrap up his play time so they could go and mingle with the other guests while Teddy stayed to play with the kids. They stayed at the party until nearly dark, and had a lot of fun, but when Teddy ran out of steam, they took him back to Andromeda's, and then went home and to bed early so they'd be ready to help Hermione with the last part of her move on Sunday.

"Your upstairs neighbor seems a bit upset today," Ginny said drily as she and Hermione worked on packing everything in her office. There had been a fair bit of noise coming from Ron's flat, including a lot of stomping around, a couple of fairly noisy crashes, and yelling that was loud, but not quite intelligible from Hermione's flat. "Hopefully his new neighbor won't mind all of that racket."

"I'm sure it'll get a bit quieter once I've gone," Hermione said sadly.

Ginny shrugged. "We'll see. If that's how he was going to act if you'd stayed here, though, I'm really glad that you're not. Five minutes of listening to that while I was trying to sleep, and I'd have been taking steps to put an end to it."

"Which is exactly why I didn't think I could come back here again," Hermione agreed. "One of us would end up doing something we could never take back no matter what."

"Could you give me an example or two of that?" Ginny asked in a way that had Hermione laughing. "Just for entertainment purposes, of course. I wouldn't dream of trying any of them out on my brother."

Ron had made a lot of noise the entire time they were there, and Hermione and her busy little work crew ignored him. It really didn't take all that long to pack everything, and then they moved all of the furniture and boxes to her new house. Harry was sure that one of the reasons Ron had been upstairs was because George had taken a couple of hours off from work to help Hermione at her flat before getting back to his store; so he'd known exactly when they'd be there. Both sets of parents had helped too, and after joining them for lunch, Bill and Fleur gave them a hand at Hermione's house for a few hours in the afternoon.

"Funny, I don't remember those recliners in the sitting room of my flat," Hermione said when she walked into the sitting room to find that her furniture had multiplied while she'd been in the office getting everything set up and put away in there. 'It wasn't so large a room that you'd think I would have missed them."

Harry, Arthur, Bill, and her father were all grinning at her. "We thought that a little extra seating for your new sitting room would be nice," Arthur explained. "Do you like them?"

Hermione smiled too and went over to hug each of them, and then hug Molly, Fleur, Ginny, and her mother too. "I love them, and I love all of you. Thank-you – for everything."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Molly assured her. "It looks like the boys are done in here. Let's all go back to the Burrow for dinner, and then we'll let you have a night off from company so that you and Crookshanks can have a break."

Molly's suggestion had been unanimously approved, and after spending another couple of hours together with everyone at the Burrow, Harry and Ginny went home, and spent the rest of the evening playing and enjoying a little quality alone time before they'd both be getting back to work in the morning. They were awake early on Monday, did the usual breakfast routine, and then they were both off to work early – Harry so he could be ready for the first full day of training with Neville and their Auror-trainees. He'd been at work for twenty minutes when Ron walked into his cubicle and threw himself into one of the chairs.

"Nice place you got her," he said without preamble. "I'm sure she'll be very happy there."

"You didn't have to search my records," Harry answered. "Hermione was fine with you knowing where she'd moved, and like I told her, I'd bought that place with both of you in mind. I'm glad you like it too."

"What are you talking about?" Ron demanded, sitting up and glaring at him angrily.

Harry shrugged. "Check that record again," he suggested. "I bought it over a year ago, and I know how much you hate them, but I bought it because I had one of those feelings. Since you don't even want to marry Hermione, though, you probably really don't want to hear about why the place seemed so perfect to me. That would require telling you about babies and grandma daycare and all sorts of scary things."

"What I really hate is having my family and friends turn on me, and then start making up lies about what they see in my future in some lame attempt to trap me into doing something I don't want to do," Ron told him angrily. Harry held up his hand and smiled.

"I've been cured of my youthful tendency to lie, remember? Then again I wasn't lying back then, I'm not lying to you now, and I told you that you wouldn't want to hear about what I see. Just keep telling yourself that I failed Divination, and maybe that'll help."

Ron snorted. "Thanks for reminding me that you failed at something besides being my friend." He stood up and nodded. "I've got a meeting with Emma to get to. You've got your new trainee, and three's a crowd, so I'm requesting a new partner."

"That's your choice too," Harry said pointedly, "but we make a great team, and I wish you wouldn't."

"And I wish I could still count on you to have my back, but I can't," Ron retorted. He turned and walked out, and Harry let him leave without saying anything more. His friend didn't need to know that Emma had already talked with him last week, and that he knew Ron's request would be granted. He and Neville would be temporary partners while Josh paired up with Ron for however long it took for him to come around. He and Neville would be starting their first training session soon, so he got back to work and got focused on that again.

There were currently six Auror-trainees. Susan and Terry were starting their third year, Derek Summers and Alison Chambers had been the two successful candidates in two thousand, and now they had Dennis and Natalie. They would be using the same training manuals as the other trainees, but Harry and Neville were also working ahead, and completely overhauling the program too. Now that the Wizarding World wasn't in constant danger from Dark Lords and bands of Dark Wizards and Witches, they could actually focus on proper training instead of learning on the fly while trying to stay alive.

Harry thought that eventually they should have ongoing training and education for all of the Aurors, and the Witches and Wizards in the Hit Squad too, but at least they were getting a chance to make changes with the trainee program, and the rest of the changes he'd like to see would come eventually. One of the first things that he and Neville had agreed on was that they needed both a physical and magical exercise regime for their trainees, and that's what they started with on Monday morning.

"We've taken the physical fitness part of our new program straight from the Harpies training regime," Harry advised Dennis and Natalie as they got ready to start. They'd all changed into workout clothes that Ginny had helped him pick out and buy several sets of for each of them. "We'll probably adapt it as we go along, and if you have any comments or ideas on how we can make it better, Neville and I would love to hear them. Are you ready?"

"Probably not," Dennis answered with a smile, "but let's give it a go and see what happens."

The next hour of work proved to Harry that there was a very good reason for having a physical exercise program. He'd played and trained for Quidditch, but Neville, Dennis, and Natalie all found the exercises quite difficult. They'd stopped to take regular breaks that Harry hadn't needed; though he was sure that eventually, they wouldn't need the short rests either.

"Okay, I get it now," Neville told him, expressing exactly what Harry had been thinking. "No wonder the Harpies are all in such good shape."

"And that's just a small part of their daily training," Harry added with a nod. "Let's take fifteen, and then we'll start with the magical exercises."

Those exercises were very different from anything else that had been done before in Auror training too, but unlike the physical exercises, all four of them loved the routine Harry and Neville had put together. That had included everything from levitating increasingly heavy objects to dodging and countering multiple objects or simulated spells. Each task was designed to make them stronger and faster, and even after just one session, Dennis and Natalie did feel like they'd done both.

Neville was going to have lunch with Hannah and Alice every day that he could now, and Dennis and Natalie were doing their own thing too, so Harry took Hermione out for lunch again, mostly so he could talk with her about the fact that Ron now knew where her place was, and that she should probably be on the lookout for him prowling around. When he got back to Headquarters, he and Neville spent the afternoon working with their trainees on the first lesson from the Introduction to Concealment manual, though they had some minor changes to that lesson too, just as they did for most of the lessons they'd reviewed so far.

By the end of the day, Harry had been sent a note from Emma advising him officially about his change in partner, and that he and Neville would continue with the work that he and Ron had been doing. Ron and Josh would be working the case that Josh and Neville had been on. He'd seen Ron two other times since his little morning visit, but Ron had kept far enough away each time that they couldn't talk, and hadn't stayed around long the one time they'd both been at their cubicles.

He had a bit of business to take care of after work. It didn't take him long to set up getting Hermione's old flat cleaned on Tuesday so Dennis could move in any time he wanted to after that, though he wasn't officially taking the place until September first. Ginny was already home when he got there, and he joined her to make dinner while they talked about their respective days.

"I know it's the Cannons that we're playing a week from Saturday, but they've got that new rookie Seeker from Spain, Ricardo Santini, and we don't know very much at all about him."

Harry grinned at her. "Do you want me to run a background check on him?" he joked, and she laughed.

"Somehow I have a feeling that Emma would have a problem with using Auror resources to do player research for the Harpies."

"Then she'd really hate it if she knew that Ron had been digging into our files," he countered after laughing too. "Apparently he really did want to know where Hermione's new place was, but didn't think he could ask me again after telling me he didn't care where she lived."

"That's pretty low," Ginny said; frowning slightly. "I don't think I like him doing that any more than I liked finding out that he'd been watching our house. Has he gone completely mad now?"

"Possibly," Harry agreed. "I wonder how many of our properties he had to check out over the weekend before finding Hermione's place? I really hope he didn't have to work on that night and day,' he added insincerely. He laughed again suddenly; and then grinned at Ginny. "He really has lost it. If he'd thought about it for a minute, and wanted to find Hermione; he could've just used his deluminator."

"That's hilarious. Maybe he was afraid it wouldn't work – or worse; that it would," Ginny suggested with a laugh. Did you let Hermione know?" Harry nodded.

"I told her at lunch," he confirmed with a laugh. "If he tries spying on her there, I'm fairly sure he'll be in for a nasty surprise."

Ginny laughed again too. "A single Witch living on her own like that can't be blamed for protecting herself. I do hope she reports any attempted intrusions to the Aurors."

"That would be funny, but I'll guess that whatever she comes up with will be more than enough to convince Ron not to stalk her if he runs into one of her traps – I mean defenses."

Harry had to work fairly hard not to laugh; and he definitely thought it was funny when Ron walked into his cubicle on Wednesday morning. He was sporting a fairly pronounced limp, and looked both a bit haggard and very uncomfortable. He sat down in one of the chairs, though he did that quite gingerly too, and Harry had to wonder just what Hermione had set up to protect her home.

"I told all of you that this was all her fault, but everyone sided with little Miss brightest of our time," he said angrily. "She hates me, and when I went over there last night to try and talk with her, she chased me off with a pack of dogs."

"You went over there to talk things out with her?" Harry asked suspiciously; and Ron nodded, though he wouldn't meet Harry's eyes. "What time did you go there? Did you try using your mirror, or send a Patronus to let her know you were coming?"

"I've never had to do that before, and I don't remember what time it was," Ron said evasively.

"Hermione wasn't living out on her own before now," Harry pointed out. "Did it actually not occur to you that it would be prudent for her to protect herself?"

"Go ahead, defend what she did to me," Ron shot back; not answering the question. "I get attacked and my leg half chewed off, and as far as you're concerned, she's done nothing wrong."

Harry shrugged. "Easy enough for you to prove your point mate." He pulled a small vial out of his desk and set it in front of Ron. "I'll go get the pensieve, you pull the memory of what happened last night, and we'll get to the bottom of this. The only thing that I don't understand is why, if you wanted to work things out with Hermione, you didn't just go to her office yesterday and ask to talk with her. She's here at the Ministry all day, every day of the work week."

Ron glared at him angrily and stood up quickly; though he winced at the pain doing that caused him. "I said I went there to talk with her, not work things out, and I have no idea why I even bothered with her or with you," he muttered. Limping away, he went over to his own cubicle, and Harry smiled as he put the vial away again.

The rest of the week went pretty well for Harry and Ginny. He and Neville were both enjoying working with Dennis and Natalie, and after work, he and Ginny spent their evenings playing Quidditch, or snuggled on a sofa or in bed while she studied for her game. Ron only took time for a few passing glares on Thursday, and on Friday he'd stopped in long enough to confirm that he was getting a new neighbor, and that Dennis would be moving in on the weekend.

Saturday was September first, and while they didn't have to worry about kids going back to school, they did stop in on Friday evening for a quick visit with Dawn, Jeremy, and Kate to wish them luck. It was also the first weekend in over a month when they didn't have anything major on the go, so they'd picked Teddy up on the way to the Campbell's house, and then kept him overnight. Ginny did have to spend some time working on the weekend, and they had a couple of long Seeker duels, but they spent the rest of the time playing and taking advantage of the opportunity to rest up for a couple of days before they'd be right back into another busy, action-packed month. That action had mostly been work-related for Harry and Ginny during the first week of September, so by Saturday afternoon, Harry was ready for a break; and watching the Harpies-Cannons game was just the kind of entertainment reprieve he needed.

"I half expected him to be here with another Witch," Hermione told Harry quietly as they both watched Ron and George. They were in the season's ticket section for the Cannons, which was, to be very generous, about a tenth of the size of the section they were in for the Harpies. Harry smiled and put a comforting arm around her.

"Ron may be half-mad right now, but he'd have to be certifiable to do that with our Mum here."

Hermione laughed. "I suppose, but I'll wager he did think about it."

Harry laughed too. "I wouldn't dream of taking that bet."

Ron and George both waved and were looking their way; and it took Harry a moment to realize that they were waving back at Teddy. He was sitting between Matthew and Franklin Cresswell, though he was now standing in his seat, waving enthusiastically at his Uncle George and Uncle Ron. Lenore and Molly had both reached past the other two boys to hook fingers into his shirt so he wouldn't fall; and Harry and Molly smiled at each other.

"At least he'll still wave to Teddy," Hermione said in a near-whisper. "All I've gotten is nasty glares and dark scowls."

"If he's not muttering curses under his breath anymore, that's an improvement," Harry suggested, and Hermione shook her head.

"I don't think there's any improvement, Harry. If anything, it seems like things are just getting worse. It's been more than three weeks now, and I'm beginning to think that what you saw for us was a mirror of Erised reflection instead of reality."

"If it was a reflection from the mirror, do you think it was your fondest wish I saw – or his?" Harry countered with a grin that made Hermione laugh again. She leaned close to hug him, and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you. I needed that laugh a lot." She looked over at Ron and George again, and frowned. "Now what's his problem?"

"I'll guess the hug and kiss," Harry answered, and Hermione turned back to stare at him. "Look at the bright side. If he wasn't completely and totally in love with you, he wouldn't care about that – especially since he knows there's nothing for him to worry about between you and me."

Ron had more to scowl about than Hermione and Harry. His Cannons got absolutely pounded by his sister and the Harpies. They scored thirty-four goals on the Cannons in just two hours and six minutes, and Trish didn't allow a single score. Ginny sealed Trish's shutout by catching the snitch pretty much unopposed as she left the Cannons' new Seeker in the dust and looking a bit dazed and confunded about what had just happened.

Harry and Hermione took Lenore and the three boys out for ice cream after the game, since it had been so short, and Molly had brought Arthur along so he could have an afternoon treat with the other kids too. After doing that, and taking Teddy back to Andromeda's, Hermione went home with Harry, and was going to have dinner with him and Ginny. The Harpies had two games coming up in the next three weeks, so while Ginny did take a break on Saturday night, on Sunday she was back to work getting ready for the Catapults and Kestrels games; and she had Harry help her with doing that. The Seeker duels were part of it, but having him there to take care of things like meals, and especially the bedtime routines that kept her healthy and very, very happy were what really made the difference, and kept her playing at her very best every day.

"You and Hermione looked cozy at the game," Ron told Harry as he walked into his cubicle and sat down on Monday morning. "Even if nobody else sees it, things are looking much clearer to me now. What's the matter? Isn't one Witch enough for the most powerful Wizard in the world? Nice setup you've got going, though I'm a bit surprised that Ginny would stand for it. Maybe I'll sit down with her and ask why she doesn't mind sharing her husband with one of her best friends."

Harry stared at him in amazement for a moment, and then just started to laugh. Ron glared daggers at him; and that just made Harry laugh harder. It took a few moments, but when he settled down, he leaned forward and made sure that he had Ron's full attention.

"You're exhausted, upset, and in a really bad place right now, so I'll take those comments for their entertainment value and let it go at that," he said earnestly. "We both know just how ludicrous your accusations are, and I think that it's way past time for you to stop trying to come up with these wild and impossible scenarios to hide behind what you know is the real problem."

"Right; and I'm sure you're going to tell me exactly what that real problem is, aren't you?" Ron stated angrily. Harry nodded, but Ron wasn't looking at him anymore.

"I can do that, though you already know what it is," he agreed. "You love Hermione."

"That's my problem?" Ron said sarcastically; and Harry nodded again.

"That's what it boils down to. You love her, have been miserable without her, and can't imagine spending the rest of your life feeling the way you do now, or spending it without her. There's probably more than a bit of guilt on the side too, since you know how much you've hurt Hermione over this."

Ron snorted and stood up. "Good thing you've got this day job to fall back on, Doctor Potter."

Harry watched him stalk off, and smiled. His father-in-law may have been off by a bit, but he didn't think it would be much more than a month before Ron came around, and he was sure his best friend wouldn't last two months without Hermione. Since part of the reason why he thought that was because he was starting to get one of those feelings again, that conversation actually put him in a really good mood to get the work week started.

The physical and magical training that Harry and Neville were doing with Dennis and Natalie was going to be a daily workout at least until they were all at a certain fitness level, and then they planned on experimenting to find out what would work best to keep them in shape longer term, while not getting too much in the way of their actual jobs too. That cut back on the amount of time they could spend on their real work, but Emma had agreed that it was important, and that if their case did get hot, she could always get them help from other teams.

Dennis and Natalie had been going together since Ginny's last year at Hogwarts, and one thing that the Aurors rarely had was a boyfriend-girlfriend, or husband-wife team. When Harry and Ron had their trainees disguise themselves and play a happy couple for a test assignment, they both saw some real potential for the pair after watching them work.

"I doubt even Nathan and Christine could pull that off so well," Neville said quietly so he wasn't overheard. They were disguised too, and sitting at a table across the room from where their trainees were, and keeping a close eye on them to make sure they were safe.

"Probably not," Harry agreed. "They look so sweet and innocent too."

Neville nodded. "A perfect set of criminal magnets if ever I saw one." He grinned at Harry. "Well, nearly perfect. Add a cute little doggie, and then they'd have the whole package."

Harry laughed. "That's an idea. Maybe we'll work on that sometime and see how it goes."

They didn't try to add that into their training, but that was mostly due to the fact that when they got back to the Ministry of Magic late on Tuesday, the Atrium was a madhouse of activity, with Witches and Wizards rushing around in a state of panic. The scene they walked into in Auror Headquarters was better, but still one of only barely controlled chaos.

"Potter! Longbottom! Over here, please," Emma called to them from her cubicle. They all hurried over, and she waved them in. Nathan and Christine were with her, so Dennis and Natalie stood at the cubicle entrance instead of trying to all crowd in.

"We're just getting word that there have been attacks in Muggle New York and Washington," Emma told them. "The Ministry is on high alert, and Minister Shacklebolt wants our help in finding out whether there are any Dark Witches or Wizards involved. He's promised the Muggle Prime Minister an answer as soon as we can get it for him."

"What kind of attack?" Neville asked, knowing from the grim looks of the others that it must be bad.

"In New York, buildings known as the World Trade Center were attacked, and in Washington, the military headquarters for the United States, the Pentagon, was hit. We still don't know much yet, but it appears that very large airplanes were hijacked and flown into each of the buildings. Reports suggest anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of Muggles have been killed. We have nothing on whether any Witches or Wizards could have been in those buildings, but the odds are high that there would be at least a few."

"What do you want us to do?" Neville asked next.

"Right now, I want everyone to clear their plates, and don't go anywhere. We're just getting organized, and we'll be deciding how to proceed. What the Minister needs right now is information, and if this is the start of some new Dark Wizard attacks, we need to know about it." She looked at Dennis and Natalie, and nodded. "You will not be in the field for this," she advised them, "but expect to be working late doing research for us here, and running errands if needed. We'll need everyone until we find out what's really going on over there."

They were dismissed then, but Harry waved Neville to go on ahead with their trainees, and he stayed behind; waiting until they were gone, and then putting up a privacy shield. "I'd like to go there," he told Emma, Nathan, and Christine.

"We're considering sending a team," Emma told him, but Harry shook his head.

"I mean right now," he explained. "I can apparate there, find out everything that I can, and get back here before you'd get a quarter way through the red tape to send an official team."

They stared at him open-mouthed, and Christine was the first to comment. "Not much point in explaining to him that apparating thousands of miles would be a fairly impossible feat for pretty much everyone else," she told them. "He's got a point, though, Emma. I think we should let him."

"I don't like the idea of him doing that at all, let alone going into an unknown situation alone," Nathan disagreed, and Harry smiled at him, though it was a determined, grim look.

"I won't be alone," he advised him.

"You're going to side-along apparate to New York or Washington from here?" Emma asked incredulously. "Who'd be crazy enough to…" she looked past Harry to where Josh and Ron were about five steps away from joining them. "Never mind. Your mission proposal is approved."

"What mission?" Ron asked her, scowling at Harry.

"Come on, and I'll tell you on the way," Harry answered. "You've just been drafted."

Harry stepped out of the cubicle, having already dropped his privacy shield before Emma's last comment; and waved for Ron to follow him. Ron hadn't looked at all happy, but after getting a curt nod from Emma, he went along. They left Auror Headquarters together, and he was getting frustrated after Harry wouldn't tell him what they were doing until they'd left the Ministry, and had gone a fair distance away.

"Enough!" Ron said angrily; stopping and refusing to go any further. "What are we doing? In case you hadn't noticed, things were a bit crazy back there, and Josh might need his partner to help him. Why are you dragging me off instead of working with your new partner?"

"Because my new partner has a wife and new baby, and isn't as crazy as you and me," Harry answered. "We're going to New York, and then probably Washington after that. Ready to go? Kingsley needs to get to the bottom of what's happening; and we're just the Wizards to do that for him."

"Did you happen to hear that we're on high alert?" Ron said with a scornful shake of his head. "How were you planning on going? Portkeys are shut down until further notice."

"We'll just apparate instead," Harry answered. "Is that crazy enough for you?"

Ron gaped at him. "You want me to side-along apparate with you to New York?" he asked incredulously. "Are you completely mad?"

"You're the only one crazy enough to trust me to do it," Harry pointed out. "Come on. You can't tell me that you don't want to be in the thick of things, and I need you there to watch my back."

Ron just stared at him for a long moment, and then shook his head. "I've gone bonkers too," he muttered. "If you splinch me to death, I'm coming back to haunt you."

Harry took a firm grip of Ron's upper arm, and made what was an incredibly uncomfortable jump to New York. They were both breathing hard when they arrived, and looked around to make sure they weren't being observed. They'd never been to New York, or anywhere in America, so Harry had picked a place that he'd at least seen pictures of as their destination.

"Merlin!" Ron breathed in awe as he looked across the water to the city. "How do you expect us to find out anything? It's like a war zone over there."

"We do have a few options," Harry reminded him as he got his invisibility cloak out. "Let's start by checking out whatever command center they have on the ground here, and start working our way up the chain until we get some answers."

Ron had agreed, and after catching their breath, they popped over to the city, and got to work. Other than getting some of the details about the two planes; when exactly the North and South towers had collapsed, and some fairly wild reports on casualties that were almost all speculation, they didn't get any useful information about who had carried out the attacks. It wasn't until they did a little eavesdropping in Washington that they started to get some leads, and found out which direction the American Muggle government and military were looking for suspects.

"I think we've learned all we're going to for now," Harry decided; after giving Ron the latest bits of news he'd picked up after sitting in on an intelligence briefing. "Let's go give Emma what we've got, and then I thought that you might like to go with me for a little visit to Afghanistan."

"You're scaring me," Ron told him, and then steeled himself for what was sure to be another unpleasant apparition. "Get it over with," he said between clenched teeth. "I'm as ready as I'll never be."

They gave Emma their report, and she approved their next trip to find out whether the Americans were on to something, and if they were, whether any Wizards or Witches were behind this Osama bin Laden and his 'al-Qaeda' group. It was already late afternoon on Wednesday by the time they started searching for answers there among the Taliban government, and early evening before Harry spent an hour watching Osama bin Laden, and the group of Muggles with him, watch news reports of the attacks, and gloat over their triumph in a way that was far too much like what Tom Riddle and his Death Eater buddies had been like when he'd faced them. What he did find out for sure, though, was that nobody from the Wizarding World was involved. There were no Wizards or Witches there, and Harry had been able to easily confirm that none had been Confunded or Imperiused in any way. With that confirmed; he left the room, met up with Ron again, and they apparated back to Headquarters; getting there late in the afternoon.

"So it's definitely a Muggle problem?" Kingsley asked when Harry and Ron finished their report. Emma had taken them straight to see him after they'd returned, and she, Kingsley, and Percy were the only others in the Minister's office.

"Yes sir," Harry agreed. "If the Prime Minister would like us to, I'm sure Ron and I could capture the group's leader, but there are definitely no Wizards or Witches involved."

"I'm not sure that's something we want to get involved in," Kingsley told him. "If we start down that road, the Muggle governments would soon be asking us to do a lot more, and we could eventually end up fighting Witches and Wizards in other countries. The last thing we want to do is bring Muggle wars into our Wizarding World. You've both done an excellent job. Thank you."

They only talked for a few more minutes, and then Kingsley needed to go and set up an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister. Emma sent Harry and Ron home to get some sleep, but after leaving Headquarters, Harry met up with Hermione first, and she went home with him to have dinner with Ginny, and hear all about what he'd been doing for the past day or so.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Ginny told him as she hugged and kissed him for a long minute after he and Hermione walked into the house. "Is Ron okay too?"

"He's fine, though he told me that he never, ever wants to do international apparitions with me again. They're not exactly a lot of fun, so I can't blame him for that."

"Well, at least you cut through all of the red tape, and found out what we needed to know," Hermione said. "I still can't believe that people – Muggles or Wizards – are out there who would do such things. We certainly have had our fair share of problems in the Wizarding World, but the horrors Muggles inflict on each other seem even worse. I wish we could do something about that, but the problem's so big, I don't see how we could."

"The Minister isn't going to offer to help," Harry advised them. "I'd like to help, but he does have a valid point that if we did, the Muggle governments would demand and expect our help to deal with other problems. Like you said, we've got enough problems, and Kingsley has no intention of getting the Wizarding World drawn into Muggle battles, hard as that choice is to make."

Ginny put her arm around him. "That's why he gets paid the big bucks. You've been up for more than a day and a half, though, so my next decision is easy. Come and eat, and then you're going to bed." She laughed at the grin on his face. "You're going to bed – and to sleep. I'm going to have a nice visit with Hermione, and then get back to my studies."

They'd had dinner together, and Harry had told the girls everything that had happened since going to New York. By the time he had a shower and went to bed, he was out of steam, and slept through until morning. By Thursday, things were settling down around the Ministry, and he and Neville got back to training Dennis and Natalie, though he'd needed to fill out the full report for the trips he and Ron had made on Thursday morning after they finished their exercise routine. After work on Thursday, he and Ginny had dinner at the Burrow, mostly to assure their Mum in person that Harry was okay, and then Ginny had him do a Seeker duel after they got home again before ending the day with a study and cuddle session, followed by a little play time when they went to bed for the night.

Ron stopped by for another of his daily rants with Harry on Friday, though it hadn't really been a rant at all on Thursday; and it seemed that the events of the last few days had really affected him deeply. When he flopped into a chair in Harry's cubicle just as Harry was getting ready to leave for the day, he looked terrible. He was trying to look grumpy, but instead looked dejected and haunted. The dark circles around his eyes suggested that he hadn't slept much, and Harry thought that he looked noticeably thinner every time he saw him.

"All set for another fun weekend?" Ron asked; his tone of voice shooting for contempt, but coming off more like wistful. "Another couple of happy, fun days in your perfect life?"

"Hopefully we'll have a little fun," Harry agreed. "Ginny's got to get ready for the game next Wednesday, so she'll be working, but we've got to do a little birthday present shopping for Hermione's birthday, along with the usual grocery and supply run. Ginny can't go to the Leaky with us for Hermione's birthday dinner, but she's going to try her best to get a win over the Catapults for a birthday bonus."

"Figures you'd remember her birthday. What are you getting her this year? A car?"

Harry pretended to consider the suggestion. "That's a pretty great idea," he said enthusiastically. "Maybe we'll do that some other year, but I'm pretty sure that Ginny wants to go with something for the house. There are three guest bedrooms that haven't been done yet, and while she's got her kitchen table and chairs, she hasn't done anything with the dining room yet."

Ron grunted. "I'm sure that you and my family will make sure that she has a perfect, happy birthday."

Harry smiled at him. "If I could make that happen for her, then you'd have to be there and back together with her, mate. That pretty much means that giving her a best birthday ever kind of day isn't up to me, Ginny, or anyone else in our family – it's up to you."

"Sure it is," Ron scoffed. "How exactly do you see that working out; oh great, all-knowing, delusional one?"

"That's good," Harry complimented him with a laugh. "If you remember correctly, in my own case, it went something like: Ginny, I've been an idiot. I should have never broken up with you last year. Please forgive me, and take me back." He laughed again, and Ron looked like he was trying hard not to smirk. "There was an 'I love you' in there somewhere too, but that was pretty much it, which I am absolutely sure was a lot easier than it would have been if I'd done things the hard way with your sister."

"That's not the same as this at all," Ron told him with a shake of his head.

"I'd say the only real difference is that you took the hard way with Hermione," Harry disagreed. "What do you think Ginny would have done to me if I hadn't asked her to marry me right after she got done school? I seriously doubt that she'd have waited more than three years for me to do that before blasting me, and I doubt that I'd like what you and your brothers would have done to me if I'd been going on with Ginny like you've been with Hermione. I would have been cursed into oblivion, and then fed to a dragon."

"You'd have…" Ron began before trailing off and turning a bit red.

"Deserved it," Harry finished for him. "You've got a bigger job fixing the mess with Hermione, since you have royally botched things, mate; but all it'd really take to make it right with her again would be to apologize, tell her you love her, and ask her to marry you."

"And completely cave in," Ron snapped; though there wasn't any forcefulness in his retort.

"I'd call it coming to your senses and admitting that you're not ever going to be happy without her; not caving in, mate." He shook his head. "Maybe it's because I do get those feelings that I really can't understand why you've got a problem with what seems so simple to me."

"Whadya mean?" Ron asked suspiciously; and Harry shrugged.

"What I sense for you and Hermione is just so great, the same way that I know things will be like that for me and Ginny too, that I honestly don't get why you seem to be willing to risk losing it, or why you're afraid of making that forever commitment to her. That doesn't even take into consideration what I feel if I try to think about you without her."

"At least I'd be my own Wizard, instead of some Witch's lapdog," Ron countered half-heartedly. Harry laughed loudly at that, and Ron even grinned a bit when he clued in to why Harry had thought that was so funny.

"Seriously, Ron, do you really think that your Dad, Bill, or I aren't? Putting our wives first makes us more, not less, and don't forget that they do the same." He shook his head and held up his hand at the look on Ron's face. "Don't go there, mate. She's been giving you everything for years – even for years before you started going out. Can you honestly say that you've done the same for her? She deserves more than you've been willing to give up until now, and you know she won't settle for less anymore. That brings us right back around to the fact that it's all up to you now. After everything that you and I saw in New York and Washington this week, I'd think that would put all of this in a whole new light for you too." He stood up, and grabbed his cloak.

"I've got to get home and make dinner for Ginny. Try to get some rest, mate. You look like you could use a day or two of it, and a few decent meals too."

"Sure. No problem. I'll get right to that," Ron answered. He stood too, and then he flinched noticeably when Harry put a hand on his shoulder as they both stepped out of the cubicle.

"We really are all here and pulling for you, Ron," Harry said quietly. "If you need to talk over the weekend, just let me know."

"I've got plans all weekend, and have nothing I'll be needing to talk about," Ron answered gruffly. There seemed to be something stuck in his throat. He left Harry, went to his cubicle, and sat down, apparently wanting to make sure there was no chance that they'd end up sharing a lift to the Atrium level.

Harry had gone on home, and while he had meant what he'd told Ron about being there for him if he wanted to talk, he didn't expect him to take him up on the offer. It was much more likely that his plans for the weekend would have him helping George at the store, and his brother would spend a lot of the next two days being his sounding board; just as he'd been doing for a lot of the last four weeks. Dinner was nearly ready by the time Ginny got home, and it must have shown on his face that he was still thinking about Ron and Hermione when she hugged and kissed him in welcome.

"How'd your daily therapy session with Ron go?" she asked, and Harry laughed.

"That's a nice way to put it. I'd say things are coming to a head with him. The best he could come up with today was a remark about my life being perfect, grousing about me remembering that Hermione's birthday is next Wednesday, and a few half-hearted retorts during our little chat."

"Sounds promising," Ginny said as she started setting the table. "Do you think he'll come around by then?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted; but then grinned at her. "I did pick up an extra ticket for the game, but it's in the cheap seats. What do you think that might mean?"

Ginny laughed and leaned close to kiss him again. "I think it means that there's a better than fifty-fifty chance that you'll be watching the game in the nosebleed section, and probably in disguise, since Ron would lose it if he found out that you'd been that sure he'd be back together with Hermione by then."

"If I was sure, we'd have kept one of the season's tickets for him," Harry countered. "How was your day?"

Ginny was happy to tell him about everything that had happened at work while they had dinner, and after cleaning up, they spent the evening playing together; first out above the Quidditch pitch, and later, after they'd turned in for the night. On Saturday, they spent the morning shopping, and that included picking up a beautiful dining room set for Hermione's birthday. They had lunch in Diagon Alley, and then Ginny studied for a couple of hours while Harry worked in the yard. They followed that up with another Seeker Duel, and then had another quiet, but fun dinner and evening in for two.

On Sunday, they had a morning Seeker duel, and then Ginny spent most of the day studying. Harry picked Teddy up and spent a few hours with him while she worked, wandering around Diagon Alley for an hour or so, bringing treats home for an afternoon snack break with Ginny, and then playing in the yard until it was time for Teddy to go home again. They were having George and Hermione over for dinner, and George was helping them with a Quidditch practice after that, so Harry was back home again in time to cook dinner for four. Hermione was there by the time he got home, and had been chatting with Ginny, so when he started cooking, she gave him a hand, while Ginny moved to the kitchen from the sitting room so she could still study and chat with them.

"It's been a month, or just over, as of today," Hermione told them. "I guess your Dad was wrong about how long it'd be before Ron would come around. He still hasn't even said one word to me the whole time."

"Dad did say 'or two at the most'," Ginny reminded her. "Ron may not be talking to you yet, but he has certainly been talking to nearly everyone else – except me and Mum."

"That's probably just because he's figured out that the three of you have more than tough words for him," Harry suggested. "I wonder what your Mum did to him when she finally got her hands on him?"

"I wouldn't be surprised to find out that we really wouldn't want to know," Ginny countered. "Whatever it was, my bat-bogey hex and Hermione's doggie defense were probably mild by comparison."

"Probably," Hermione agreed, and then sighed forlornly. "I'll give it more time, since I've got no other choice anyway, but if nothing happens by Christmas, I'm going to get started on my kneazle collection."

Ginny grinned at her. "Okay. I'll let Mum know, so she'll be ready to get your first new buddy for Crookshanks. I'm sure that Emma would appreciate the heads up too."

Hermione laughed. "You guys are not going to turn Ron into a kneazle – no matter how funny that would be."

They moved on to talk about other things, like how work was going for Hermione. Since her first spurt of hires in ninety-nine, she'd only hired two more people, but since they were still really just getting started with helping House Elves, she hadn't needed more help yet. Her biggest battles were with Amos Diggory and others in the Ministry who fought her at every step as she worked hard to get new rules and regulations in place that improved conditions for the elves, protected them from being abused, and gave them more rights.

"No wonder you're at the Ministry, and I'm in Quidditch," Ginny told Hermione after she'd finished telling them about her most recent battle with Amos. "I'd have smacked him up the side of the head with a bludger after about two minutes of that rubbish."

"He's a good man," Hermione reminded them. "It's just really hard for him to see that what he's believed all of his life isn't right. I probably went a bit too far by suggesting that he imagine how he'd feel if he was a house elf and had to watch his children being beaten and tortured by Wizards and Witches, and often not for any reason at all other than their masters needed someone to vent their anger on."

"Maybe that's exactly what he needed to hear," Harry disagreed. "That's something he'd be able to relate to better than most Wizards and Witches, even if he doesn't want to admit that there's no difference at all between what's senselessly done to elves and what happened to Cedric."

Hermione nodded. "Maybe, but I wish it hadn't been me telling him that, and now Ron's not the only Wizard not talking to me. If he didn't know that the Minister would back me, I think he would have fired me over it."

"I doubt that," Ginny said; shaking her head emphatically. "Gwenog's got a lot of connections everywhere, and from what she passes along to me, I'd say that Amos is actually very proud of you, even if he never admits it to you."

Dinner was ready by the time George joined them, and after the usual round of hugs, they sat down to eat, and have him entertain them with all of the latest stories from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The students might be back at Hogwarts, but that still left all of the junior, under-eleven jokesters, and busloads of adults who were now dedicated wheezes fans and customers. His mail order business had nearly doubled every year, and he was expecting even bigger things for his stores in the coming year.

"How's Ron?" Hermione finally worked up the courage to ask him quietly and earnestly.

"He's a total mess," he answered with a grin. "When I told him I was going out to dinner with you tonight after work, he punched me." He laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "In hindsight, I probably should have told him that we were having dinner here, but after he hit me, I didn't feel like giving him that bit of information. He stormed out of the store shortly after I asked him what the problem was, since you and I are both currently single, and you are, after all, brilliant and beautiful." Hermione had her hand covering her mouth by then, and was staring at George with wide eyes. Harry and Ginny were both laughing too.

"You don't look the worse for wear," Ginny told him, and George nodded.

"I used the bruise remover paste right away, and I've improved it quite a bit, or I would have a pretty good shiner right now." He turned back to Hermione and smiled. "Don't worry about this. He's just lashing out. I love you like a sister, would never do something like that to one of my brothers even if I did like you that way instead, and he knows that. I'm fairly sure that he's accused every guy he knows, except Dad, Bill, and Percy, of being after you. Hopefully Rita Skeeter won't hear those rumors and write a book about you too, though to hear Ron talk, it'd probably be a real page-turner."

Hermione grimaced. "Don't even joke about that. She'd jump at the chance to do a trash story about me. Did you read her latest best-seller?"

"No, but I did use the copy that was given to me to paper the pygmy puff pens," George answered. "A few customers thanked me for giving them such a good idea for what to do with their copies."

"I'm sure that Kingsley would agree," Ginny said with a laugh. "Rita probably doesn't even see the irony in calling him the King of Lies; and then filling the book with them."

"What always amazes me is that there are still idiots out there believing every word she writes," Hermione told them. "Maybe you should make up a wheeze for her like you did to make fun of Voldemort during the war, George."

"That's not a bad idea," he answered. "Maybe I'll see what I can come up with sometime."

That set them off on discussing possible Rita Skeeter wheezes, and kept them busy until they were finished dinner. They all helped out with the clean-up, and then went outside, where Hermione had fun watching Harry and Ginny chase the snitch around for an hour or so while George batted bludgers at them. When they'd had enough Quidditch fun, they went back inside to have drinks, and then George and Hermione both went home, and Harry and Ginny ended their weekend with some more memory-making bedtime fun.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that George is just fine," Harry told Ron when he stumped into his cubicle on Monday morning and dropped heavily into a chair. "Did you forget what he does most Sunday nights before Ginny has a mid-week game? Belting him over having dinner with me, Ginny, and Hermione seems a bit extreme."

"He all but said right out that he was going after her," Ron shot back, and Harry nodded.

"Sure, after you sucker-punched him, but you know he didn't mean it, and would never do that to you."

"I don't know that at all, and it doesn't make any difference that they were having dinner together at your house," Ron told him, though he didn't sound like he believed it at all.

"Hey Ron," Neville said as he stopped by. "Hannah asked me to tell you that you need to get back to eating at the Leaky more often. Apparently there has been a noticeable drop in business recently." He exchanged grins with Harry. "Everything is set up for Hermione's dinner party on Wednesday, but Hannah would like a final number by tomorrow if there are any changes."

"I don't think there will be, but I'll let her know if there are," Harry promised.

"Thanks," Neville said with a nod. "I've got a few things to take care of before we start training, but if I'm a bit late, go ahead and start without me."

"I've got to get to work too," Ron told them as he stood up. "See you around."

That was the last time Harry talked to Ron, and he only saw him twice over the next three days. Monday and Tuesday had been pretty average work days, without much exciting going on, but on Wednesday morning, he and Ginny started their day out by taking their breakfast show on the road to Hermione's house, mostly because Ginny wouldn't be able to have dinner with her, and their present would be a bit inconvenient to have her unwrap at the Leaky.

"Very cute Ginny," Hermione said as she looked down at her plate. The number twenty-two had been made out of her food, along with a smiley face.

"I thought about doing candles, but when I tried them at home, I couldn't get them to stay upright in the eggs. She put a muffin in front of Hermione next, and there was a single candle in it. "We wouldn't want you to miss out on your birthday wish, though, so hopefully this will work."

"I really hope so too," Hermione said fervently before closing her eyes, making her wish, and then blowing out the candle.

Other than that unspoken reference to him, they stayed away from talking about Ron at all, and Hermione did her best to try and be happy. They'd had breakfast; Harry excused himself to do a little furniture delivery; and then he cleaned up from breakfast while Ginny and Hermione admired her new dining room suite and discussed decorating ideas that would go along with the table, chairs, buffet, and hutch. There'd been a lot of hugs, kisses, and tears, and when it was time to go to work, Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ginny, and went on to the Ministry of Magic together.

Instead of going out for lunch, Harry had it delivered to Hermione's office, and then after work, he went home to shower and change before going to pick up Teddy and get to the Leaky in time for the dinner party. Hermione was already there with her parents, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, and Victoire, and the rest of their guests were quickly arriving too, including all of Hermione's staff, most of their friends, and George, Percy, and Audrey. They were all sitting down, and had just ordered drinks when Harry, and several others, saw Ron walk in, and he came straight over to their tables.

"Happy Birthday," he told Hermione shortly; putting a small gift on the table in front of her. She stared up at him open-mouthed, and he shifted uncomfortably from foot-to-foot. "Well, aren't you going to open it?" he finally asked. "I haven't got all day."

Hermione searched his face for another moment, but then picked up the gift and quickly unwrapped it. Her hands started to tremble slightly when she found the little velvet-covered box inside the cardboard box he'd hidden it in, and her eyes filled with tears and opened very wide when she saw the sparkling diamond ring inside. She stood up, and moved to hug him, but he stepped back, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away from the table. When they had some space, he leaned close to her so only she'd hear what he was going to say.

"If you try to make me grovel, I'm out of here and will go be a hermit somewhere," he began in a fierce whisper. "I'm sorry; I love you; and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

"Ron Weasley, that is quite possibly the worst proposal in the history of the Wizarding World," she told him; and then quickly put a hand on his cheek when he stiffened, and his eyes flashed with hurt and anger. "Fortunately for you, it's coming from the only Wizard I want to hear a proposal from. I love you too, Ron, and yes, I'll marry you." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him for a long minute. "Thank-you for making my birthday wish come true." Leaning back, she smiled tearfully at him. "You'd have made a lousy hermit, but I think you'll be a brilliant husband."

They shared a soft, tender kiss, and then she held the ring box out to him. His hands were shaking too as he slipped the ring onto her finger, and then she kissed him again before taking his hand, and leading him back to the table. An extra chair had already been added, everyone was smiling, and there were more than a few tears, including from both Ron and Hermione's mothers; who got up to meet them with hugs and kisses.

The newly-engaged couple was on the receiving end of a lot of hugs, kisses, and congratulations, and somewhere in there, they managed to order meals, and eventually sit down to eat. Ron's unexpected birthday surprise for Hermione was the main dinner conversation topic, though they did also have to move things along so they'd have time for the birthday cake and for Hermione to open her presents. She was just finishing doing that when Harry slid a ticket over to Ron.

"What's this?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Hermione's going to the game, and the good news is that you can have my ticket," he answered, and then grinned at them. "You'll have to watch Teddy for me, and get him home to Andromeda after the game, but I'm sure he'll be just as happy to hang out with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione; won't you, buddy?"

"Uh-huh," Teddy agreed.

"We'll all help out with Teddy," Molly told him, "and Arthur and I will make sure he gets home."

"Thanks mate," Ron said, and needed to clear his throat as he picked up the ticket and tucked it into a pocket.

Harry was suddenly the unofficial host seeing everyone off to the game, or on their way home, and once they'd all left, he settled the dinner bill with Hannah, and then he left the Leaky, disguised himself, and headed over to the Bodmin stadium. The disguise was as much to avoid being recognized by the Witches and Wizards around him as it was to keep Ron from knowing that he'd guessed that he might need an extra ticket. The seat he had really wasn't very good – especially since he was behind the Harpies goals, and there wasn't much action happening at that end of the pitch.

The Catapults had one new player that he wanted to keep an eye on. Ritchie Cootes had graduated from Hogwarts, and had been recruited by the Catapults. Demelza had told them that Ritchie and Jimmy had probably been the best Beater duo at school last year, so he thought that playing against Gwenog and Lysa would be a good test for his former teammate.

If there was one good thing about being away from his family and friends for the game, it was that he was able to appreciate just how much having them with him for the matches made the whole experience more fun. He also missed not having any eye contact with Ginny before or after the game; though he did love seeing how her smile brightened when she saw Ron and Hermione together, and just how much more fired up she was by the time the game started.

As far as the game went, if Ritchie Cootes and the rest of the Catapults were looking at the game as a test, they all failed miserably. The Harpies scored twenty-two goals, and Ginny put the game away in just fifty-three minutes to give the Harpies a three hundred and seventy to thirty win. Since the game was over so quickly, Harry went home and spent a bit of time getting a special victory celebration for two ready.

"Are we celebrating the game or the engagement?"

"Did you have a mirror chat with Hermione?" he asked, and Ginny laughed.

"No, but I didn't need to do that to know. The smile on her face at the game was enough. When did that happen? At the Leaky?" She hugged and kissed him before giving him a chance to answer.

"Yes, just after we'd ordered drinks and sat down. He pretty much stomped over to our tables, dropped a present in front of her, and told her to hurry up and open it, 'cause he didn't have all day to wait around for her to do that. The ring was beautiful, but he pulled Hermione away from the table for what was apparently the proposal. You'll have to ask her about that, since I'm sure that what she told us about that afterward was definitely missing something."

"Knowing Ron, that wouldn't surprise me, but even if he totally botched it, as long as there was a 'Will you marry me?' in there; that would be enough for Hermione."

Harry nodded. "There was that, and an 'I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you' too."

"Good for him, and them," she said happily. "I guess we'll have another wedding to plan for. One more brother down; and now we only have George left to go."

"Hopefully they'll plan their wedding around Quidditch for you, or that might be tough for us," Harry suggested. "If you and the Harpies keep playing like you are, they'll have to work around the Quidditch World Cup schedule next summer too."

"Wouldn't that be brilliant if we did get some players on the National team?" Ginny said excitedly. "I'd love to find out how we'd do against the best players in the world!"

Harry smiled. "You already play against some of the best players in the game," he pointed out. "We do have one of the premier Leagues in the Wizarding World."

"True, but I'd still like to find out how I'd do against Viktor Krum, and some of the other top Seekers."

"Funny you should mention Viktor Krum today," Harry said with a laugh. "Should I be worried? He is famous, handsome, and probably rich."

Ginny put her arms around his neck and kissed him for a long minute. "Let's take this little snack you've made upstairs with us, and I'll spend some time convincing you that there's nothing for you to worry about from Viktor Krum or any other Wizard."

Harry hadn't been worried at all, but was quite happy to follow Ginny's lead, and they both enjoyed a rather brilliant end to a very special day. By the time they drifted off to sleep, Ron and Hermione were well on their way toward making up and all was well in the Weasley clan again. The Harpies were five and oh, in first place in the League, and looking all but unstoppable, though that would change as the other players began getting their Firestorms too. The next big event in the Wizarding World was Hallowe'en. Quidditch and work would continue to be what kept Harry and Ginny busy most of the time, but now that their best friends were back together, they were also looking forward to the fun that always came with Hallowe'en, and getting to share that with their family and friends.


	29. 29 Twentieth Anniversary Hallowe'en

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Twentieth Anniversary Hallowe'en

Ron was a very happy Wizard by Thursday morning when he flopped into one of the chairs in Harry's cubicle. He still looked tired, and the dark circles under his eyes were still there, but those residuals from more than a month of self-imposed misery were like the remnant damage left by a passing storm. Harry was glad to see the smile on his friend's face; and a spark of life back in his eyes.

"Welcome back," Harry told him; smiling too as he put his quill down and leaned back in his chair. "Since you still look like you need a week's sleep, I'll guess you were out late after the game. You and Hermione definitely had Ginny fired up for the match when she saw you there together."

"Glad we could help her with that, and let's just skip any of the post-game details about last night," Ron answered and suggested meaningfully. "What's up today?"

Harry laughed. "I don't know – you'll have to check that out with your new partner," he joked. "Neville and I are training all morning, and then we're going to take Dennis and Natalie out into the field this afternoon."

"I should go talk to Emma. Working with Josh is fine, but he's not letting me cut corners on my reports like you always have."

"That'd be fine with me, mate, but we'll see what she says, and I'm a bit surprised that you want to be my partner again right now."

"Why do you say that?" Ron asked, and Harry laughed again.

"Neville and I do hear the comments from the other Aurors about our new training program, Ron. There seems to be near-universal agreement that our morning workouts are way too tough."

"So?"

"So you'd be doing those workouts with us," Harry advised him. "Think back to that day we spent training with the Cannons, and that's going to be our new routine – except without the bludgers and flying."

Ron grinned at him. "Maybe I'll hold off on that transfer request for a while after all. Josh's seniority when it comes to winter assignments might be good too. You still seem to like those mid-winter freeze fests."

"Don't suggest that to Neville, Dennis, and Natalie, or they'll all be asking Emma to work with Josh too."

They'd talked together for a few more minutes, but then Ron went to meet up with Josh, and Harry got ready for his morning training. For the rest of the week, he and Neville worked at Auror Headquarters with Dennis and Natalie, and then spent the afternoons in the field, though their trainees mostly stayed out of the way and observed them while Harry and Neville worked the leads that had started with the tip that Harry and Ron had picked up back in August. While they hadn't gotten anything solid yet as to what was going on, word on the street was that certain Wizards and Witches had suddenly come into some money, and had been out on little spending sprees that had raised more than a few eyebrows. While the inheritance story the two families were using was plausible, Harry had been easily able to disprove it with a quick search of Ministry and Gringotts records. Those families weren't quite Gaunt family poor, but they hadn't had much, and Harry was still sure that they needed to find out where the money had come from, and why or how they'd come into it.

With nothing new or pressing happening with their case, Harry, Neville, and their trainees took the weekend off. For Harry, that mostly meant taking care of Ginny while she got ready for her upcoming game against the Kestrels. They went out for dinner with Ron and Hermione on Saturday night, but other than that, and a short visit to the Burrow on Sunday morning, it was a pretty quiet weekend for them. The last workweek of September wasn't very exciting either, though it was busy. Harry and Neville continued the morning training and afternoon field work all week, and Harry and Ginny's evenings included three Seeker duels, dinner and a visit one evening with Hannah, Neville, and Alice, and the usual nightly bedtime routines that were such a great way to end each day.

The buzz around the Quidditch world on Friday and Saturday was about the news that the Kestrels had received their first Firestorm, and that their Seeker would be using it in the game against Ginny. There was a lot of speculation about how Ginny would do now that her opponent would be on a Firestorm too, but Harry actually thought that the Kestrels were making a big mistake. He'd done the usual Saturday morning game-day cleaning and shopping after Ginny had left for work, and then took Teddy out for lunch before going on to Ellis stadium. They had picked up souvenirs, drinks, and snacks, and were in their seats for ten minutes or so before Molly and Arthur joined them, along with the group of their own friends that they'd invited to the game.

"The Kestrels' Seeker looks very sure of himself," Molly said conversationally as they watched the action on the pitch as the game was about to start. "What do you think his chances are, Harry?"

"Zero to none?" Harry half-joked. "Ginny will stay way ahead of the other Seekers on the Firestorm learning curve all season. I'm sure that Aidan is happy with how great he can play on his new broom, but that won't be enough, and the Kestrels' biggest problem today is going up against Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza. I'd have put that new broom in the hands of one of my Chasers instead."

"Really?" Arthur asked in surprise; and Harry nodded.

"They're going to find out that the last thing they want with a big Chaser mismatch is a long Seeker duel," he predicted. "It's going to be a fun day for Harpies fans, though."

It wasn't long before everyone watching, and playing, the game found out that Harry's analysis was spot on. Aidan Kiely was playing a great game against Ginny, but it had only taken the Harpies a bit over an hour to get more than a hundred and fifty points ahead, and the match went downhill for the Kestrels from there. Aidan had obviously been given the go-ahead to try and catch the snitch for the loss after that, but Ginny wasn't interested in letting him win their duel, and they battled on, hour after hour, while the Harpies Chasers continued putting up big numbers against the Kestrels. When Ginny finally caught the snitch at the six hour and thirty-four minute mark, the final score was eight hundred and ten for the Harpies, to just forty points for the Kestrels.

"I'm not sure having one of their Chasers using that Firestorm would have made any difference, but the other teams will probably learn a lot from this game," Molly suggested.

Arthur laughed. "Yeah – beat Ginny to the snitch before the Harpies are ahead by more than one-fifty, or you've got no chance at all."

Harry and Ginny were keeping Teddy overnight, and since the game had gone on so long, after leaving the stadium, Harry took Teddy home, and got right to work on a late dinner for three that was ready by the time Ginny joined them. Teddy had run out of steam by the time they finished eating, so Ginny took him to bed while Harry cleaned up, and then they spent a little quality time together before going to sleep for the night too. Sunday was a play day, and after spending the morning with Teddy, having lunch with Andromeda, and doing a round of visiting in the afternoon, Harry and Ginny wrapped up their weekend with dinner at the Burrow, and a quiet play evening at home.

"Harry, I need you at headquarters immediately," Emma's Patronus informed him the moment it arrived in the kitchen. "There's been an escape from Azkaban." He and Ginny had just sat down for breakfast, and Harry was standing even before the Patronus had finished the message and begun to fade away.

"Go ahead," Ginny told him; standing too, and sharing a quick hug and kiss with him. "Be careful."

"I will be," he promised before kissing her again. "I love you."

"I love you too," she assured him. "Keep me posted when you can."

Harry promised to do that, and then went outside; apparated to the Ministry; and hurried in to Auror Headquarters. The Atrium had been fairly quiet, so he guessed that word hadn't gotten out yet. Emma was in her cubicle, and stood up when she saw him approaching. "Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange escaped from Azkaban – yesterday," she advised him without preamble.

"Yesterday!" Harry exclaimed. "Why are we just finding out now?"

Emma shook her head. "Because the guards didn't find out that they were gone until roll call this morning. There were two other Wizards in their places, and on top of that, we don't even know who they are, since they'd also come to the prison in disguise – as a pair of Witches. The Warden is telling us that the switch must have happened during visitation yesterday, and Rodolphus and Rabastan left with the other visitors."

"So these Witch imposters were there for conjugal visits," Harry surmised, and Emma nodded.

"They were, but they should have been detected on the way in; or the Lestranges should have been caught on the way out. We'll see whether any guards were paid to look the other way, or were just easily duped by a couple of attractive Witches. Apparently the real Witches have been regular visitors for months now."

"Since wands aren't allowed, do you think they used Polyjuice; or some kind of charmed device?"

"Too early to tell," Emma answered. "When Neville gets here, I want the two of you to go there and pick up the two new prisoners. You'll start with them, and I'm putting Nathan and Christine on the prison end of the investigation. Minister Shacklebolt wants to know how this could have happened nearly as much as he wants the Lestranges re-captured."

"Finding out what happened is probably going to be a lot easier than finding Rabastan and Rodolphus," Harry predicted. "With that much of a lead, they could be half way around the world by now."

"If they were smart, they would be," Emma agreed, "but I don't think they'll do that – not when their number one enemy is here, and alive and well."

"That's a cheery thought," Harry joked.

"What is?" Neville asked as he hurried up to them.

"I'll tell you on the way, and about everything else," Harry promised. "Are you going to want to sit in on the interview when we get back?" he asked Emma.

"No. I'll watch from the observation room," she answered, "and have Dennis and Natalie there with me. You'd better get going. It won't be long before the first ferry is ready to leave."

By the time the ferry left for Azkaban, there were quite a few Aurors on board. Nathan and Christine had Susan with them, and Rick and Terry had come along too; though they were just going to stay long enough to see if they could pick up anything that would help them with their tracking assignment. It was a fairly somber trip over to the island, and other than comparing notes on what they each knew about the escape so far, there wasn't a lot of conversation. When they arrived at the prison, they split up and got to work. It didn't take Harry and Neville long to take custody of their two prisoners. They kept them in a holding cell until just before the ferry was ready for the return trip, and then they had Rick and Terry with them again until reaching the mainland docks. From there, it was straight back to the Ministry of Magic, and eventually to Auror Headquarters – once they'd made it through the crowd of Witches and Wizards that now filled the Atrium. They took their prisoners to the interrogation room, and then Neville stayed with them while Harry checked in with Emma.

"They haven't said anything to us, or to the guards," he reported. "We won't have much fun if they just sit there and ignore us all day."

"I don't expect that the Minister is going to let any of us have much fun until our escapees are recaptured, Harry. Dennis and Natalie are picking up drinks and snacks for all of us, so when they get back, we can get started. I've got the Lestrange file in the observation room, and we'll be looking for matches from known acquaintances. Is there anything you need from us?"

Harry shrugged. "Not right now. Hopefully they won't make us do this the hard way. We don't really have time for that."

He waited until Dennis and Natalie returned, and then he went back to the interrogation room; taking the drinks and snacks they'd brought for him, Neville, and their prisoners. He and Neville both made up cups of coffee, while the other two Wizards watched them with a mixture of contempt and smug satisfaction. Harry and Neville had both been watching them too, though, and as they sat down, Harry thought about what he'd picked up from them so far.

They were in their early forties, and while they didn't look anything like the infamous fugitives they'd helped to escape, they were about the same height and size as Rodolphus and Rabastan. While they were wearing prison uniforms, he was still able to learn a fair bit about them just from their appearance and mannerisms. Both Wizards were ragged around the edges, and while they were arrogant, it was in a way that reminded Harry a lot of the Gants. Few Wizards or Witches had the roughened hands or weather-worn skin that would be common of Muggle laborers, but all of the signs were there that this pair did not have servants or house elves taking care of their every need.

"Would you care to tell us your names?" Neville asked conversationally. He waited a moment, and when neither man answered, he nodded. "Okay. Which one of you is Elsie? The guards couldn't tell us, since you look quite different than when you arrived at Azkaban yesterday. I've heard stories about some of the things visitors have done to, shall we say, soften up the guards. If that's what Elsie and Fiona were doing on all of their other visits; that must have been very unpleasant for you." Harry laughed, and their prisoners both turned red in the face; their eyes blazing with anger as they glared at Harry.

"Laugh it up, Potter. You're a walking dead man now."

That had come from the sandy-haired, blue-eyed Wizard, so Harry focused his attention on him for a moment. "So you are allowed to talk. Did you have orders to wait until now? It must have been tough not being able to brag about this with the other prisoners, or razz the guards about how easy it was for you to pull this off right under their collective noses, Elsie."

"We didn't want to spoil the surprise."

"That was nice of you," Neville told him. "I must say that it's refreshing to have suspects who don't start out with trying the imperiused or confunded defense. Hopefully they made it worth your while, though I guess the ten years you'll each get for helping them escape really isn't all that long. Are you allowed to talk too, Fiona; or is Elsie your designated spokesman?"

"How's your pretty little tavern wench? We heard that your baby looks nothing like you." He looked up at the clock on the wall. "I do hope they're both still alive and well."

Neville laughed. "There is no way that Rodolphus and Rabastan would be dumb enough to go up against Hannah and Gran if they're protecting Alice. Even they must have learned that lesson when Bellatrix made the mistake of going after Molly Weasley's little girl."

"Big talk, Longbottom. Maybe you should have learned from the lesson we taught your parents." The man answering to Fiona had dark brown hair and eyes, and currently had a dark sneer on his face.

"That sounds like the royal we," Harry mused aloud. "Could we be in the presence of Lestrange royalty?" He smiled at the reactions from both Wizards. "Yes, I think we are. Why not tell us your names? It really won't take us all that long to find out now." They refused to answer, but while Harry and Neville took turns asking them questions, it didn't take Emma, Dennis, and Natalie long to first identify 'Elsie', and then 'Fiona'. Dennis delivered the first name, and his file, after only ten minutes.

"Derrick Lestrange," Neville said as he started reading through the file. "Married; two children. Nothing unusual in your Hogwarts record. No criminal record. Tax records show you working for the same company since graduating." He paused on one page, and then looked up at the Wizard. "You're a fifth cousin to Rabastan and Rodolphus."

"Fourth, once removed," Derrick said; seemingly by rote.

Neville nodded. "Of course. You seem to be a good choice for the job, except for having a family. I do hope they'll be well cared for while you're away."

"I guess he doesn't want to answer that one either," Harry suggested when Derrick just sat there and glared at Neville. "That's likely a good idea. Auror Ogden would probably make us confiscate any payoff money they admitted to receiving."

Derrick decided not to answer any other questions, though he was happy to offer snide comments and fairly graphic insults. Artemis Lestrange was equally hostile after his identity was confirmed, and no more cooperative. His file was similar to Derrick's, except that he had four children. Harry and Neville questioned them until noon, and then took a break to have lunch, and talk with Emma about what she wanted them to do next. They had that meeting in the observation room after getting food, and leaving Artemis and Derrick in the interrogation room with their meals.

"We've sent Aurors to the Leaky; and to the Harpies training pitch," Emma advised them once they were all sitting down. "I'd guess that those threats are just diversionary, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

"I think you're right about that," Harry told her. "Has there been any news?"

Emma shook her head. "They've disappeared, and we haven't picked up a single lead. Ron and Josh are talking to everyone in your network, but either they don't know anything yet, or your contacts are all too scared to talk right now. Ron thinks that this could be what you'd caught wind of back in August."

"It might be, but we hadn't learned anything significant from that lead yet, and there wasn't a hint about anything to do with Azkaban or the Lestranges; just news about some money floating around among a couple of new families. There might be a link there to Derrick and Artemis, but not one we'd found out about. Is anyone on the Muggle tabloids yet?"

"Yes, though they're not thrilled about chasing down Muggle reports of alien encounters, monsters, and the rest of the crazy stories those rags come up with. I haven't heard back from them yet, or from the team keeping an eye out for new Muggle murders and missing persons cases."

"We're not going to get anything out of these guys," Neville said; waving toward their prisoners. "Maybe we should just wrap this up soon, and bring them up before the Wizengamot. Having the four of us out in the field helping out would be better use of our time than this. I get the feeling they're hoping to jerk us around for a few days."

"I'd follow the money instead," Natalie suggested quietly; blushing a bit when everyone turned their attention to her.

"We'll try and do that," Emma answered, "but why do you think that's important?"

"They may be as arrogant and bigoted as their cousins, but they're also not very well off, and aren't in any positions of power with the Lestranges. I'd wager that Rabastan and Rodolphus are taking advantage of a couple of poor relatives, and they think they're trading ten years in Azkaban so that their wives and kids won't need to worry about money anymore. It may be a long shot, since the Lestranges have a lot of interests, but maybe the people handling the money for this part of the plan are also in charge of whatever they're doing to hide our fugitives."

"They can't be all bad if they're doing this for their wives and kids," Dennis suggested. "But if you're right, then they definitely aren't going to talk and mess that up."

"And I'd be very suspicious of anything they did give us," Emma added with a nod. "Okay. I'll get things set up with the Wizengamot. You'll probably have another two or three hours to work on them before we'll be able to bring them before the court. Regardless of how they plead, their trial won't take long, and I expect they'll be starting their stay at Azkaban by tonight. I'll let the four of you handle this while I get back to work. We're going to have a full meeting after dinner, and you'll get your next assignments then."

Emma stayed until she'd finished eating, and then left them to continue their interrogation. Artemis and Derrick didn't have anything useful to say for the rest of the afternoon; and Harry was only a little surprised when they both proudly plead guilty when brought before the full Wizengamot. The ten year sentences were pronounced in short order, and by the time that Harry, Neville, Dennis, and Natalie reached the Atrium with their prisoners, word had already begun spreading, and it took twenty minutes to make it past the reporters and gawkers before they could get outside, and apparate to the Azkaban ferry docks.

"Considering where you're going, I'm surprised at just how happy you both look," Neville told Artemis and Derrick as they waited for the ferry to leave for the prison. "Maybe we'll come back to pick you up in ten years and see if you're still smiling."

"We won't be here very long at all, and you have no chance of living that long," Artemis told him with a coarse laugh.

"He might have a chance," Derrick disagreed. "Our cousins may decide to leave Longbottom and his wench and brat like they left his parents." Both men laughed at that.

"You obviously haven't thought this whole thing through, or you wouldn't be talking like that," Neville told them seriously. "If I were you, I'd be hoping that your cousins get recaptured quickly; before they can do anything you'll regret later."

"What's that supposed to mean, corpse?" Derrick demanded with a sneer.

"You plead guilty," Natalie reminded them. "He means that you can now be charged as an accessory to every single crime that Rabastan or Rodolphus commit while they're on the run. If they murder an Auror, for instance, you'd both automatically get life sentences tacked on to your ten years."

"I see you've been reading ahead," Harry complimented her as they all watched the smiles fade from the faces of their prisoners. "Nicely done."

"You're lying, mudblood," Artemis sputtered.

"I'm not, and you know it," Natalie answered; putting a restraining hand on Dennis, and smiling at him. "Azkaban has a very good library, though, and you'll have loads of time available to look it up for yourselves. We had time to read your cousins' files while our trainers were busy today. I'd say the odds of you getting out of prison in ten years are very, very low."

"Ignore the mudblood," Derrick told Artemis. "None of that will matter soon anyway."

The round-trip to the prison and back was uneventful after that. Harry went home to have dinner with Ginny; relieving the two Aurors who had been assigned to protect her; and then going with her to the Burrow, where she and Hermione were both going to spend the evening with Arthur and Molly while the Aurors were having their meeting. He'd met up with Ron there, and they'd gone on to Auror Headquarters together; getting to the conference room about ten minutes early, and sitting down next to Neville, Dennis, and Natalie.

For the next three hours, Emma led the discussion and planning session. Every case that could be put on hold was shelved, and even Aurors who were allowed to continue working on active cases had orders to keep their eyes open for anything that could help them find Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange. Harry, Neville, and their trainees were assigned to watch Derrick's family. They were also teamed with Reggie, Dan, and their trainees, Derek Summers, and Alison Chambers. They were going to be watching Artemis' family. When that meeting was over, Harry, Neville, Dan, Reggie, and their four trainees met to make their own plans.

"How do you always manage to get the day shifts for these stakeouts?" Derek complained to Alison.

"That's easy," she answered with a laugh. "Maria and Jennifer won't let Reggie and Dan work night shifts with me; and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Hannah told Neville the same thing about working with Natalie."

Neville laughed too. "Actually, she's more worried about me being there to help out with Alice at night."

"And Maria and Jen are only joking about that," Dan added. "Reggie's just giving me a break because Daniella is sleeping through the night now; and Jenson isn't yet." He grinned at Derek. "You're on nights because we like Alison more than we like you."

"We're not going to be able to sleep tonight, and all day tomorrow too," Harry told Reggie, Derek, and Dennis. "Let's meet here in the morning, and spend a few hours doing a little research on these two families. Three of their kids are at Hogwarts, so we should get the Professors there to keep an eye on them for any major changes."

"That works for me," Reggie agreed. "Let's get out of here. The dayshift half of our team needs to get some sleep. Be careful out there. The bad guys are going to all be feeling pretty good right now after pulling this off. If they get bold enough, it could be open season on Aurors and Hit Wizards."

Harry and Ron went back to the Burrow, visited with Arthur and Molly for a few minutes, and then headed for their homes with Ginny and Hermione. Emma had reluctantly agreed that they couldn't do twenty-four hour protection for Ginny, Hannah, or anyone else, but all of the Aurors, and senior Ministry officials were being advised to be more careful. Ginny assured Harry that her friends and teammates would help out, and before going to bed, they worked together to put up new wards around their property so she'd be safe when he was away each night on his stakeouts.

The big escape had made for a sensational start to October, but with very few leads turning up, the Auror search and investigation ground along at a frustratingly slow pace. Harry and Dennis didn't have anything of interest happen during the night, and while Neville and Natalie had more activity happening during their half of the watch, there was nothing going on that helped them with finding Rodolphus and Rabastan.

While his attention was mostly on the case, Harry also did what he could to help Ginny too. That included making breakfast and dinner for her each day, and doing several evening Seeker duels to help her get ready for the game she had coming up against the Ballycastle Bats. That game was on the second weekend in October, and after two weeks of night shifts, going to watch the game on Saturday afternoon with Teddy was a welcome break – even though it meant not getting much sleep before his next shift. He'd taken Teddy out for lunch, and then met Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, and Victoire at Ilkley stadium.

"How are things really going at work?" Bill asked Harry as they waited for the game to start. "The Daily Prophet certainly hasn't been giving the Aurors any love over the last two weeks."

"Or the Minister," Fleur added. "Did you see that hack job from Rita Skeeter? I can't believe they still let her write for them."

"I didn't read it, but I heard all about it," Harry answered. "If their star investigative reporters can do better than we can; I'd be happy to back them up when they're ready to bring the Lestranges in."

"I wouldn't want any of them watching my back if I was you," Bill pointed out. "They'd be more likely to side with Rabastan and Rodolphus than help you."

"I'm sure you'll catch them," Fleur said confidently. "That pair won't be able to stand being in hiding for very long. I just hope that they don't hurt anyone before you do get to them."

"So do I," Harry agreed fervently, "and I hope you're right."

While his case wasn't going anywhere, Ginny and the Harpies were definitely having more fun with their work. It only took them an hour and fifty-two minutes to defeat the Bats; winning by a score of four hundred and ten to twenty. Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza had scored a goal about every four to four and a half minutes, and Ginny had ended the game with a fairly easy catch after completely losing her Seeker opponent with a new drop-spin move that she and Harry had been working on, and that the old Firebolts didn't have the maneuverability to pull off.

After the game, Arthur and Molly took Teddy with them so that Harry could go home and get another few hours of sleep. He and Ginny had dinner together, and then it was back to work again. Ginny's next game was against the Falcons, so she had Harry do daily Seeker duels with her, and for the next two weeks, all he did each day was switch from work to sleep to Quidditch. On the last Friday in October, the day before the Harpies-Falcons game, Emma had another meeting with all of the Aurors; even bringing in everyone who would have been on stakeouts.

"The Minister and I have decided that we can't continue keeping all of our other cases on hold," she advised them. "We've got nothing solid to go on, and it's time for most of us to move on."

"The Daily Prophet will love that news flash," Nathan told her.

"I'm sure they will, but that may help us – especially if it gets our fugitives thinking that they're in the clear now. Reggie, Dan, Harry, Neville, and their trainees will continue working the case. I'd like everyone else to put together final reports on what you've each been doing, and drop off copies with them, and with me, by the end of the day." She smiled at the round of groans that greeted that news. "I'm sorry about that, but I need to have a report ready for Minister Shacklebolt by Monday. The good news is that there will only be nine of us working this weekend."

"Sucks to be you," Ron whispered to Harry.

"Sometimes," he agreed.

Emma had a few more instructions for everyone; and then she had a short meeting with Harry, Neville, and the rest of their group. She was leaving it up to them to decide where they were going to take the investigation, and left them to work on that on their own.

"Our stakeouts aren't going anywhere either," Dan told them. "Let's write up our own reports for Emma today, spend the weekend going over all of the other reports, and then we can decide whether to go back to our stakeouts, or do something else instead."

"Ginny's playing tomorrow, but other than working around the game, I'm okay with that."

"Maybe you should skip that game," Reggie suggested. "The Falcons are always gunning for Ginny when they play the Harpies, and what you don't see won't hurt them."

Harry laughed. "I've never retaliated against any of the Falcons, and I want to be there tomorrow because I'm fairly sure that Gwenog has a little payback planned for them."

"We can work around the game too," Neville assured Harry. "You may just have a bit more weekend homework than the rest of us will."

That was okay with Harry too, but there was still a lot of work to do, and after getting back to discussing their case for a while, he went to his cubicle, and spent another two hours writing reports before going home in the early afternoon. He worked around the house, made dinner for two, and did a short Seeker duel with Ginny before crashing for the night. They were both up early, had breakfast together, and then they both went to work. He spent the morning reading reports; getting about half-way through them before heading out to pick up Teddy; they went out for lunch with Arthur, Molly, Ron, and Hermione; and then they all went on to the Yorkshire stadium.

All of the Harpies had been looking forward to this game, but Ginny and Gwenog were especially fired up about it. While Ginny had won every game she'd played against the Falcons, they'd also been the games in which she'd been injured most often. Last season, two of those injuries were at the hands of their rookie Beater, Calvin Harper, who had taken his game play to new lows since she'd played against him when he was a Beater for Slytherin. Harper, and his Beater partner, were responsible for getting Gwenog motivated; mostly due to some incredibly stupid comments the pair of Wizards had made to reporters over the past two weeks.

"Take your time catching the snitch today," Gwenog told Ginny under her breath as they were getting ready to start the game. "Lysa and I want to make sure those idiots know exactly who the best Beater team in the league is by the time we're done with them."

Ginny laughed. "Aye Aye, Captain. Have fun."

They split up, and Ginny was smiling brilliantly as she moved over next to the Falcons' Seeker; who sneered at her. She didn't miss the look in his eyes as he tried to nonchalantly check out her Firestorm, and then he looked her up and down suggestively too; the sneer transforming into a leer. He'd tried that at least a few times in every game they'd played against each other, along with often-graphic suggestions and offers, but nearly every Witch playing the game was used to that, and just found it amusing that Wizards like him thought the ploy was actually effective.

"You must like it rough," he told her; loudly enough for all of the players to hear. "After what happened to you in our last match, we expected you to call in sick today."

"Invite her to the team party after the game," Harper suggested lewdly. "If that's what she really likes, we can give her that and them some."

Ginny ignored them; signaled Gwenog with a 'one for me' hand gesture; and then blasted off when the referee threw the quaffle into the air; leaving both Wizards in the dust. Demelza won the race for the quaffle, and after two quick passes, Angelina scored the first goal. That riled up the Falcons, but their usual bag of dirty tricks were useless today as all of the Harpies took full advantage of the Firestorm's speed and maneuverability to escape every trap, dodge bludgers and fouls, and run their opponents ragged as they tried desperately just to keep up. Gwenog and Lysa seemed to be everywhere; and it eventually got to the point where the Falcons Beaters didn't even want to chase after the bludgers. The only thing worse for them than being consistently out-raced to those bludgers was the fact that they were far too close to them when Gwenog and Lysa pounded the bludgers at them.

That didn't mean that the Falcons Keeper, Chasers, or Seeker were off the hook, and in fact, Ginny, Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were all helping to set up their opponents for Gwenog and Lysa. Glynnis let her team play on and have fun for hours, but when the Falcons were down to five players; having lost one Beater, and one Chaser; she gave Ginny the signal to go for the catch. She'd grinned at Gwenog, and then they'd put a special play on that they'd been practicing especially for the Falcons. Demelza and Angelina each scored another goal by the time they had that set up, and then Ginny led her already-injured counterpart head first into a point-blank bludger hit – from Harper.

She'd loved seeing the look of triumph on Harper's face turn to chagrin as she blasted toward him after dodging the deflection that Gwenog had set him up for, and he saw it take out his own Seeker. Blasting past him, she didn't have time to enjoy that; since part two of the play had her dodging the bludger that Lysa had launched, and which turned out Harper's lights when it hit him in the side of the head. The Harpies fans were on their feet, and cheering loudly when Ginny then chased down the snitch to end the game with a final score of six hundred and thirty to forty.

"That was fun," Gwenog said brightly as she hugged Ginny after they'd all landed. "I doubt they'll learn anything, but maybe it'll shut them up for a week or two."

"I'd say they'll be gunning for us more than usual at our game against them in March," Demelza suggested. "The next few teams going up against them better get ready for some tough matches."

"True, but the other teams all had scouts here, and even if the Falcons don't learn anything, I'm sure those scouts all did," Ginny countered. "This is one time when I don't have a problem helping our competitors out a bit."

"That's so sweet of you," Alicia joked. "Just try not to help them out too much – after all; they are trying to find ways to beat our team too."

The three Falcons still standing weren't interested in any post-game good sportsmanship, so it wasn't long before the Harpies were all busy with the usual media interviews, and the normal game-day wrap up routine. Harry had a late dinner ready for her when Ginny got home, but then he needed to spend the rest of the evening working in the office; and all day Sunday at Auror Headquarters. While he was busy with that, she spent the weekend working around the house, and on a little shopping trip to pick out a birthday present for her mother. They were both taking Sunday evening off, and Ginny had dinner for two ready by the time Harry got back from the Ministry.

"You're back on days?" she asked excitedly; and Harry nodded.

"We've decided to take some time to go back over what everyone else has been doing, and see if we've missed something. There must be people out there who know what the Lestranges are doing, and where they are. We just need to find them."

"They've certainly done better covering their tracks than anyone expected, but if most of the people involved in hiding them are like Artemis and Derrick this time, instead of the usual gang, you're going to need more than a little luck to find them now."

Harry nodded again. "You're right about that. Let's talk about anything else. I really need to step back from all of that for a night."

Ginny made sure that by the time they went to sleep, neither of them was thinking about work, and Harry was fired up and ready to go again on Monday morning. One good thing about being back on days again was that he was able to go with Ginny to Molly's birthday dinner on Tuesday night at Shell Cottage. Bill and Fleur had offered to host it again this year, and they had everyone in the family there, including Aunt Muriel; Andromeda and Teddy; and several of Arthur and Molly's friends. Harry and Ginny were the last to get there, and just had time for a quick round of hugs and kisses before Fleur invited everyone to sit down to dinner.

"You look lovely, Audrey," Aunt Muriel said in her booming voice. "Is Percy taking good care of you?"

"Thank-you; and he is," Audrey assured her. "It won't be much longer now – just a couple of weeks."

"Baby coming soon?" Victoire asked.

"Not quite yet, sweetie," Audrey answered. "We'll make sure that you know when it's time."

"Speaking of time, have you gotten around to setting a date for the wedding yet?" Muriel asked Ron and Hermione.

"The wedding will be next summer, on August tenth," Hermione advised her; smiling at Ginny. "We're waiting that long because my Matron of Honor will hopefully be busy playing Quidditch next summer for the National team."

"Of course she will be," Muriel practically shouted. "Our Ginevra is the best Seeker in the world. There'll be Quidditch fans rioting at the Ministry if she isn't our Seeker."

"With you and I leading the way," Molly added.

"We've still got a lot of season left between now and when they pick the National team," Ginny pointed out. "Anything can happen between now and then."

"You'd better make the team," George told her. "I'd hate to find out that I've been wasting my time on the Ginny Potter World Cup Wheeze I'm working on."

Ginny laughed. "Have you gotten that approved by the Harpies yet?"

"You wouldn't be playing for the Harpies, and yes, I wrapped up the World Cup rights over a year ago, and the rights for quite a few of the National teams too – including ours."

"Are you going to take your show on the road next summer?" Angelina asked him; and George smiled at her.

"I'm thinking about it – at least on game days. There's a lot to still work out, since I can't be at all of the stadiums each week."

"Think about offering some jobs to your older mail-order teens," Fleur suggested. "Gabrielle would love a job like that this summer just to spend time around the professional players."

"That's a brilliant idea," George said excitedly. "I'm sure that Lisa can come up with a list for me in no time."

While they ate, the conversation moved on from wheezes to what everyone was doing at work and home, with some birthday storytelling mixed in. Baby talk was high on the list too, with Audrey and Fleur being at the center of that discussion. Fleur was two-thirds of the way through her second trimester, and thanks mostly to Victoire, she and Bill had some very entertaining stories to tell everyone. Since it was a work night, they didn't stay late; so after Molly opened her presents, and they all had cake and ice cream, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Muriel were put in charge of Victoire's bedtime story, while everyone else except Teddy took care of the kitchen cleanup. Harry and Ginny both had work waiting for them to finish when they did get home, and it was after midnight by the time they went to bed.

"I love you," Ginny told him as she hugged him tightly. "Give me ten minutes, and I'll be ready to go too."

"Thank you," Harry answered gratefully before kissing her. He'd hoped not to wake her up, but knew there was no point in suggesting she go back to sleep while he went to the cemetery. "I love you too."

She'd come into the bathroom just as he had finished getting dressed, and while she hopped into the shower, he went downstairs and packed up the files he needed to take into Auror Headquarters later. He didn't really think about what he was doing; his mind was completely focused on the past. It had been twenty years already, and he was now the same age his parents had been when they were murdered. He'd dreamed about them; the few memories he had, that were mostly from others, mixed in among both the wishful, happy dreams, and the dark, soul-searing nightmares.

"I'm ready if you are," Ginny told him; smiling gently when she saw him flinch in surprise. "Let's head out, and then I'll make breakfast when we get back."

"We can both do that," he answered. "I'll need to keep busy by then anyway."

Ginny hugged and kissed him first, and then took his hand and they walked outside together. They apparated into town, arriving just outside of the cemetery entrance; and she put her arm around his waist as they walked over to the spot where his parents were buried. Holding out his hand, Harry summoned a bouquet of flowers, and set it down in front of the stone, in the middle; between the two names. There were fresh flowers planted there in the spring and summer now, but they'd been cleared away for the winter.

They talked quietly together, and Ginny was there for him when the tears came; holding him tightly and sharing his grief and sadness. Soft caresses, soothing kisses, and her unconditional love for him was everything he needed right now; and then, suddenly, Harry stiffened, and pulled her even closer.

"We have company coming," he whispered fiercely; even as they both felt the wards and shields being slammed into place around the cemetery. "Use your mirror. It should still work despite the shields, and if we're lucky; Hermione will have hers close at hand."

"How many?" Ginny whispered back. She let go of him; they both drew their wands; and she put one hand into her cloak pocket to activate the mirror while he advised her that there were maybe thirty-five or forty. He wasn't positive, since some of the apparitions he sensed were probably side-alongs. "Hermione," she breathed. "We're at the cemetery, and under attack. Get help, and hurry here."

She and Harry turned toward the cemetery entrance, where the large group of Witches and Wizards were rapidly filing in and streaming toward them. Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange were in the lead, but as they closed the gap, the group spread out in a wide circle around them. Ginny reached out to squeeze Harry's hand, and then turned around so they were back-to-back.

"This was just too easy," Rabastan told Harry; his smile vicious and victorious.

"Just kill them," Rodolphus growled; pointing his wand at Harry's head. "We can gloat about it later. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

His shout was echoed by the others, but their attacks were met by the handful of blocks that Harry threw into the air, and used engorgement charms on; along with everything from rocks to bushes and tree branches that he and Ginny used to defend themselves. Two of their opponents were down before any of them thought to shield themselves, but they regrouped quickly and started dueling in earnest. Using multiple, moving shield charms, Harry and Ginny both used them to deflect the less lethal attacks; while continuing to throw physical objects in front of the killing curses. They didn't have time to talk, but Harry was aware of everything going on around them. He knew when Ginny took a breaking curse aimed at the back of his head with her left hand, and when a jagged fragment of rock sliced into her face and right eye after intercepting a killing curse, but getting past their shields.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for both of them; though their reactions were actually lightning-fast. Not quite fast enough, Harry thought to himself as he took a breaking charm to the ribs, and felt and heard several of them break, and a sliver of bone slice into his lung. Lashing out, he blasted the werewolf Wizard responsible for the injuries off of his feet, and about twenty feet back; where he crashed into a headstone, and collapsed. He knew the Wizard was a werewolf – he could smell it on many of their attackers; even though they weren't transformed. He guessed that more than half of their attackers were werewolves, and they fought like the vicious animals they were. Cutting curses were directed at their legs to try and bring their prey down, while the 'kill' shots were fired at their throats and the back of the necks.

Harry took another breaking charm on the left arm; returning Ginny's favor by taking one for her that had gotten past their shields, and they both had a mounting number of cuts and burns that left their clothes tattered, smoking, and blood-soaked. Those injuries were also quickly weakening them.

"You are not going to win," he whispered angrily, and felt Ginny briefly lean back against him, as if to assure him that he was right about that. He was hit by another cutting curse that sliced across his thigh; courtesy of Rabastan. Focusing his attention on him, and on Rodolphus, Harry's eyes blazed, and he let go of his usually tightly reigned in power; letting his anger fuel it into an emerald inferno. "REDUCTO!" he bellowed; pointing his wand at them, and watching as their shields were utterly destroyed, and they were both blasted backward. The shocked and pained looks on their faces didn't last long, and they were unconscious before they hit the ground again, or their wands landed at Harry's feet in answer to his follow-up disarming spell.

The shields around the cemetery faltered and dropped then; and Harry was about to grab Ginny's arm and apparate away when he saw Ron, Hermione, and a group of Aurors appear at the gate and start running toward them.

"They've got help! Time to go!" one of the werewolves yelled. "Hurry!"

He, and all of the werewolves that were still standing, apparated away immediately, along with some of the other Witches and Wizards; but three others stayed too long, and the Aurors had their own anti-apparition shield up by the time they tried. Now that they were outnumbered, it didn't take long to end the fight, and then Harry turned around to face Ginny, and get his first look at just how badly she'd been hurt.

"It's probably not as bad as it looks," she advised him; smiling weakly as she sank to the ground. The eye that she could still see out of shone with fierce pride and triumph even through the pain and exhaustion; and Harry smiled too. "If they thought this was tough, they've obviously never seen Gwenog and Lysa in action before." Harry sat down too, and put his good arm around her waist as she leaned her head wearily against his shoulder.

"I hope it's not, honey, because it looks pretty bad," he answered; his voice a bit wheezy because the lung that had been sliced was collapsing. "This may have been a breeze for you, but I'm seriously ready for a nap." He looked up at Ron and Hermione, and nodded. "Good timing," he complimented them. "Can you handle things from here for us?"

"Merlin!" Ron said when he realized that Harry and Ginny were both covered in blood, and saw the damage to Ginny's face and eye.

Is that a yes?" Harry joked.

"Yeah, we've got you covered," Ron told him. "More help is on the way too." Harry nodded, but then slumped against Ginny, closed his eyes, and passed out.

"Grab him and lay him down, Ron." Hermione ordered. "Be careful. We don't want to hurt him anymore than he is already. She knelt next to Ginny and carefully supported her while Ron slowly laid Harry on the ground; conjuring a pillow to put under his head. "How are you?" she asked.

"I've felt better, sis-to-be. My eye feels like it got shredded, my left hand is in bad shape, and I don't even want to think about all of the cuts and burns. Getting killed by werewolves and Dark Wizards and Witches was so not in our plans for today, though, so don't worry. Harry and I are going to be just fine." Her right eye was already swollen shut, but she closed the other one too, and a few moments later, she was out cold too. Hermione gently laid her down next to Harry; and then started taking a look at both of her friend's injuries.

"We've got some serious injuries, but no fatalities," Neville reported as he joined them, and then stopped short and looked astonished when he saw Harry and Ginny both stretched out on the ground. "I've sent for Healers. How are they?"

"Harry's got a punctured lung; badly broken ribs and upper left arm; and some internal injuries to go with all of the burns and cuts. Ginny's eye and hand are the worst, but she's got some really nasty cuts and burns too."

"Do you want to move them to St. Mungo's right now?" Neville asked, and Hermione shook her head.

"No. We'll wait for the experts. I don't want to move them and make things worse."

Christine was with the second wave of Aurors to arrive; and she came straight over to them, while the other Aurors fanned out to where their injured prisoners were either sitting or laying. Hermione went over everything with her, and then they decided to put compression bandages on the worst of Harry's and Ginny's cuts to stem the bleeding, and get them ready to move while they waited for the Healers. While they got started on that, Ron and Neville were shooed away, and went over to where the Lestrange brothers had landed. Susan was now taking a look at them, and looked up when they reached her. "What happened to them?" she asked. "They each have so many broken bones, I don't even know where to start; and the flashover burns are very serious too. It's a good thing for them that they're unconscious."

"I'll guess that they made the mistake of getting Harry mad at them," Neville answered. "He's likely going to feel bad about that, but I won't. Even for Death Eaters, trying to kill Harry and Ginny at the foot of his parents' grave, on the twentieth anniversary of their murders, is a new low."

"And then some," Ron agreed, "and I wouldn't count on Harry feeling too bad about this – at least not before he and Ginny are better."

"They're hurt?" Susan exclaimed.

"Yes. Bad enough that they're both unconscious too," Ron explained, "though they're probably both exhausted from the fight too. Hermione and Christine are sure that they'll be okay, though."

"That's good," Susan said with a sigh of relief. "What should I do with these guys?"

"Just keep them alive until the Healers get here," Neville told her. "Let them deal with the injuries."

"Okay," Susan agreed. "How many were captured?"

"Sixteen, including these two," Neville answered. "They're all injured too. We'll get the first Healers here to help you first."

"This was very well planned," Ron said as he and Neville moved on toward where Emma and Nathan were; near the cemetery entrance. "I'm surprised that Harry didn't get any early warnings to let him know it was coming."

"He was probably a bit preoccupied this morning," Neville suggested. "Hallowe'en is always a tough day for him. It's a good thing that Ginny was able to get through to Hermione with her mirror, or this could have ended up much differently. I wonder how long they were fighting before we got here?"

Ron shrugged. "I have no idea, mate. Judging by all of their injuries; too long. Did you see the werewolves?"

"Yeah, and we've got four of them here. There must have been twenty-five or thirty of them – I didn't really have time to count. More than we've heard of in one place since before the war ended."

"They were outnumbered by as much as twenty to one?" Ron asked incredulously as Neville's answer clicked in with the sixteen injured he knew about. "Blimey mate - Mom's going to completely lose it when she hears about this."

"Probably," Neville agreed. "Get Hermione to tell them. By the time they catch up with us, we'll be at the hospital, and have medical treatment close at hand in case we need it when she's done with us."

"Molly isn't going to blame anyone except the bad guys for this," Emma told them; turning to face them after overhearing Neville's comment. "I've heard about Harry and Ginny. What's going on with the prisoners?" Neville told her everything he knew, and by the time he was finished, a group of six Healers arrived, and Emma waved them over.

"I need you to start with Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange," she advised them. "Auror Bones is keeping them breathing, but they're the only prisoners with life-threatening injuries. Harry and Ginny Potter are both injured too, and are next on the priority list. Auror Campbell; and Ms. Granger are tending to them until you can get to them. There are fourteen other prisoners with varying degrees of injuries that are still being assessed."

The Healer who was in charge of the group nodded; sent four of the Healers to help Susan; and then went with the last Healer to go and help Harry and Ginny. Emma, Nathan, Ron, and Neville went with them, and after conferring with the Healers, Hermione stood up, and came over to hug Ron. Christine stepped back to give the Healers room to work, and smiled when Nathan had a hug for her.

"They're going to be okay, Mum," he joked.

"I know," she agreed, "but that doesn't make it any easier, and I'm seriously fed up with the Lestranges and the rest of their lot. Maybe we should just hire Gwenog Jones and have her turn them all into woodlice."

"We'd save loads of money on the prison budget," Nathan mused. "I like the idea."

"No," Emma said firmly. "Doing something like that has been suggested to the Minister many times, but he's insisting that we treat our criminals humanely."

"Too bad," Ron muttered; smiling when Hermione hugged him a little tighter in response.

The two Healers did their own assessment of Harry and Ginny's injuries, and then let Emma know what they wanted to do. "The compression bandages that you've put on the worst of their cuts will make sure that their blood doesn't all squirt out when we apparate to St. Mungo's. It's a good thing that they're unconscious – the broken bones would really hurt if they were awake."

"What do you need from us?" Emma asked.

"We'll need two people to side-along apparate them. I'll be staying here, and Healer Kendrick will go with them."

"Let's get Dennis and Natalie to help with Harry and Ginny," Emma decided. "Ron, I want you and Neville to stay with Rodolphus and Rabastan for now. "I'll get watches set up at the hospital as soon as we have a better idea of what we'll need there. Be careful. Those two will likely be a bit desperate once they come around and figure out what happened."

"Maybe you should pick two other Aurors then," Ron suggested seriously. "I'm not very happy with them right now, and Neville doesn't like them much either."

Emma laughed. "Every Auror here would tell me the same thing. Have a little faith in yourselves. I do."

Neville went to round up Dennis and Natalie, and while he was doing that, the two Healers did one last check of the compression bandages to make sure they hadn't missed anything, and then protected Harry's broken arm and ribs, and Ginny's broken hand, as best they could. Hermione pulled Ron to the side so they could talk before he needed to get to work.

"I'll go along with Harry and Ginny, and once I know what's going on, I'll head for the Burrow to let your parents know."

"Okay," he agreed. "Let me know how they are when you can."

Healer Kendrick was ready to go by the time that Dennis and Natalie reached them. Hermione hugged and kissed Ron goodbye, and then, while he went to guard the Lestranges, she apparated to St. Mungo's. She was there just a few moments ahead of the others, and was ready to help if anything happened to Harry or Ginny while they were apparating. When Dennis and Harry, and Natalie and Ginny appeared a half-dozen paces away, she hurried over to them. Healer Kendrick was right behind them, and quickly checked her patients before allowing them to be moved.

"Let's get them inside," she told Dennis and Natalie. "That wasn't good for them, but they came through as well as could be expected."

Their entrance into St. Mungo's created an immediate buzz of noise and activity as news that Harry and Ginny Potter had both been injured literally flew ahead of them. They were taken to a private room and put into beds that were close together, and once they were settled in, Hermione stayed with Ginny; Dennis stood guard outside the door; and Natalie went to help the other Aurors with the incoming injured attackers. There was soon a team of Healers looking at Harry and Ginny, and after doing more thorough examinations, and stepping away to confer, Healer Kendrick came over to talk to Hermione.

"We're going to put both of them into a deep sleep to make sure they don't wake up," she advised Hermione. "The healing is going to take a while, and would be very painful if they were conscious. Harry has severe compound fractures in his ribs and arm. The lung is probably the worst, but not the only internal injury. Ginny's hand is bad too, but it's her eye that we need to be very careful with, and get started on right away."

Hermione nodded. "Okay. I'll let Auror-trainee Creevey know, and then I'm going to get Ginny's parents. I won't be gone long." She leaned over each bed to kiss Harry and Ginny, and then hurried out of the room.

"They're going to start working on Harry and Ginny, and will be keeping them unconscious while they're being healed," she told Dennis in a whisper so she wasn't overheard. "I'm going to get Ginny's parents – they probably don't know yet. Don't let anyone except Healers or Aurors in this room, and keep them safe while I'm gone."

"You've got it," Dennis promised. "Do you need anything else?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not right now, but I'll let you know if we need anything later. Thanks, Dennis."

She left then, and hurried down the hallway, wanting to get out of the building as quickly as possible so she could apparate to the Burrow. Emma stopped by, and immediately decided to have Natalie, Susan, and Christine join Dennis to help him with the growing group of Witches and Wizards who were all trying to find out about what had happened to Harry and Ginny, and how they were doing. The noises that were coming from the room didn't help the situation. While they might not know exactly what was happening, nearly everyone there did know the sounds of broken bones being set and healed, and there were a lot of loud, bone-cracking noises; along with other sounds that could only be speculated about.

Those sounds were still going on when Hermione returned with Molly and Arthur, and the three of them were immediately admitted into the room. Molly's face had been pale, but she stumbled against Arthur when she saw her little girl and son-in-law. She practically ran over to Ginny, but didn't try to interfere with the Healers as they worked on her.

"Everything's going just fine, Molly," one of the Witches told her. "It was easier to fix her eye this way, and we'll be putting it back in when we're finished."

"Will there be any permanent damage?" Molly asked.

"Not a chance," one of the Wizards answered; smiling and looking over at Molly for a moment. "Most of us are Harpies fans. She'll be as good as new by game day. We guarantee it."

Molly's attention was diverted by the sound of another cracking bone, and looked down at Ginny's hand. One of the Wizards was dealing with that, and being very careful as he practically rebuilt the bone structure, since there had been multiple breaks in every bone in her fingers and hand. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw all of the cuts and burns along Ginny's body that the rest of the Healers were working on; though there was white-hot anger there too.

"They're going to be okay, Molly," Arthur said gently; putting his arms around her waist from behind, and pulling her close against him. "Let's just be happy and grateful for that. We can get mad later."

"From what we've heard, there isn't much more you could do to Rodolphus and Rabastan anyway, Molly," the first Healer who'd spoken with her said. "They will survive, but they're going to be in for a very uncomfortable time while they recover."

"I might be willing to spend some quality time proving you wrong about that," Molly countered; wishing she could just gather her baby into her arms and hold her instead of helplessly watching as one of Ginny's beautiful, brown eyes hung suspended in the air above her face while two of the Healers worked on it together.

"That wouldn't be very nice, and we'd just have to heal them again," the other Witch said with a laugh. "Let's just let the Aurors deal with the bad guys. Today's been a big exception, but they've been doing well over the past couple of years with not sending us injuries and fatalities."

"Considering the odds they were up against, I'd say that coming out of that with no fatalities is a miracle," Hermione suggested. She'd come over to stand next to Molly and Arthur, and was watching the operation on Ginny's eye too. Even with being as worried as she was, it was fascinating to watch as they performed the delicate work.

The three of them stayed in the room for the rest of the dual operations, which took nearly another two hours in total to complete. They finished with Ginny first, and her team of Healers left to go help with other patients; leaving Ginny asleep to help with her recovery. It had been Harry's ribs and internal injuries that had taken the longest to heal, but when they were done, Molly was assured that he'd be as good as new too; though he'd need a week or so to fully recover.

"I'll go and pass on the news," Hermione told Molly and Arthur. "Would you like me to bring back drinks or anything?"

"Cups of coffee, and maybe a muffin or something would be good," Arthur answered. "Thank you."

When Hermione walked out into the hall, she was amazed by how many more people were there than had been when she'd gone in with Ron's parents. Emma was there again too, and the five Aurors and trainees looked at her expectantly. She smiled, nodded, and motioned them to move in around her so she could give them the update.

"They're both going to need to take it easy for the next few days, and it'll be a week or so before they've fully recovered, but they will be fine. The Healers left them both sleeping, but they should be coming around within the next hour or so." She looked around the hallway and sighed. "Maybe if we give them a statement, they'll clear out and move on."

"I'll take care of that," Emma told her. "Do you, Molly, or Arthur need anything?"

"I want to check in with Ron, and his Mum and Dad would like cups of coffee and a snack – a couple of muffins or something." She thought about that for a moment, and then nodded to herself. "Their clothes were ruined, so I'd like someone to come along with me to their place to pick up a few things for them."

Emma nodded. "Susan, you and Natalie can do that with Hermione. While you're there, tell the team I've got watching the place to come back to Auror Headquarters if they haven't had any sign of trouble. If nobody's tried anything there by now, they probably won't, and we're stretched a bit thin right now. Christine, you and Dennis should stay here. When they're awake, let me know, and I'll come back; but I need to get to Headquarters and keep on top of everything else we have going on right now."

Hermione went to talk with Ron first, while Dennis took care of getting the drinks and food for Molly and Arthur. He was in the room that had been set up to hold all sixteen of their injured prisoners. He and Neville were watching Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange while two teams of Healers worked on them; one of them at the foot of each bed; their wands drawn and ready if needed. They shared a long hug when she reached him, and she took just an extra moment to rest her head on his shoulder, and let go of the stress of the last few hours.

"Harry and Ginny are sleeping. The Healers are done with them, and the Harpies fans among them promised that Ginny would be completely recovered by game day."

"Good to know they've got their priorities right; though the Wanderers and their fans may not think so," Ron answered. "Harry's going to be okay too?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. They're both supposed to take it easy for a few days, and should be completely recovered in a week or so. How are your prisoners doing?"

"Not nearly that well for these two. The Healers are going to operate in shifts, and think it'll take most of a day just to fix all of the broken bones and internal injuries. The flashover burns may not ever completely heal – they must have had one or more dark arts spells caught up in Harry's counter-attack."

"And ironically, the only person who will feel bad about that, other than them, will be Harry," she told them. "I'm going to their house with Susan and Natalie to pick up some clean clothes for them, and then I'll stay with them, and your Mum and Dad, at least until they wake up. I'll need to get to the Ministry after that. Things must be a bit crazy over there right now." She hugged and kissed Ron. "Be careful, and I'll check in with you later."

"Alright," Ron agreed. "I expect that Neville and I will be here all day, and probably be staying here late, unless we get assigned to the night shift." He hugged her again, and whispered – "I love you." That, more than anything, told Hermione just how much what had happened to Harry and Ginny had affected him, and she returned his hug, whispered an 'I love you too' in return, and then hurried away; waiting until she was in the hallway to wipe away the tears she had held back until he wouldn't see them.

The first thing that he was aware of as he woke up was that the intense pain that had been coursing through his body before he'd passed out in the cemetery was gone. There were still some dull aches in his arm and chest, and he could feel the dressings that had been put over the worst of his cuts and burns to protect them while they finished healing. The fogginess evaporated when his next thoughts were about Ginny, and he opened his eyes and turned his head to look for her; sighing in relief when he immediately saw her in the bed next to him. Her right eye and cheek were bandaged, and he couldn't tell whether she was awake or not, but when Hermione saw that he was awake, she put a finger to her lips, and walked around Ginny's bed to come and stand next to him. She leaned over to hug him, and then kept a hand on his arm as she straightened again.

"She's going to be fine, and everything went exactly as expected for both of you. How do you feel?"

"A lot better than I did before my little nap," he assured her. "How long have we been out?"

"A bit over four hours."

Harry nodded. "What happened at the cemetery after I was offline?"

"I was only there until we moved you and Ginny, but there were sixteen prisoners. They were all injured, and are here. Ron and Neville are part of the team guarding them. Rodolphus and Rabastan were critically injured, but will make it, and I don't know about the others."

Molly and Arthur came over too, and Molly hugged him too, and kissed his forehead. "No."

Harry laughed. "No what?"

"No, you are not going to hop out of that bed and run off to work," she advised him. "You're going to take care of yourself, and your wife, and I'm going to be here to make sure that you do."

"Yes Mum," Harry agreed quickly. Arthur and Hermione were both standing behind Molly and grinning at him knowingly.

"I'll go and let Christine know that you're awake," Hermione told him. "Emma wanted to be advised as soon as possible."

"Do we have to tell her?" Harry joked. "I don't even want to think about the paperwork that will be waiting for me to document sixteen separate injury reports – eighteen, including ours."

"If it'll keep you at your desk for a week or two, and keep you out of trouble, that'd be a good thing," Molly told him.

"Somehow, I'm sure that trouble would still find him," Arthur suggested. "We'd like to know what happened, but let's wait and do that when Emma gets here so you don't have to go over it twice."

"Can I at least get dressed if we're going to have company coming?"

"I suppose," Molly conceded. "Hermione brought clothes for both of you. Arthur, why don't you help him up, and I'll get them. He can change in the washroom."

Hermione left for a few moments to talk with Christine, and was back in the room watching over Ginny with Molly long before Harry came out of the washroom. He walked over to Ginny's bed, and leaned over to kiss her.

"Well, that didn't work like in the fairy tales," he joked; his voice hushed and low. "Did they say how long she'll need those bandages over her eye? She won't be able to do any physical training like that. She'd never see a bludger coming on her right side."

"A few days," Molly answered. "They think she'll be able to get back to training by Monday or Tuesday next week."

"That so does not work for me," Ginny said quietly; smiling as her husband, parents, and sister-in-law to be all turned their attention to her. "I was hoping you'd try again," she told Harry; smiling happily. "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you."

"So do you," he answered; leaning over to kiss her again, and then hug her for a long minute. "I hope you feel as much better as I do now too."

"My eye still hurts quite a bit, but everything else is a lot better. I'm surprised that Mum let you get out of bed already, let alone dressed. Please tell me you're not planning on running over to Auror Headquarters already."

Harry laughed. "I was, but Mum vetoed that plan. She let me get changed because we'll be having company soon. I'd argue, but to be honest, I'm okay with resting up for a while longer. It's been a tough morning."

"What a shocking admission," Hermione said with a laugh. "Now that you're both awake and on the mend, and have Mum staying here to keep you in line, I need to get to work. There are clean clothes and a few things that I thought you might need from home in that bag over there, Ginny. Check in with me later, and let me know what you'll be doing for the rest of the day. We can do dinner together – unless you guys still want to go to the Minister's Hallowe'en party."

Ginny laughed, and then it broke off abruptly when she saw the look on Harry's face. His eyes had lost focus, and he swayed slightly. Hermione put an arm around him at the same time that Ginny reached out to take his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Damn," he said under his breath. His eyes refocused, and sparked with renewed anger as he quickly processed the vision he'd just been hit with.

"Harry Potter said a bad word. This can't be good," Hermione said after a moment of cold silence.

"It isn't," he agreed. "This morning was just the start."

"The Minister's Hallowe'en party?" Ginny guessed. "All of the Ministry heads will be there."

"They'd go ahead with that even after what happened this morning?" Arthur asked.

"If they think Harry's out of commission, even for just a few days, they might decide this is their best chance," Hermione told him. "I'd hit the hospital too and try to take him out if I was them."

"Did you get the same vision I did?" Harry asked. "You'd better get dressed too if you feel up to it, honey," he told Ginny. "We'll need to be ready for whatever Emma decides we should do."

Hermione and Molly helped her out of bed, and then helped her to get cleaned up and changed too. That took longer than it had for Harry, and they were back in the room, and Ginny had just gotten back into bed when Emma and Christine came into the room.

"I thought that you'd look happier to still be with us," Emma told them.

"We are, but I've also got some bad news for you. We'd better seal the room." Christine took care of that, and then both Witches waited expectantly for Harry to tell them what was going on.

"The attack this morning was just the beginning," he advised them. "Ginny and I can tell you about everything that happened later, but did you know that more than half of the attackers were werewolves?"

"We'd guessed that," Emma answered. "What does that have to do with the attack on you just being the beginning?"

"It's a full moon tonight," Christine advised her, before Harry could explain. "Where do you see them attacking? The Minister's party?"

Harry nodded. "There; and here at St. Mungo's. This wasn't originally a target, but now they've got two missions here."

"So much for my plans for a fun afternoon of interrogating prisoners," Emma joked.

"Don't write that plan off yet," Harry countered. "We wouldn't want to tip them off and have them cancel their plans, would we?"

"They're all right," Molly told him. "You really are crazy. Haven't you had enough fun for one day?"

Harry laughed, and moved over so he could put an arm around her waist. "I love you, Mum, and I'd hardly call any of this fun, but if we've got a chance to put a few more bad guys away, I don't want to lose the chance, and this time, we'd be the ones ready to play the trick on them."

They all knew that he was right, even if they didn't like it, and while he didn't have the full picture, between what he could see in his vision, and a little brain-storming, they came up with a plan. For Harry and Ginny, that meant staying put, and playing the recovering patients that they really were. Hermione and Arthur went to work, as they normally would have, and only Molly and Dennis stayed with Harry and Ginny. The only visitors that were allowed into the room were Bill, Fleur, and Victoire; Percy and Audrey, who came at the Minister's behest; and George, Angelina, Glynnis, and Gwenog, who stopped in for a short visit while the Harpies were on their lunch break.

"I guess we can't make her do pushups for a week after all," Glynnis joked after hugging Ginny and stepping back.

"Fighting off two hundred Dark Wizards, Witches, and Werewolves probably does count as an acceptable explanation for missing a team practice," Gwenog agreed.

"By tomorrow, it'll have been four hundred, according to the gossip network," George predicted.

Ginny laughed. "Don't be too sure about that," she disagreed. "I'm sure Rita Skeeter will have an anonymous source that knows this was really a domestic dispute, and that Harry and I fabricated the story about being attacked to cover the whole thing up."

"It was convenient that you were able to time that with capturing the Lestranges and the rest of those prisoners," Angelina told her. "They were probably just innocent bystanders who just happened to be at the cemetery this morning, and got caught in the crossfire."

"Facts have never gotten in the way of the truth according to Rita," Molly pointed out. "Don't be surprised if you're not far wrong when you read the Daily Prophet tomorrow. She's sure to have her opinion make the front page headlines."

Harry mostly lay back in his bed and listened while Ginny visited with her brother, coach, and teammates. That allowed him to continue thinking about their plans for the night. Glynnis, Gwenog, and Angelina couldn't stay long, and George needed to get back to his store, so they really weren't there that long. Something vaguely resembling food was delivered to their room for lunch, but by then, neither of them was all that interested in eating, and Molly ordered them to have a nap.

They were mostly left alone for the rest of the afternoon; other than twice being checked on by Healers. Their dinner meals weren't any better than lunch had been, but they did both eat this time. Arthur and Hermione came back to the hospital after finishing up for the day at the Ministry, and took Molly out for dinner before returning to Harry and Ginny's room in time for another meeting with Emma and Christine.

"Everything's set up," Emma assured Harry once everyone was gathered around the two beds. "Are you sure you're up for this? I really don't like the idea of having you involved when you haven't recovered from this morning's attack."

Harry shrugged. "I'd rather not be doing it, but you're going to need all of the help you can get tonight."

"There's no point in arguing with him about this," Christine told Emma. "Let's just go over what we're doing again, and then you and I have to go check up on our prisoners and get back to headquarters. You don't need help getting out of here later, do you Harry?"

"No. I just need to know where to meet up with Ron, Neville, and the others; make sure that we have Ginny and her family safe; and then I'm good to go."

"That hardly seems fair," Ginny told him, and Harry grinned at her.

"It's totally fair," he disagreed. "Glynnis would never let me play for the Harpies either."

"She might consider making an exception if Ginny ever did need to miss a game," Arthur suggested, "but I agree with Emma and Harry on this. Especially since you can't see a thing on your right side, honey. Your Mother, Hermione, and I will take care of you, stay out of the way, and let the Aurors do their job."

Emma went over everything that they needed to know. Harry wouldn't be leaving for a while, and Ginny was going to be moved out of the hospital well ahead of when Harry expected the attacks to be launched, but after visiting hours were over. When they were finished, and Christine and Emma had left, it was time to try and relax, and wait for the impending action. Harry used his invisibility cloak to leave by shortly after ten; sharing a long hug and kiss goodbye with Ginny before heading out. By then, the hospital hallways were fairly quiet, and it didn't take him long to get outside, and apparate to where he was meeting with the other Aurors who'd be handling the operation at the Minister's party.

"Ready to go have some fun, mate?" Ron asked him. "You look a sight better than you did this morning."

"Mum's decided that we really are crazy, but yeah, I'm ready. Has there been anything new that I need to know about since Emma and Christine brought us up to date?"

"I checked in with her before coming," Josh answered. He was their team leader for this operation. "She didn't have any new instructions. Are you sure that you don't want help with the shields tonight? That's a big place to protect."

Harry shook his head. "That won't be a problem. I'm more worried about the Werewolves for all of us. They were rabid enough in human form this morning."

"Look for the leader," Josh told them. "If we can capture him, or send him running, the pack will flee or follow. That'd cost the Witches and Wizards with them their biggest advantage."

Ron laughed. "I still have a hard time telling wolves and werewolves apart. How are we supposed to figure out which one of them is the leader?"

"That's easy, Ron. He'll be the one going after Harry's throat," Neville advised him. "Let's see what we can do about making sure that he doesn't get there."

"I'd really appreciate that," Harry said fervently.

"Neville may actually be right about that," Reggie told them, "but we all need to watch each other's flanks and backs."

"Yes we do," Josh agreed, "and whatever happens, don't even think about chasing after any escapees. You do not want to find yourselves down some deserted alley fighting cornered Werewolves."

While they waited to go over to the Minister's party, Ron, Reggie, and Dan tried to keep them all loose with their usual joking around, but Harry was completely focused on the job at hand, and keeping his senses open to any changes – including the arrival of any new insights or visions. There were none, and when it was time to go, he and Neville were the first to leave; apparating to a spot that was more than half a mile away from the party. He used his cloak, and Neville used an invisibility charm, and they started walking at a brisk pace.

There were two Aurors stationed at the doors, and three more inside, including Emma, who was a guest, and the two Aurors who'd been assigned to stay with Minister Shacklebolt since the morning attack on Harry and Ginny. Neville, Harry, Ron, and Josh would all be together to the right of the entrance, with Dan, Reggie, and their trainees to the right, and the rest of the team spread out across the street. Harry didn't know the exact time of the attack, but since he was in charge of putting up the shields and anti-apparition charms, when he did that, it would hopefully give everyone enough warning.

"Now!" Harry said quietly as he slammed his strongest shields up around the building; and the anti-apparition charm over the entire block – far larger than the one their enemies put up around them at nearly the same time. He already had a handful of blocks flying into the air to defend the killing curses that were immediately sent toward the two Aurors at the door, even as he tossed off his cloak, and stepped forward to block the sidewalk at the foot of the stairs leading up to the entrance. The detonations as those blocks were blasted by the curses above his head, and in front of him was deafening; but he ignored that, and focused on the immediate dangers in front of him.

The Werewolves were leading the attack; racing toward them on the heels of the killing curses that had been fired by the Witches and Wizards in the street behind them. One of the Werewolves at the fore howled, and turned directly toward Harry. There was nothing about him that marked him as the pack leader, but Harry knew that he was as soon as he looked into the beast's eyes. He was also incredibly fast, and was on Harry in a flash – or as close as he could get before running muzzle-first into Harry's shield, and was then blasted by two counter-attacks from Ron and Neville.

"It's Potter!" one of the Wizards shouted. "Kill him!"

Harry suddenly found himself the center of attention as a flurry of curses were fired his way; and the Werewolves tried to over-run them by sheer force of numbers. A sudden increase in the counter-attacks coming from behind them let him know that Emma, and probably quite a few others, had come to help. His temper began to flare anew as he again found himself on the receiving end of some fairly painful burns and a nasty cutting curse that sliced into his side, but when a breaking charm ricocheted off of someone's shield and broke his leg, the anger flashed white hot, and as he went down hard on one knee, he let his power flare, and the blast he let loose literally threw all of the Werewolves in front of them away, and out into the middle of the street. Ron had a hand on his shoulder, and he, Neville, and Josh closed ranks around him, but that blast sent most of the Werewolves running away into the darkness; yelping in pain and howling with rage at their defeat. The Wizards and Witches tried to run then too, and the fight was soon over.

"You're having a seriously bad day," Ron told Harry as he and Neville helped him over to the stairs so he could sit down and take the pressure off of the broken leg.

"Tell me about it," Harry agreed. "I haven't needed this much medical treatment since our Hogwarts days. Is everyone else okay?"

"You're the only Auror who isn't still standing," Neville answered. "I took a couple of hits, but nothing serious. How about you, Ron?"

"Same here. What happened to your leg, Harry?"

"Just bad luck – the breaking charm was probably deflected to hit me from behind like that."

"Bad luck for them," Dan joked. "When will they learn that it's not a good idea to make you angry?"

Emma hurried down the stairs and joined them; after making sure that Kingsley was safe and back inside, where he was probably calming frayed nerves by now. "Ron, Neville, pop over to Headquarters. Christine and Nathan will send someone there when they've got things at St. Mungo's under control. When we know it's safe; we'll start moving the injured to the hospital. Josh, can you make sure that all of our prisoners are secure, and find out how many Aurors are injured, please?"

"Do you want Harry to drop the shields, or should Ron and I walk out past them?" Neville asked Emma.

"Drop them, Harry. I don't want anyone out there walking around in the dark with a pack of Werewolves running around loose. Hopefully they won't attack anyone else while they're getting away."

Harry was happy to do that, and then just lean back against the railing along the side of the stairs, and let everyone else deal with the cleanup. It took Josh about ten minutes to talk with all of the other Aurors, and get a preliminary injury report for Emma.

"We've got nine prisoners, and they're all injured. Four Wizards, two Witches, and three Werewolves. The wolves are roped, muzzled, and their claws are wrapped, so we shouldn't have any accidents when we go to move them. Four of the nine injuries are serious, and will need priority treatment at St. Mungo's."

"And our people?" Emma asked. He smiled at Harry.

"One broken leg, and to save time, I'd say that about half of us have minor cuts, bruises, and burns."

"Considering what we were up against tonight, that's probably close to a best-case result," Emma decided. "It would have been nice to capture more of the attackers, but I guess we can't have everything." She looked around, and nodded in satisfaction. "I'll give the Minister the update, and he'll want to let all of the Department Heads know what's going on too. Start moving the prisoners when you get word that it's safe to do that, and I'll meet you at St. Mungo's as soon as I can get there."

Josh coordinated everything going on outside after Emma returned to the party. Harry tried to relax, and not think about the pain in his side or leg. The scene was a bit surreal as the music inside resumed; probably on Kingsley's orders so his guests would have something to do while they waited for the mess in the street to be cleaned up. Ron and Neville returned after about another twenty minutes, and they had Susan with them; bringing the St. Mungo's report for Emma.

"Is everyone on your team okay?" Harry asked her, and Susan nodded.

"Yes, and it wasn't much of a fight. We captured four Witches and Wizards, and one Werewolf before the others ran away and escaped. If you haven't yet, Christine told me to remind you to use your mirror and let Ginny know you're okay."

"I talked to Hermione while we were at the Ministry," Ron advised him. "They'll meet us at St. Mungo's."

"Does she know?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded.

"Yes, and you owe me one for risking another bat-bogey hex to do that for you."

"And I really do appreciate that," Harry assured him with a nod. "Help me up, and let's get this over with. Have I mentioned before that I really hate apparating with broken bones?"

"A few times, yes," Neville answered. "We could just get Susan to knock you out for the trip if you'd prefer."

Harry shook his head. "Thanks, but I'd better stay awake for a while longer." He held his arms up, and Ron and Neville each took one of them and helped him to stand. Neville side-along apparated him to the hospital, with Ron right there to grab Harry again when he nearly passed out from the pain. His face was beaded with sweat, and he groaned, swore under his breath, and then smiled weakly at his two best friends.

"Yeah, I know. Try not to have too much fun with that."

"We'll try," Neville promised; smiling too. "It won't be easy, though."

"That's twice in one day," Ron pointed out. "I'm not sure that anyone would even believe us."

St. Mungo's was busy again, and though Harry was the first incoming injury, they were already treating the prisoners that had been captured outside of the hospital, and were getting ready for the incoming injuries. Healer Kendrick hurried over to them when she saw Ron and Neville half-carrying Harry.

"Which part of taking it easy for the next week or so did you have a problem with understanding?" she asked, and Harry smiled tiredly.

"The part where it would have meant not being there to help keep the bad guys from killing a lot of Witches and Wizards from the Ministry while they were at their Hallowe'en party. I had a problem with them making another attempt to get rid of Ginny and me too, and didn't like the idea of letting them help their buddies escape again either. I'll be happy to do as I'm told now, though."

"Good for you," she said with a nod. "Where are you hurt?"

"The left leg is broken above the knee, and I've got a pretty deep gash on my right side just below the ribs. The other cuts and burns are comparatively minor, but I've probably messed up some of your earlier work. A couple of the bandages feel wet now."

"Okay. I can probably handle that on my own," she decided. "Follow me – we'll use the same room."

Ron and Neville helped him to the room, out of his cloak and shirt, and onto the bed. They'd just finished doing that when Ginny, Hermione, Molly, and Arthur came into the room. Ginny ran over to Harry and leaned over to kiss him. Hermione had a hug and kiss for Ron, and then stepped back when she heard him grunt softly.

"You were hurt too?" she demanded, and he shrugged.

"Nothing serious," he assured her. "Neville and I will get treated later, once the more serious injuries are dealt with." He nodded to Neville. "We'd better get going. Josh is going to need the extra help; and Harry's got all of the support he needs now." He hugged and kissed Hermione again; and Molly and Ginny had hugs for both of them before they left to go and help with the prisoners.

"Do you need anything, Healer Kendrick?" Ginny asked.

"Call me Kellie," she answered. "After spending this much time together, we're definitely ready for first names. There isn't anything I need, but you'll want to hold Harry's hand. I'll numb the leg and do it first, but it's still going to hurt."

Ginny did that, and Harry closed his mouth and gritted his teeth to get ready. The break wasn't clean, and the sound of it being set was jarringly loud in the small room. Harry closed his eyes then, and held on to Ginny's hand as the pain hit hard and fast, and then slowly ebbed. Kellie moved on to heal the ragged cut in his side next, and when that was done; he opened his eyes again and smiled at his wife, parents, and Hermione.

"That wasn't so bad," he joked weakly.

"Just wait until I have to pull the tape off of those bandages you've ruined," Kellie advised him; and smiled at Ginny. "When I'm done with him this time, you can take him home, but only if you and Emma promise to make him take it easy for two weeks. I'll be including that instruction in my official medical report; so don't even try to get around that, Harry."

He laughed at the looks on the faces of all four women; and Arthur was grinning knowingly at him too. "Like I'll have a choice now that you've got Ginny, Mum, and Hermione on board with that order. Guard duty and desk work, here I come."

Ginny leaned over to kiss him, and then let Kellie get back to working on the more minor cuts and burns. All of his dressings were changed, and then Kellie left them with one last admonishment for Harry. Ginny helped him to get cleaned up and changed, and then they all went to check in with Emma, and see Ron again before going home.

"You should be in bed sleeping," Emma told Harry.

"I will be soon," he promised. "They're letting me go home, but I have orders to take it easy for the next two weeks."

"Or else," Ginny added; smiling at Emma.

"Good. Come in to Headquarters when you feel up to it later today, Harry, and if you can come along too, Ginny, we'll need to do a witness interview and report with you, and then get your memories from the attack at the cemetery."

"I need to stop in at the Harpies training pitch in the morning, but we can go to Auror Headquarters after that," Ginny promised.

"What do you want me to work on for the rest of the week?" Harry asked her. "Guard duty?"

Emma shook her head. "Maybe I'll have you do that starting next week, but Christine and I have a lot of prisoner interviews to do, and I want you to observe and help us with them. I've got Hit Wizards and Witches assigned to help us out here through the weekend, if needed, but all of your prisoners should be out of here by Friday or Saturday."

"Will you need Ron to stay much longer?" Hermione asked.

"He should be done any time now, but will have to be back here in the morning to take over from the group staying here for the rest of the night. I don't think that he's seen a Healer yet, but they have got a small team who has started treating the minor injuries, so he should be able to get that done quickly enough."

While they waited for Ron, Harry did a short tour around both of the rooms being used for their prisoners. Ginny went with him, and while more than half of the prisoners were sleeping, or still being treated, the Witches, Wizards, and Werewolves who were awake watched them with expressions ranging from cunning interest to naked hatred and rage. The Werewolves that had been captured at the cemetery were not permitted to be in direct contact with the moonlight, and had been given Wolfsbane; so they hadn't changed, but their affliction did take its toll on them. The four Werewolves who'd been captured here, and at the Minister's party, were still being kept bound, had been put in cages, and for the most part, their treatment would have to wait until they changed back in the morning. The only time they actually stopped was when they reached the beds that Rodolphus and Rabastan were in. Dennis and Natalie were there, and would be guarding them for the rest of the night. Healers were still working on them, but they still had a long way to go before the worst of their injuries were treated, and the two Dark Wizards could begin their long recovery.

"I wonder if years of immersing themselves in the Dark Arts affect their ability to heal?" Ginny mused, and smiled when one of the Healers turned to look at her in surprise.

"That isn't something we've ever been able to research, but it's an interesting hypothesis," he told her. "We do know that Dark Arts curses are either much more difficult to treat, or are untreatable, so it wouldn't surprise me if that did make a difference."

"It would explain why healing these two is going so slowly," another Healer added. "Maybe you should consider studying the matter if it interests you. There's currently a prison full of Dark Wizards and Witches available for you to use as test subjects."

"With more on the way there soon," the first Healer agreed. "Maybe I'll do that."

While the Healers got back to work, Harry had stopped because he'd wanted to talk with Dennis and Natalie. "I know that you've got help here tonight, but don't take any chances with these two. Keep your wands out; be prepared for anything; and especially watch them whenever anyone is near to them with a wand."

"We'll be careful," Dennis promised. "Go home, get some sleep, and don't worry about us."

Harry nodded. "I'll probably only manage two out of three of those. Have a good night."

By the time they got back together again with Molly, Arthur, and Hermione, Emma had left them, and Ron and Neville had joined the group. Both Wizards had obviously been treated by the Healers; evidenced by the bandages that they both sported now. They were all ready to head for their homes, so they left the hospital together, went through a fairly lengthy round of goodbye hugs and kisses, and then went their separate ways. Harry and Ginny went straight up to their bedroom after getting home, and it wasn't long before they were snuggled in bed together; both of them completely exhausted.

"This definitely isn't going to make our best days ever list," Ginny said quietly as they lay there in the darkness.

"True, but considering what could have happened to us, it's not the very worst either." He leaned closer to share a sweet kiss with her. "I'll see what I can do over the next couple of weeks to make it up to you for having such a crummy Hallowe'en."

Ginny laughed softly, and kissed him again. "Let's talk about that some more tomorrow night when we're not quite so tired. I'm sure we can help each other with that, and some you and me time will definitely help with our recoveries."

There were a few more soft, sweet kisses before Harry fell asleep, and Ginny wasn't awake much longer either. While they really had gone through one of their toughest days together, they'd survived it, and the bond between them was just that much stronger. They had some enforced down time to look forward to, along with the impending arrival of Percy and Audrey's first child, and the usual family and friends entertainments. Quidditch and work wouldn't be on the back-burner for long, and then they'd both be going full-speed into the Christmas holidays and year-end. Whatever else could be said about life and death struggles, one undeniable outcome was that surviving them made you remember the things that are most important in life – like family and friends – and to really appreciate just how precious every day really is.


	30. 30 A Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Chapter Thirty – A Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Harry smiled as he watched Ginny's teammates hug and kiss her after Glynnis allowed them to take a break when she escorted Harry and Ginny out onto the pitch. It was mid-morning, and the team had been in the middle of bludger practice. When they'd arrived, they'd been able to hear Gwenog yelling at the other players from outside of the pitch, and none of them had looked very happy until they'd seen Ginny. Now they were all smiles, and when he saw Glynnis nod in satisfaction, Harry was sure that this little visit was as much for the rest of the team as it was for Ginny.

"How are you doing?" Gwenog asked; coming over to hug him while Ginny was busy with the rest of the team. "Even if only half of the stories in the Daily Prophet this morning were true, you had way more than your fair share of bad yesterday."

Harry nodded. "I'm feeling it more today for sure. We didn't bother reading the news this morning, but if they got the story half right, that's better than usual for something like this. I take it that training hasn't been going too well."

"Worst of the year. Hopefully this will help," Gwenog answered. "Our teams usually have a much stronger bond than most of the other teams in the league, but the one downside of that is how easy it is to throw all of the players off their game when something bad happens to one of us."

"I'd say that's a fair trade off for all of that love," Harry countered; nodding toward the other Witches. "Is there anything I can do to help Ginny while she's waiting for her eye to heal? She was already talking about us doing Seeker duels at home, but even though they didn't specifically say that she couldn't, I doubt the Healers would want her doing that for at least a few days."

"She shouldn't," Gwenog agreed. "Let her study, or do that with her so she doesn't have to do much reading. I don't want her doing any workouts at all, but going for walks or other light activity would help. Any chance you can help speed up the healing?"

Harry shrugged. "I'll do what I can, but that's going to need to wait for a few days too." He smiled wryly at the look on Gwenog's face. "I know," he said quietly so only she'd hear him, "but everybody has their limits, and Ginny wasn't the only one to be pushed past them yesterday. I don't think the bad guys need to know just how close they came to winning, though, so let's keep this between us."

Gwenog hugged him again. "We can do that," she promised.

Glynnis only allowed Ginny and Harry to stay for fifteen minutes, and then they moved on to Auror Headquarters while the Harpies got back to work. Emma and Christine were busy interviewing two of their prisoners, so after visiting with a few of the Aurors who came out of their cubicles to see them, they went into the observation room, and sat down to watch. Susan was the only other Auror in the room, and had welcomed both of them with hugs.

"Have I missed much this morning?" Harry asked her.

Susan laughed. "Compared to yesterday; no. It has been a lot more exciting than a normal Thursday, though. The Healers at St. Mungo's have a bit more work to do this morning after your trainees had to blast Rabastan when he attempted to steal a wand from one of the Witches working on him. I guess that all the work they'd done on that hand was for naught after Natalie stopped him from doing that, and the body-bind that Dennis put him in did a bit more damage."

"Serves him right," Ginny said unsympathetically.

"What was really dumb about it was that he wasn't nearly healed enough yet to even get out of bed, let alone what trying to apparate would have done to him. In other news from the hospital, the Werewolves who've changed back are being treated, and will be on Wolfsbane now too. Along with the four prisoners who were released to us yesterday, the Healers have cleared six more this morning, and they're either here at the Ministry now, or being transferred. Nathan's coordinating that for Emma." She waved toward the two prisoners in the other room. "In case you don't recognize them, Elrod and Bertie Avery were two of the attackers at the cemetery. They're not being very cooperative, but I'd say that's because they're more afraid of their family than they are of us, so Emma and Christine won't likely get anything important out of them."

Harry was sure that she was right about that, and it seemed that their enemies had found a successful new recruiting technique. The poorest and most desperate members of their families were willing to do anything to get money, and while they may or may not be loyal to the cause, they did believe without a doubt that betrayal would be a death sentence for them. The biggest benefit there was that the family leaders did not have to put their own lives on the line for the cause.

"We're going to need to find a way to get around what they're doing," he said thoughtfully. "There are a lot of poor Witches and Wizards for the rich old pureblood families to exploit, and most of them would never get involved in things like this on their own. I feel sorry for them."

"And it's not exactly like refusing the offer is really an option either," Ginny added. "They don't take no for an answer."

Harry leaned close so he could hug and kiss her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. For what?"

"For the idea," he explained; nodding toward the interview room. "There's a very good chance that they've been given one or more object lessons to keep them in line."

"It's a great idea," Susan said enthusiastically. "We can check for unsolved murders and missing persons reports; looking for the usual family names."

"Look for accidental deaths in those families too," Ginny suggested. "There's always a chance that something was missed – especially since we're talking about Witches and Wizards from very poor families."

They continued talking about that, and Susan finished giving Harry and Ginny the update on what else was going on around Auror Headquarters while they waited for Emma and Christine. A half hour later, Christine led Ginny away to take care of her interview, report, and memory retrieval, and Emma decided to have Harry sit in with her for the next interview. The Wizard and Witch that had replaced the Averys in the interview room both looked pale and sickly. The bandages they each sported had nothing to do with that, though. They were two of the Werewolves that had been captured at the Cemetery, and when they saw Harry, they glared at him with feral hatred; along with just a touch of stunned disbelief that he had survived their attack. Emma handed Harry two files after they sat down; and he opened the first and began reading while she started the interview.

"Good morning, Mr. Toots; Ms. Finch," she began; nodding to each of them in turn. "Would you prefer that we keep this formal, or should I call you Andy and Fannie?"

"It doesn't matter what you call us," Andy told her. "You're dead." He lunged across the table with surprising speed; his hands reaching out to slash at Emma's throat. Harry lashed out instantly, putting a full body-bind on him, and then not-so-gently throwing him back into his chair.

"Don't even think about it," he warned Fannie.

"Thanks, Harry," Emma said with a warm smile for him before turning back to Andy and Fannie. "You're not getting off to a very good start here," she told Andy. "If you try things like that in Azkaban, you'll be in for a bad time. The guards won't even be your biggest problem. We've heard that Fenrir Greyback runs the Werewolves there, and he's not the sort you want to cross."

"I'd say they've heard of him," Harry murmured; going back to reading the files. He left Andy in the full body-bind.

"Seems so," Emma agreed. "Let's get started – again."

Andy and Fannie wouldn't answer any of Emma's questions, but Harry learned a fair bit about them; first from their files, and then from their non-verbal reactions during the hour or so they spent together. They'd been the first two Werewolves to be identified yesterday, so their Ministry and school records had been pulled. They were more than ten years apart in age, but they had the common connection of having been severely bullied at Hogwarts; each of them with dozens of notes in their files that documented what was probably only a small percentage of the incidents. Their adult lives hadn't gone any better. They'd both been victims of robbery, Andy had been criminally assaulted on a number of occasions over the years, and they'd both been loners, working hard, menial jobs, and barely getting by despite the fact that they'd both also been fairly accomplished students.

When Emma went through their school records, Harry had seen hatred and shame in their faces and eyes, and that didn't change as she discussed their careers and different places they'd worked and lived. Their reaction to Emma's recap of the robberies and assaults was very different. Both of them had vicious, smug expressions as they were asked about each of the incidents. When they were asked to talk about when they'd been bitten, and who'd done it to them, the strongest impression that Harry got from them was that they revered whomever that was. He was also fairly sure that their pack leader was the same person, since he didn't detect a difference in their reactions even though they didn't answer that question either.

"What do you think?" Emma asked him. Andy and Fannie had been taken away, and they'd joined Susan, Ginny, and Christine in the observation room.

"I think that we've got a lot of work ahead of us. The Witches and Wizards involved in this may have never gotten into any serious trouble before, but I'm sure that those two have done some very bad things."

"With the moral of their story being that you should never bully and torment a future Werewolf?" Susan guessed, and Harry nodded.

"That's where I'd start looking into them – with finding out whether anything has happened to the Witches and Wizards they've got so many reasons to hate."

"Then when we've finished up with all of the interviews and trials, that's what you'll be working on," Emma advised him. "Beast Division may want to get involved too, but you, Neville, Dennis, and Natalie will work on putting that Werewolf pack out of business."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ginny asked; putting an arm around Harry. "At least you'll have two weeks where I shouldn't have to worry about you too much."

"We're breaking for lunch," Emma advised them. "If you're still up to it, Harry, I'd like you to continue watching the afternoon interviews in here, and you can get your reports done while you do that too. It'll probably take all weekend, and some late nights, but we're going to try and get through talking with all of the prisoners by Monday morning, and then get started on bringing them to trial before the Wizengamot."

"This afternoon won't be a problem, and I'll help out as much as I can," Harry promised.

"Unless we catch you overdoing it," Christine warned. "You really don't want to try that."

Harry took Ginny out for lunch at the Leaky, and then she decided to go and spend the afternoon with Molly and Victoire while Harry was busy at Auror Headquarters. The afternoon interviews didn't go very well, and anything they did learn came strictly from their own investigations into each Witch, Wizard, and Werewolf, and the more subtle clues gathered from observing their uncooperative prisoners.

After leaving the Ministry for the day, Harry went to the Burrow, where he and Ginny stayed to have dinner with their parents, Bill, Fleur, and Victoire. They then spent a quiet evening at home that included some quality time for two that was gentle, sweet, and very therapeutic. Sleeping in late was an option, so Harry didn't go into work until shortly after nine, and he spent another uneventful day observing interviews and taking notes. Ginny had picked up Teddy and Victoire in the afternoon, and they kept both kids overnight; taking advantage of the chance to spend the extra time with their Godson and niece.

Harry was still working at Auror Headquarters all weekend, though he went in later than normal each morning, and was home by dinnertime to spend the evenings with Ginny. The only progress they made at work all weekend was making a deal with one of the Werewolves. 'Call me Dodger' Bob Rodgers didn't look anything like Mundungus Fletcher, but he certainly acted very much like him. He'd been the only Werewolf captured in the St. Mungo's raid, and was definitely looking out for number one, instead of for the pack like all of the other Werewolves had been doing. While his information was fairly sketchy, and he likely didn't tell them as much as he knew, it was also clear by the time they were finished interviewing him that he wasn't very highly placed in his pack. It did give Harry a place to start, though, and that was worth cutting him a deal for.

Harry, Emma, and Christine had spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday interviewing Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange, but other than keeping them fairly entertained with their derisive insults and promises of retribution, they stayed true to form, and refused to actually answer any questions about the breakout, what they'd been doing and where they'd been living for the past month, or anything about the attacks at the cemetery, Minister's party, and St. Mungo's.

Ginny had the bandages over her eye taken off on Sunday afternoon, and though he made her take it easy, she did convince Harry to have a short Seeker duel with her after dinner before spending the rest of the evening wrapping up their weekend with another few hours of one-on-one therapy. They were both back to work on Monday, and while Ginny was soon back up to full-speed workouts, Harry's light-duty time was being enforced, and he spent the next two weeks on guard duty. The good news with that was that he was home fairly early each day, and that allowed him to take care of Ginny while she focused on getting ready for her game against the Wanderers. He had the weekend off, and took Teddy to the game, where they watched Ginny put an end to the speculation that had been rampant in the news suggesting that she might not be able to play the game anymore after such serious injuries. The game only lasted two hours and nineteen minutes; the Harpies won by a score of four hundred and sixty to thirty; and Ginny emphatically silenced her critics with another stellar match, and game-ending catch.

The most exciting event of the next week, at least for the Weasley clan, was the arrival of the newest member of the family on Tuesday afternoon. Molly Weasley was born at three-oh-seven in the afternoon; a healthy, red-headed, eight pounds, two ounces beauty. Both sets of Grandparents, and Victoire, had been at St. Mungo's since shortly after Audrey had gone into labor, but the aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends had waited until after work, or after dinner to stop by to meet her and congratulate Percy and Audrey. Harry and Ginny had gone there straight from work, and Ron and Hermione had come along with Harry from the Ministry.

"This joke was pre-approved by Hermione Granger," Ron advised everyone after Percy had unwrapped the present Ron had given him – a copy of 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fatherhood'.

"I think it's a brilliant gift," Percy told him seriously; though he was laughing along with everyone else too. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't mind borrowing it after you've finished reading it," Bill told him. "Maybe it'll help me too – especially if there's help for babies and toddlers."

"You're doing just fine," Fleur assured him, "and so will Percy."

Audrey and Molly were having a little nap, so Percy had come out to the waiting room for a visit. Ron and George were both having some fun with their by-the-rules brother, but Harry was glad to see that Ron was staying far away from his usual idea of baby and parent humor, and keeping Hermione happy by doing that. Getting a turn to meet their new niece ended up taking quite a while, and most of the members of both families went out for dinner at the Leaky together. It was heading toward eight o'clock by the time that Harry and Ginny were invited in to see Molly, and Audrey smiled tiredly as she handed her baby to Ginny.

"No wonder that you're the most popular patient in St. Mungo's today," Ginny told her niece. "You're beautiful." She leaned over to hug Audrey. "If you ever decide to try it, now you know that you'd make a gorgeous redhead," she joked.

"Maybe," Audrey agreed, "but I'm not sure that I could ever try something that radical. I haven't even changed my hair style since graduating Hogwarts."

"Mum told us that you're both doing fine," Harry said as he took a turn hugging Audrey. "You look like you're ready for another nap, though."

"I'm getting there, but we didn't want to keep everyone waiting even longer to see Molly, and I can rest after visiting hours are done for the night."

Harry handed her the present they'd brought for Molly, and then stepped back and put his arms around Ginny and Molly; hugging both of them gently. "I wonder if you're cuddling a future Minister of Magic?" he asked quietly; returning the smile that Percy flashed at them in response to that comment.

"Well, it wouldn't be as brilliant as having her grow up to be a future Harpies Quidditch star, but I guess that would be pretty great too," Ginny countered.

"You're not exactly picking safe careers for her," Audrey told them. "I'm surprised you haven't suggested Auror too. Bill, Charlie, and George all think that Molly would love their jobs."

"Ron might suggest it, but I hope she does something she loves when she grows up."

They didn't stay long, and after more hugs and kisses, they left for home after another short visit in the waiting room. Ginny had homework to get done, and while everyone in the family was just as excited about Molly as they'd been when Victoire was born, things were quite a bit different this time. Over the next week and a half, Harry and Ginny only saw their new niece one time, and while their own work schedules didn't leave them much time for visiting, they also needed to be part of the solution when Molly and Arthur advised all of their kids that Audrey was being a bit overwhelmed by the combined families – especially since Percy was right back to working his usual long days with the Minister.

Ginny was working hard to get ready for her game against the Arrows, and while Harry helped as much as he could with Seeker duels and doing a little extra work around the house, by Friday, he was finished with guard duty, and started working in earnest on the Werewolf pack case that he, Neville, and their trainees had been assigned. That investigation hadn't completely been on hold while he'd been recovering, and they'd all been shuttling prisoners back and forth between the Ministry and Azkaban; and he had a lot of new information to study over the weekend before having their first planning meeting on Monday morning. He was in the office early, and as lead on the case, had files ready for Neville, Dennis, and Natalie when they joined him in his cubicle.

"The Hogwarts Professors were able to put names to quite a few of the faces from the memories they all reviewed from Ginny and I," he began. "We're going to get started with just three of those people – Davey Dinkins, Sally Stebbins, and Melvin Smoot."

"Also known a Glimmer, Fyre, and Phantom," Natalie added. "The nicknames are way cooler than their pictures. Why do you want to start with them?"

"They're the pack leaders," Neville answered; and Harry nodded.

"I'm sure that Davey Dinkins is Glimmer," he explained. "He was the one that the other Werewolves followed at the Cemetery, and while I can't be quite as sure about the other two, what we've dug up on Davey so far strongly suggests that Sally and Melvin are Fyre and Phantom."

"Do you have a theory about how, as one of my Muggle-born friends would say, a geek like Davey Dinkins could possibly end up as a Werewolf pack leader, Harry?" Dennis asked. He was reading through the file too, and tapped the page. "His nickname at Hogwarts was 'the Dweeb'."

"Actually, I do. When you've had a chance to read through the entire file, you'll see that every member who has been identified so far is a lot like Davey Dinkins, and like all of the Werewolves we've captured so far."

"You think that he's been targeting other Witches and Wizards like him?" Natalie surmised, and Harry nodded again.

"I think they're all doing that now," he agreed; his expression serious. "We're going to work on this from two angles. Davey and Melvin work together, and Sally lives with Davey, so we should be able to handle surveillance on them ourselves, but I also want to track down every Witch and Wizard who in any way bullied or hurt them, and find out whether anything has happened to them."

"How do you want to do that to start with?" Neville wanted to know.

"Dennis and I will do the groundwork, and get the stakeouts planned and set up. That'll probably take a couple of days, so while we're doing that, you and Natalie can start checking up on the Hogwarts bullies, those assault and robbery cases, and also look for any unsolved cases or accidents that involve anyone living in the areas where they live and work. I know there's nothing in the records to justify doing that, but I've got a strong feeling about this, and I don't think we're going to like what we find out."

"So that's what Ron means," Dennis joked; referring to the 'I hate it when you get those feelings' comments he'd heard from Ron on several occasions already since starting with the Aurors.

"What about checking Muggle cases?" Natalie suggested.

Harry shrugged. "That's possible, but I haven't seen anything in their files to suggest they have very much interaction with Muggles. That is something we should watch out for with other pack members, if they either grew up in Muggle homes, or have a lot of interaction with Muggles now."

They continued to discuss the case for nearly an hour, and then Harry and Dennis left to scout their target's homes and workplaces while Neville and Natalie got to work on what was, at least at first, a paper chase. Every case was different, but the pieces of this one began coming together right from the start, and nearly everything they were learning about Glimmer and his pack wasn't good at all. The length of the list of possible victims was surprising, and while the Werewolves had been very careful to cover their tracks, now that the Aurors were looking at those cases from a new perspective, they had made mistakes that were, from their new point of view, quite easy to see.

Harry, Neville, Dennis, and Natalie worked through the weekend, and by then, Harry and Dennis were on the night shift half of their surveillance, so they were both able to go to the Harpies-Arrows match on Saturday. The Arrows had finally gotten a few Firebolts, but the players using them were still months behind the Harpies players in experience, and the new brooms really only made a difference for their Seeker. The Arrows also found out that their new rookie Keeper, Kevin Whitby, was at a distinct disadvantage to the Harpies, in no small part thanks to Demelza's and Ginny's years of experience playing against him at Hogwarts. The game lasted just over four hours, mostly because of the Seeker duel, but the Harpies won handily by a score of five hundred and fifty to seventy.

While spending the rest of the weekend with Ginny would have been a lot more fun, with their case developing so quickly, that wasn't an option, and on top of the night surveillances, Harry was putting in a lot of extra hours. When Neville and Natalie found out that the pack had a 'recruiting drive' planned for Friday night – the next full moon – they decided that waiting to finish their investigation wasn't an option. Emma quietly started bringing the other Aurors in on the case, and they all spent most of Wednesday and Thursday getting ready to round up all of the members of the pack in one fast, coordinated sweep on Friday morning.

"You okay, Harry?" Dennis asked. They'd been settled in to their stakeout of Davey and Sally – Glimmer and Fyre – for about an hour, and Harry had been even less talkative than usual.

"I'm fine. It's Bill's birthday today, and I'd rather be at his party with Ginny right now, but thinking about Bill, and Remus, reminds me of why we're out here instead. Keeping this lot from hurting anyone else is personal for me."

"It's personal for the Witches and Wizards on their hit list for tomorrow night too," Dennis reminded him, "or it will be when they find out."

"I wonder how many of them would have been happy to join the pack?" Harry asked, and Dennis shrugged.

"I don't know, but even if some of them would have ended up like Davey, Sally, and the others, maybe now, once the story's out, they'll figure out that becoming something darker and worse than the people who've hurt them is not the answer."

Harry had agreed with that, and had been thinking the same thing over the past month – since interviewing the Werewolves they'd captured on Hallowe'en. Davey and Sally had a meeting with Phantom and some of the other senior members of the pack late in the evening, but after that, Harry and Dennis had a lot of time to think and talk quietly together while they watched the house through the early hours of Friday morning. Neville and Natalie joined them shortly before dawn, and they were all in position, and ready to go, when Davey and Sally emerged from their home; heading out to work.

"Davey Dinkins and Sally Stebbins, you're under arrest," Harry announced as he took his cloak off and confronted the pair; putting up an anti-apparition shield at the same time. "Surrender your wands, and come with us, please."

Davey and Sally both stepped back toward the house; drawing their wands, and putting up shields as they watched Neville, Dennis, and Natalie appear and join Harry. He sighed silently; knowing that they likely would fight, even though he always hoped their suspects wouldn't. "Try not to hurt them," he said at the same time that he blasted Davey's shield. Sally had been trying to open the door, but one of Natalie's jobs had been to seal that escape route. Davey was knocked into her by the force of Harry's attack; and they both stumbled against the door. Davey only managed to fire off one counter-attack before Dennis disarmed him; and Neville put him in a full-body bind. Sally screamed at them in anger, and lashed out with a flurry of spells, but while Harry met those attacks, Neville, Natalie, and Dennis counter-attacked, and soon had her bound and disarmed too.

"They're both fine," Natalie advised Harry after checking their prisoners out. "Davey had a small flashover burn on his wand hand, but I took care of it already."

"Thanks, Natalie. Seal the house, and then we'll take them to Headquarters. Hopefully the other arrests will go as well."

"Other arrests?" Davey blurted out; and Harry nodded.

"We're putting your pack out of business, Glimmer," he explained. "You made a big mistake getting involved with the Lestranges and their lot, and everything you all tried to do on Hallowe'en. I have no idea what made you think that we'd let you go back to business as usual like you were planning to do tonight."

"It's just an Auror trick," Sally warned Davey. "He's lying."

Harry shook his head; and Neville laughed. "You have got to work on your media image, mate. After this many years, you'd think that everyone would know that you don't lie."

"They'll know that I wasn't soon enough. You and Natalie can take Sally, and Dennis and I will take Davey with us. Hopefully we won't be stuck at the back of the receiving line when we get to Headquarters."

The Ministry Atrium was packed by the time they arrived, and word that something big was going on with the Aurors had obviously gotten out, so it took them nearly fifteen minutes to get through the crowd, clear security, and make their way to Auror Headquarters. There were quite a few groups of Aurors and prisoners lined up already, but it looked like only about half of the teams were back so far. They got in line too, and Harry guessed that they'd be there for a while before it would be their turn to get Davey's and Sally's initial arrest paperwork processed.

"Any problems, Harry?" Ron asked. He and Josh joined them in line, along with their prisoner, Melvin Smoot.

"They didn't want to come willingly, but we're all okay." He nodded toward the area where a Medi-Witch and two Medi-Wizards were set up to treat or triage any injuries. "It looks like everything's gone to plan so far."

Ron shrugged. "Hopefully. We'll see once the last groups get here. I actually thought we'd be near the last, since Phantom wanted to play first too."

"And gave us a pretty good go of it too," Josh added. "He's got a decent invisibility charm, and had a few pretty good tricks that he threw at us while trying to sneak off, but once he stepped away from behind his shield, it was all over."

"You'd think that a Werewolf would have known that an invisibility shield doesn't mask things like the smell of cologne, the sound of walking, or the sight of footprints," Ron told them.

"He probably thought that you'd be too distracted to notice," Neville suggested.

They talked together, and with some of the other Aurors, while waiting to process their prisoners. By the time they reached the front of the line, the last groups involved in the raids were back, and Harry was relieved to see that there were only a few minor injuries that were treated by the three Healers. Once they'd finished doing the paperwork on Davey and Sally, Harry and Neville took them to one of the interview rooms, ready to get started, while Dennis and Natalie first went to pick up drinks and snacks for all of them before going to the observation room to watch the interview.

"We've got a lot to go over,' Neville began, "but before we get started, you should know that there will be no reduced sentence deals offered to either of you, or to any of the other pack leaders. Your lifetime memberships at Club Azkaban are non-negotiable."

"We wouldn't turn on our pack if you offered us amnesty, and I seriously doubt that the Wizengamot will agree with you regardless of the trumped up charges you've thrown together – especially considering the source," Davey told them; waving meaningfully toward Harry.

"Your involvement in the attempted murders of Harry and Ginny Potter are actually two of the lesser charges against you," Neville advised them.

"I suppose you're going to claim that we were involved in those attacks on Hallowe'en night too," Sally said with a derisive snort. "Good luck proving that."

Neville shrugged. "We've lots of witnesses, and if we're forced to, we'll just let you all change tonight, and compare memories to match you up. The assassination and coupe attempts are life-sentence worthy, but when we add in the murder charges, along with everything else we have on you, I'd say that the chance of you talking your way out of them is zero."

"Big talk," Davey countered derisively. "Since you're so sure, let's get on with it, and see what the Wizengamot has to say about your baseless accusations."

"You might want to reconsider that strategy," Harry told him. "The members of your pack who are already in Azkaban are having a tough go of it, thanks mostly to Fenrir Greyback and his pack."

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Sally asked him. "Get some help boys – you both suck at playing the bad Auror."

"If you're not scared, you should be," Harry countered. "Even though everyone in your pack has done some very bad things, there is a big difference between you and Greyback and his lot. Before you decide on whether to cooperate or not, think about what spending the rest of your lives under the control of the worst bullies you could ever imagine will be like, and Greyback is a whole lot worse than that. Your pack mates certainly won't thank you for giving them that kind of future."

"Let's start with the murder of your favorite Hogwarts bully," Neville told Davey; holding up a crime scene photograph. "We'll get to the evidence in a moment, but what I'd personally really like to know is how you can possibly justify turning yourself, and your pack mates, into something that's even worse than your enemies ever were."

"They all had it coming to them," Sally shot back, and Neville shook his head sadly. He held up another picture, and showed it to her.

"If this Witch deserved what you did to her for the crime of making up your Hogwarts nickname and helping to bully you for seven years, then what do you deserve for this? What price should you pay for leaving her two kids without a mother? It must be nice to know that you'll get a fair trial, and don't need to worry about being condemned to such a sentence."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Davey told him venomously.

"Of course not," Neville answered scornfully. "Harry and I couldn't possibly understand, since we were never tortured and abused by both Professors and students; had Death Eaters chasing after us for most of our teenage years; or had Dark Witches, Wizards, and Werewolves try to kill us. Some of the nicknames we were given were a lot worse than 'Davey the Dweeb' or 'Super Sally' too, but instead of comparing notes on who had the worst Hogwarts years, let's continue."

Davey and Sally didn't cooperate; and neither did Phantom; or any of the other members of the pack. On Friday night, they allowed all of them to turn while safely in their cells, and that quickly gave them the proof they needed for which Hallowe'en attack each Werewolf had been involved in. Harry, Neville, Dennis, and Natalie spent the weekend doing interviews; and working with Emma and some of the other Aurors to put the finishing touches on each prisoner's case. By Monday morning, they were ready to begin filing charges, and kept the Wizengamot busy all day with doing that, setting court dates, and then shuttling groups of prisoners to Azkaban.

"Are you done with the long days for a while?" Ginny asked when she welcomed Harry home with a long, tender hug and kiss on Monday evening.

"Dennis and Natalie will be on guard duty for the next couple of weeks, and Neville and I will mostly be in the office, unless anything else comes up," he answered. "We're going to keep working on our training program, and probably be helping out with the cases that Nathan, Christine, and the others are working on."

"That sounds like a maybe," Ginny joked; taking his hand and leading him toward the kitchen. "I've kept dinner warm so we could eat together, and finished my studying already." She squeezed his hand and smiled brightly at him. "You've been working way too many hours, and we are seriously overdue for some you and me time."

Ginny's plan worked for Harry, and the rest of the week was a lot of fun for both of them. He was glad to have time to take care of her, and they both loved spending every evening together, whether that was studying, having Seeker duels, or some quality, after-curfew play time for two. It was too cold to take Teddy to the game on Saturday, but Harry never had a problem finding willing volunteers to go along, and this time, since Ron was working with Josh, Hermione came to the game with him.

"That's Geoffrey Hooper," Hermione said as they watched the Magpies fly around the stadium. "Did he ever even play a game for Gryffindor? I remember he was Ginny's reserve Keeper the year she was team Captain."

"He didn't," Harry confirmed. "The Magpies did an open tryout this year; Geoffrey won their reserve team spot, and then earned the team Keeper spot during training camp. It was a pretty big story for a week or so back in July."

Hermione nodded. "Maybe I should at least glance at the sports section headlines once in a while. The Magpies have a few Firestorms. How do you think they'll do?"

"We'll see, but probably not very well. Vicky, Demelza, and Ginny will have the Harpies ready to play against Geoffrey, and even though he is helping them, the Magpies aren't much better than the Cannons this season."

The Harpies proved his assessment was accurate right from the start of the game, it was over in just an hour and thirty-one minutes, and even then, Harry was sure that Ginny had needed to hold back. Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza didn't do that, and put twenty-four goals past Geoffrey on the way to their three-hundred and ninety to ten win. While Ginny was busy with the usual post-game work, Arthur and Molly had everyone in their group back to the Burrow for hot drinks and snacks. Ginny joined them there after work, and she, Harry, and Hermione stayed for dinner. They were still there when Ron finished work, and after using his mirror to check in with Hermione, he stopped by too.

"Thanks for saving me an extra trip," he told Harry. "The rest of your weekend off is cancelled. We've got a meeting at Headquarters for eight o'clock in the morning."

"You're ready to wrap up your case?" Harry surmised, and Ron nodded.

"Ours; and the rest of the group too. I personally think that Emma's going ahead now because of the parents who don't want to be doing stakeouts all through the Christmas holidays – not that I'm complaining. Freezing for twelve or thirteen hours a day isn't my idea of fun either."

Harry laughed. "That works for me too, since Neville and I expected that Emma would have us helping out with those stakeouts by next weekend at the latest. Is everyone else being called in too?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. We'll bring everyone up to speed, and get everything set up tomorrow, and then we'll do the sweep on Monday morning."

"That'll mess up the guard duty schedule for Dennis and Natalie," Harry pointed out, and Ron shrugged.

"I'm sure Emma will work that out too. She can always use Hit Wizards and Witches for the morning pickup while we're all busy."

Molly made up a plate of leftovers for Ron, and they sat around the table, mostly listening to him tell Harry the latest on the case he and Josh had been working on while he ate. Harry and Ginny left for home by shortly after nine, and while a little play time was part of their getting ready for bed routine, they didn't stay up late, and Harry was up early and left Ginny to sleep in while he went to Auror Headquarters. Emma was the only person there when he arrived, and they sat and talked in her cubicle while he read over the summary she had ready for everyone, and she continued working on the plans she was putting together for the Monday morning raids.

"I can't help but feel sorry for most of this lot," Harry told her as he finished reading the last of the reports. "It's the leaders of their families who should be going to prison for exploiting them."

"I know," Emma agreed, "but unless we can get them to talk, we've got nothing on the Witches and Wizards who were behind those Hallowe'en attacks. We'll see how well they can still recruit once we've rounded up this group, though."

"We didn't see this coming," Harry pointed out, "and I won't be surprised if they try something completely different next time."

"The sad part of that being the fact that there will, inevitably, be a next time."

"Unfortunately," Harry agreed.

When she was ready, Harry helped Emma get the conference room set up, and by eight o'clock, all of the Aurors and trainees were there, and they got to work. It wasn't a tough day by any means, but they did all keep busy, and it was past six by the time they had everything set up, and everyone was ready to go for morning. Harry went straight home, had dinner with Ginny, and they spent a quiet evening together before again turning in early. He needed to be on his way again before seven, and he met up with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie in Diagon Alley before moving on to the building they were helping to secure for the capture that Josh and Ron were leading.

Josh and Ron had been assigned the cases of Tyrone and Vincenza Rosier. The two Wizards lived in the same run-down building with their families, though their flats were on different levels. There were a handful of entrances, so Josh and Ron had the largest group of Aurors and trainees to help them with the arrests. Harry and Dennis, and Neville and Natalie made their way into the building, and were covering two of the rear exits from the ground level lobby. They were able to stay hidden when Josh and Ron arrested Tyrone, but they were still dealing with him when Vincenza walked out of the lift along with another Wizard and Witch. He didn't hesitate when he saw his cousin in custody; grabbed the young Witch and put up a shield before pointing his wand threateningly at her throat. Staying close to the wall, and keeping his hostage between himself and the Aurors in the Lobby, he began moving toward Neville and Natalie; though they were still hidden by invisibility charms.

"Get down!" Josh told the other Wizard; who immediately dropped to the floor. "Vincenza Rosier, you're under arrest. Don't make things worse than they already are for you."

"Let me go, or she's dead," Vincenza shouted; his expression clearly announcing that he was not making an idle threat.

Harry didn't hesitate either, and sent a cutting curse at the man that was so precise that it sliced the other Wizard's wand in two while barely grazing both his knuckles and right shoulder, while completely missing the young Witch. His counter-attack had been even more impressive for the fact that his spell had needed to neatly slice through Vincenza's shield first before hitting his wand. He followed that up with a shield that he slammed into place between Vincenza and his hostage; forcing the two of them apart. That broke Vincenza's arm just below the elbow, and forced him to let go of his hostage. His shout of pain from that injury turned into a near-scream when Neville, Natalie, and Dennis all hit him with different spells that put a quick end to his escape attempt. The now-freed young Witch was wide-eyed and shaking violently, and Natalie took care of her; leaving the guys to deal with their prisoners.

"Nice move that," Ron complimented Harry. "I'd have likely taken his arm off if I'd tried that. When I saw you point your wand at him, for a second, I thought that maybe you were going to shoot the hostage, like in that Speed movie that Hermione gave me."

Harry grinned at him. "You'd have had to be the hostage for that to be the same mate, but even then, I probably wouldn't have tried that – Hermione would seriously blast me if I did."

"Unless she was mad at me at the time," Ron suggested. "How is he?" he asked Neville.

"Apparating to the Ministry won't be fun for him, but the Healers should be able to fix him up at Auror Headquarters," Neville answered. "Let's get them both ready to move, and then Natalie and I are supposed to go talk with their families. We don't want those kids finding out about their fathers on the WWN or through the building grapevine here. This will be hard enough on them."

That took a few minutes, mostly because Josh and Natalie needed to get some information from their two unexpected witnesses, though they were both very reluctant about getting involved. Harry was out of the loop an hour or so after getting back to Headquarters; once Vincenza had been treated by the Healers, and Josh and Ron took their two prisoners into one of the interview rooms. Dennis was back on guard duty after that, so Harry filled out his report for Emma, and once Neville had done the same; they spent the rest of the day working ahead on developing their training program. They were wrapping up for the day when Christine stopped in to see Harry.

"How'd things go with the Selwyns?" he asked. Christine, Nathan, and Susan had been investigating Lyle and Cyvonne Selwyn. He knew that it had been hard on Christine because Cyvonne was a single mother of two, and her cousin, Lyle, and his wife, Tina, had three children – all of them still quite young.

"They both surrendered, but it was really tough today," she answered with a regretful sigh. "I don't know how she'll manage, but Tina's going to take care of all five kids."

"Madeline Starkey's got that victim support group," Harry reminded her. "This is a bit different, but if you think they'd accept the offer, I'm sure that Madeline would want to help."

"I'm not sure whether I should do that, but I'll keep it in mind. Madeline mostly works with victim families; and I wouldn't want to put any of them in danger."

"That's true," Harry conceded. "You've decided to keep an eye on them, though, so if there's anything you need that Ginny and I can help with, let me know."

"Thanks, Harry. I will. Speaking of help, though, I stopped by to ask you to talk with Ginny about whether she'd have any time to spend with Dawn over the holidays. I know she's got two games to play, and we'll all be busy, so I thought that maybe we could work that out before the kids get home."

"I'll do that tonight, and get back to you," Harry promised. "I need to get the tickets to you for the game on the twenty-second too. There are two extra tickets in case Jeremy and Kate want to bring dates or friends."

"That will probably be dates," Christine advised him. "I'm fairly sure that Kate's best friend, Pauline, has finally caught Jeremy, and since Kate's boyfriend is Ravenclaw's Seeker, I'll take a wild guess that he'll jump at the chance to see Ginny play."

"I thought that Kate wasn't all that interested in Quidditch."

Christine laughed. "She's not, but apparently she likes Aaron enough to overlook his little Quidditch fanatic flaw."

"That sounds a lot like what Hermione thought about Quidditch players in general when we were at Hogwarts."

Standing up; Christine nodded. "That puts Kate in pretty good company, and she'd be doing well if she grows up to be as amazing as Hermione too. I'm going to get out of here. Have a good night, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You too," Harry answered. Christine left; and Harry spent another ten minutes working at his desk before heading for home too. Ginny was already there, and after welcoming him home, she put him to work helping out with making dinner. They compared work notes first, and were sitting down to eat by the time he got around to passing on Christine's request.

"We've got so much on the go, I don't know when I can do that," Ginny told him as she quickly thought through their schedules for those two weeks. "The first weekend is out, except for the time you'll spend with them during the game. We've got the family Christmas at the Burrow after the game, and have Teddy with us for the rest of the weekend before he and Andromeda go away for Christmas. We're losing three training days for Christmas and New Year's Day, so I need to work harder the other days to get ready for the game against the Prides. Meghan always plays well against us, and Erin may not have won any of our matchups yet, but I really have to earn those wins against her."

"Do you think that Glynnis and Gwenog would consider a lunch with the Harpies, and maybe a little play time before or after? You could all invite one or two kids, and make it like a mini version of that training day that Ron and I did with the Cannons."

"That's an idea," Ginny agreed. "I'll ask them tomorrow and see what they think. "I'd still like to do something just with Dawn and Kate, but we may just have to work that out after they're home."

"Christine told me that Jeremy and Kate will probably both have dates for the Harpies-Wasps game. Apparently, I haven't been keeping up with the latest Hogwarts news; since I didn't know that either of them were doing any serious dating."

"Dawn keeps me up-to-date, so I knew. Kate's boyfriend, Aaron, is the nephew of Aidan Lynch, and there are more than a few broken hearts around Hogwarts now that he's off the market."

"His uncle was the Seeker for the Irish National team at the ninety-four Quidditch World Cup," Harry said, and Ginny nodded.

"Yeah. He wasn't as good as Viktor, but he did win the rest of his matchups that year to help Ireland get to the final match." She grinned at Harry. "In Jeremy's case, it seems that he's been nearly as dense as you were when we were in school."

"I'd give him more credit than that," Harry countered; grinning too. "He couldn't possibly be nearly as bad at dating as I was back then."

"That's true," Ginny agreed amiably, "You did catch on eventually, though, and I'm sure Jeremy will too. While we've got some time, let's go over the shopping plans for this weekend. I'll need to fit in some work time too, but it'd be nice if we could get all of the gift buying done so I can concentrate on getting ready for our game against the Wasps."

They talked about that while finishing their meal, and then Ginny started working on her game study while Harry cleaned up. The workload at Auror Headquarters lightened up for him, but Harry did still put in long days as he took care of Ginny, did a couple of Seeker duels with her, and handled most of the work around the house for the rest of the week. The only real break they took was to make a quick trip to Romania on Wednesday after work to take Charlie, Julianne, Molly, and Arthur out to dinner to celebrate Charlie's twenty-ninth birthday. By Friday night, they were both ready to mostly take a couple of days off for a little fun time.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked Hermione as she welcomed her with a hug. She and Harry had only been at the Leaky long enough to have a short visit with Hannah, Neville, and Alice before Hermione joined them.

"He's gone off to play in Hogsmeade with George; supposedly because they're going to be so busy there with the last Hogsmeade weekend rush before the Christmas break."

"He's probably been plotting his shopping escape for weeks," Ginny countered; and Hermione nodded.

"I'm sure you're right about that, but he's only off the hook for today. He'll definitely be helping me tomorrow – or else. Did you know about this?" she asked Harry as she moved on to hug him next.

"Not this time, though I'm not surprised either. You look like you're as ready for a break as we are. Tough week at work?"

"Just frustrating," Hermione answered. "Christmas isn't exactly a good time of year for a lot of House Elves. Their masters make them work even harder than usual, and treat their pets better."

"Maybe," Neville agreed, "but most of them are better off than they were before you started at the Ministry."

"Which, by comparison, means that they'll have a better Christmas this year than they would have," Hannah added. "I've got to get back to work. Would you like something hot to drink before you head out into the cold again?"

"Thanks, but we have a lot to get done, so we should get started," Ginny decided. She and Hermione needed to play with Alice for a few more minutes, but then they led Harry out into Diagon Alley, and began their marathon Christmas shopping adventure.

"Don't you want to go play with the cool new toys while Ginny and I shop for the girl gifts?" Hermione asked Harry.

"I'll do enough of that tomorrow when Ron's with us, and you'll be looking for toys later too for Victoire, Molly, and the other girls you and Ginny need to get presents for."

"Translation – he misses getting to just hang out with two of his favorite girls," Ginny told Hermione.

"I'm sure we all feel that way," Hermione agreed. "It seems like work is always getting in the way of that for one or more of us."

Ginny nodded. "True, but we'll get to spend some extra time together over the holidays. Are you taking much time off?"

"We're taking four day weekends for both holidays in my department, but I'll probably work most of New Year's Eve day. I want everyone else off so they can spend some extra time with their kids and families. Ron's planning on being off then too, but you know that he'll be helping George out at the store whenever he can."

"I'd just like to get through the holidays without Harry and Ron getting tied up with some major case, or getting attacked by anyone. It's like the bad guys are even more miserable than usual during Christmas, and want to share the hate."

Hermione nodded. "We have had more than our share of bad things happen during the holidays, haven't we?"

"I think the last few Christmases have been brilliant," Harry told them. "Let's forget about those little problems from holidays past and see what we can do about making this one even better."

"We can do that," Ginny agreed; sharing a quick hug and kiss with him.

The two Witches happily got on with their shopping, and they spent the morning going through the shops in Diagon Alley while Harry mostly followed them around and provided porter services. They had lunch at the Leaky, and then moved on to their favorite Muggle Mall for the afternoon. An hour or so into their trip around the mall, Harry was following Ginny and Hermione out of a store, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Dudley walking toward them. His cousin was still a very large man, but looked like he was in much better shape than he'd been the last time Harry had seen him – over four years ago now. He was holding hands with a tall, willow-thin young woman, and they both looked very happy – at least until Dudley saw him. Then his smile and step both faltered for a moment before he seemed to visibly force himself to continue walking toward Harry, Ginny, and Hermione.

"Hello Dudley," Harry said when the couple was only a few steps away from them. Hermione and Ginny had moved apart so he could walk between them, and they were obviously leaving it up to him to handle the unexpected encounter. "Been a long time. How are you?"

"Hello. Yeah, it has. I'm good. You?"

Harry smiled. "A fair bit better than the last time I saw you. This is my wife, Ginny. You may remember meeting her once before at your house when she and her family stopped in for a visit. I'm sure you remember Hermione Granger, since she and Ron came to visit more often."

"Of course," Dudley agreed; reluctantly shaking hands with both Witches. "This is my fiancée, Pearl Polkiss. We're to be married next summer."

"You're Piers' sister," Harry said as he held out his hand to her. "I didn't recognize you. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Pearl answered. She didn't look any more comfortable than Dudley did, though that didn't surprise Harry, considering the reputation he likely still had with Dudley's friends. "I'm surprised to see you here. Dudley's Mum and Dad said that you moved away after leaving, um, school."

"I did," Harry agreed, "but we do get to London occasionally. What are you doing these days, Dudley?"

"I've been working at Grunning's since school," Dudley answered.

"He's the best account manager in the company," Pearl advised them proudly. "Everyone says so." She was taller than Harry, and looked down her nose at him in a way that reminded him just a bit too much of his Aunt Petunia. "What kind of work do you do?"

Harry smiled at the sudden look of fear on Dudley's face; and the unspoken plea in his eyes. "I'm in private security," he improvised on the fly. "Ginny works for a sports marketing company, and Hermione is a social worker. She and my friend, and Ginny's brother, Ron, are getting married next summer too. Are you guys out Christmas shopping too?"

"Yeah," Dudley agreed. "We'll be in Majorca at Mum and Dad's place for the holidays, so we need to get the shopping done this weekend."

"Your father's wanted a vacation home there forever. When did they get it?"

"This past spring," Pearl answered excitedly. "We went there for a holiday in the summer, and can't wait to go back."

"I'm sure that you'll have an amazing Christmas there," Harry told her. "We should get back to our running around, Dudley, but let's exchange addresses, and keep in touch now and then, shall we?"

Dudley looked quite happy to do that, though Harry suspected that it was mostly to get their little visit over and done with. They shook hands once more after doing that, and then Harry watched for a few moments while Dudley and Pearl left; neither of them looking back even once. He smiled when Ginny put an arm around his waist to hug him, and she and Hermione were both smiling too when he turned to face them.

"That went surprisingly well," Hermione told him. "Your aunt and uncle likely would've made a scene if they'd been along, but Dudley seemed to be genuinely interested in how you were doing."

"Which would be appalling to his parents," Ginny added. "Pearl looked decidedly unimpressed with us."

Harry laughed. "That was probably all because of my reputation around Little Whinging," he reminded her. "Her brother was one of Dudley's best friends, and helped beat up on me, and I'm sure that she knows all of the stories."

Hermione laughed. "She's probably trying to figure out how you could possibly have ended up with a career in security after being such a juvenile delinquent," she joked.

"Not to mention being the local gang's punching bag for most of my childhood," Harry added; laughing too. He looked over his shoulder again, but Dudley and Pearl must have gone into one of the stores; since they were out of sight. "They seem to be truly happy, and even though we didn't get along, I'm glad for Dudley. Who knows? Maybe we'll even be friends some day."

"Sure," Ginny agreed with a laugh. "You could invite them to one of my games, or have them over for one of our family parties at home or the Burrow. It'd be fun."

Harry and Hermione laughed too; and he held up the piece of paper he was still holding with Dudley's address. "I'll start with a post or two, and see how it goes, but I seriously doubt we'll ever see them stopping in for a visit to our place any time soon."

"Or ever," Hermione told them. "What's next on your shopping list, Ginny?"

The girls got back to the shopping at hand, and Harry mostly followed them around; continuing his porter duties for the rest of the afternoon. Their little visit with Dudley had him thinking a lot about his life with the Dursleys, and it mostly just left him saddened now to know that there were virtually no happy memories of those years. Ginny didn't say much more about Dudley, but she knew what Harry was feeling, and had extra hugs and kisses that helped him through his little bout of sad nostalgia. Ron met them at the Leaky for a late dinner; and then the two couples split up to head home. Harry and Ginny ended their day with a little Quidditch study and gift wrapping session, followed by a very entertaining bath and bedtime routine.

"You shopped all day yesterday and still have that much to get today?" Ron asked Hermione and Ginny incredulously. He and Hermione had come over to Harry and Ginny's for breakfast, and the girls were making their shopping plans for the day. "I thought you'd be nearly done by now."

"We didn't want you to miss out on all of the fun," Ginny told him sweetly. "Do you guys need much time for fiancée and wife gift shopping?"

"Yeah," Ron agreed; suddenly looking hopeful. "We'll need the whole day. You and Hermione go on ahead with the rest of it, and we'll meet you for dinner whenever you're – we're – done."

Ginny laughed. "Nice try. What do you think, Hermione?"

"Let's give them a couple of hours after lunch to do that," she suggested; smiling at the look of disappointment on Ron's face. "It won't be that bad. You and Harry need to get a few more gifts for Teddy, and pick out presents for four brothers, two fathers, and your guy friends."

"Speaking of," Ginny said with a nod; "Hermione and I will take care of those friend gifts for the Witches on all of our lists, so let's make sure we've got all of the names."

"And maybe do a few joint gifts," Hermione suggested.

"Don't you have any guys on your lists that you want us to take care of today?" Harry asked; grinning at Ginny and Hermione; but obviously trying to get Ron going.

"There aren't any guys working for the Harpies," Ginny reminded him, "and we've got the same friends from school and at the Ministry. Maybe Hermione would like some help with her guys, though."

"Thanks a lot," Hermione told Harry and Ginny; trying not to grin too as she put a comforting hand on Ron's arm. "I'm doing family gifts for Scott and Madeline, and Kenneth and his wife. You can help me with Stewart if you want, but I was just going to get him a quill and ink set or a briefcase."

Harry nodded. "You should probably just go with that, though Ron and I would have been happy to pick out something more entertaining for you to give him."

"And likely completely inappropriate for Hermione to give to one of her staff," Ginny added with a laugh.

"More likely we should worry about you picking out gifts like that," Ron shot back. "Dad still blushes any time you or Fleur mention that gift you gave Mum to take along on that birthday holiday a couple of years ago."

He grins a lot too," Harry pointed out, and Ron groaned.

"Stop that. You're talking about our Mum and Dad, mate, and scaring the kids."

Ginny and Hermione got them back on track for the shopping plans, and by the time they'd finished breakfast, and cleaned up, they were organized and ready to go. Their first stop was again Diagon Alley, and Harry and Ron were set free to go shopping for Teddy and the other guys. Looking for toys was more fun, and they spent an entertaining hour trying out the latest toys for young Wizards while picking up the specific, Grandma Andromeda pre-approved gifts. They crossed paths with the girls, and after finding out how little they'd accomplished so far, Hermione took charge of the situation, and she and Ginny managed to help their boys get all of the magical gift buying done before sending those gifts on to their homes and moving on to the Mall in time for lunch.

"I suppose you've got Ginny's shopping all done," Ron said as he and Harry began going around the Mall after they left the food court, and split up with Ginny and Hermione.

"Most of it," he agreed; smiling as Ron gave him the usual look of disapproval. "I want to look for a laptop computer for her. Maybe you should get one for Hermione too."

"I just got her one the Christmas before last," Ron reminded him, and Harry nodded.

"I know, but Hermione told me that the new ones are a lot better than hers. Think about it like the Nimbus brooms – they've always got a newer, better one out every year or two."

"None of which come close to matching the Firestorm," Ron countered. "She does like her computers, though, so it's probably a good idea. Let's go take a look. What else did you get Ginny?"

Harry shrugged. "A television and DVD player for the sitting room; a few movies; and some jewelry. Ginny likes watching Muggle movies as much as you do."

"Taking it easy this year?" Ron joked, and Harry laughed.

"Yeah. I blew the annual budget back in August on her birthday present."

"And then some," Ron agreed.

He'd only been joking about blowing the annual gift budget, but by the time they got out of the computer store, Harry and Ron had both left a fair bit of money, and a very happy salesperson, behind. They found an out of the way place where they could send the two bags home without being noticed by any Muggles, and then started wandering the Mall again in search of a jewelry store.

"I could've bought a truckload of apples for what we paid for those things," Ron groused.

Harry laughed. "Probably, but I'm fairly sure that the Apples we did buy will go over a lot better with the girls. At least Hermione's already got a phone. I'll have to get one for our place so Ginny can get on the internet too. You have to admit that part of the demonstration they gave us was pretty cool."

"Yeah, it was," Ron conceded, "and Hermione's taught me a bit, but I'm lousy at using the keyboard."

"So use magic on it instead," Harry told him with a shrug. "There's the jewelry store. Let's get that done, and then we'll need to meet up with the girls again."

The jewelry store stop was fairly quick, and after getting back together with the girls, it really didn't take them much longer to finish all of their shopping. Ginny needed to get back to her work, so she and Harry went straight home from the Mall, and she got started on that while he made dinner for two. They did a short Seeker duel after eating, and then Ginny went back to her studies until curfew. Work, Quidditch practices, and studying was pretty much their game plan for the week leading into the holidays, and by Friday afternoon, Harry was ready to enjoy the long holiday weekend. Since Ginny was putting in a full day of training, he had stayed and worked at Auror Headquarters all afternoon, though nearly everyone else had left for the day at lunchtime. Emma was one of the few exceptions; and she stopped in to see him on her way home.

"Is this dedication or housework avoidance?" she asked as she stepped into his cubicle.

"I'm caught up with the housework, and this is mostly to keep busy while Ginny's still at work, but I'll be leaving soon too. How was your day?"

"It's year-end," she reminded him. "The season of endless meetings and the annual political and budgetary inter-departmental in-fighting."

"I thought that politics was a year-round sport," Harry joked.

Emma laughed. "It is," she agreed. "Think of year-end as the playoffs. I'll be busy with that next week, but after the New Year, we need to decide what you, Neville, and your trainees will work on next. If you or Neville have any suggestions, let me know."

"If we don't have anything pressing, I was thinking that this would be a good time to have Dennis and Natalie do their training at St. Mungo's," Harry answered. "We've already put it off longer than we should have, and Neville and I could work ahead on whatever case you assign us while they're doing that."

"That works for me. Set it up with St. Mungo's; and I'll get back to you on which case you'll be working next. Now I've got to get out of here, and you should do the same. Have a Merry Christmas, Harry."

"Thank you. Merry Christmas, Emma." Harry got up and hugged his boss good-bye; and then sat down again to finish up what he was working on before clearing his desk; and heading out too. He made it home about fifteen minutes ahead of Ginny, and had time to change, spend a few minutes with Snowstorm and Snowflake, and get their contributions for the family Christmas dinner together and ready to go by the time she joined him in the kitchen.

"Suddenly, I'm seriously wishing that we weren't going to be helping out at the Burrow tonight," Harry advised Ginny after she'd stepped back from the long, rather serious welcome home hug and kiss they'd shared.

"So am I, but we can't help out tomorrow, and I don't want to leave Mum stuck with all of the work to get ready for the family dinner tomorrow night. Is everything ready to go?"

"Not quite," Harry answered. Reaching out to wrap her in his arms again, he pulled her close for another long, fiery kiss, and they were both smiling when he'd leaned back again to look at her. "Okay. Now we're ready."

Ginny laughed, hugged him, and then picked up her purse, and one of the boxes that Harry had packed with food. "It's a good thing that I have game curfew tonight, 'cause we are so going to pick that up where we left off when we get back here later."

Harry gathered up the rest of the load they needed to take along; and they went outside and apparated to the Burrow. The kitchen was filled with the sweet aromas of fresh-baked goodies, and Molly and Arthur were both there to welcome them. Molly already had their light dinner nearly ready, so it wasn't long before they sat down to eat, and Arthur, Harry, and Ginny were kept entertained by Molly's adventures in baking with Victoire stories while they ate and then cleaned up.

"Don't even think about it," Molly warned Arthur when she saw him looking out of the kitchen window. "If we get everything else done, maybe you can go play with your toys tomorrow morning for a while. You're not going to run off tonight, and leave us with all of the work."

Arthur smiled ruefully and sighed. "Yes dear. Where would you like me to start?"

"Charlie and Julianne are staying with Bill and Fleur tomorrow night, but let's get Ginny's old room ready so we have somewhere for Victoire or Molly to have naps, since they'll be here most of the day."

"Audrey and Fleur may want afternoon naps too," Ginny suggested; and Molly nodded.

"They probably will. Let's get two rooms ready, then," she advised Arthur. "You and Harry already know what else needs to get done. Ginny and I will deal with the baking, and if you're good, maybe we'll have a treat ready for your bedtime snacks."

"Bribery will get you everywhere," Arthur joked. "Shall we get at it, Harry?"

"Yes sir." Ginny sent him off with a hug and kiss, and then she and Molly got to work too while the boys headed upstairs.

"How are you and Fleur going to handle things with Victoire when her new brother or sister arrives in February, Mum?"

"Fleur will probably stop working at Gringotts sometime around the end of January, but I'll still take Victoire a few times a week to give her a break," Molly answered. "After the baby is born, we're going to play it by ear; depending on how Victoire handles things." She smiled; her eyes soft and distant for a moment. "If she's like Ron was with you, Victoire may want to spend a lot of time here. He did not like all of the attention you were getting from everyone."

Ginny laughed. "Being the first Weasley daughter in generations probably made that worse; and I didn't exactly make things easier for him once I was old enough to fight back."

"And take advantage of your special status too," Molly added; laughing too.

"If we don't start getting some sons in this generation soon, that's probably going to come back to haunt me," Ginny suggested; and Molly laughed again.

"Maybe, but a few generations of Weasley girls might be a fun change."

"That might be a problem, Mum," Ginny pointed out. "It'd only take one generation of all Weasley girls to put an end to the family name."

"True, but easily changed," Molly countered whimsically. "We could just change the Wizarding World to a Matriarchy, and make Wizards take on the surnames of the Witches they marry. Problem solved."

"Harry might actually like that idea," Ginny joked, "but I seriously doubt the idea will catch on."

"He wouldn't be able to hide from his fame that easily, and you're probably right," Molly conceded. "I'm sure that your brothers will manage to have a few sons, though, and some of your older cousins already have; so I don't expect we'll need to seriously worry about that."

"Probably," Ginny agreed. "Have you been able to spend much time with Molly lately?"

"Victoire and I have popped over to visit with Audrey and Molly once or twice a week. We all went shopping on Tuesday morning, and then we met Arthur, Percy, Bill, and Fleur for lunch. Your father would like to see Molly more often, but you know what year-end is like at the Ministry."

"Yes I do. A little birdie at work tells me that Percy's up for another promotion."

Molly nodded. "That's what Arthur's heard too, but we haven't said anything. I'm sure that Percy will want to tell us all about it tomorrow. It's really just a new title and the same job, but it means a lot to him, and your father told me that he'll start getting some junior staff to help him now too. Maybe that'll give him more time to spend at home helping Audrey with the baby."

"That may be the theory, but I doubt that Percy will cut back on his work at all, and Minister Shacklebolt wouldn't get half the work done without Percy keeping everything organized and on schedule for him. Have you and Hermione's Mum done any work on the wedding this week?"

"We'll each be going over a few things with you and Hermione over the holidays, but we didn't set up anything new until the New Year. There are going to be a couple of appointments or meetings a week starting in January, and we'll need to set up some work sessions to get started on things like wedding invitations."

"Don't tell Ron that. He'll think that we're not taking my game against his Cannons seriously if I'm playing weddings instead of concentrating on that match."

Molly laughed. "I don't think they have a chance against the Harpies, but even if he teases you about it, we all know that you'll just be working a bit harder to get everything done. Are you ready for the game tomorrow? This will be your first match of the season where the other team has a full set of Firestorms."

"We're ready," Ginny assured her mother. "The Wasps haven't had their new brooms long enough to be comfortable with them yet, so we should still have a big advantage. I'll probably have the toughest matchup against their Seeker, but that might just make things worse for them; like it did for the Kestrels."

Molly shook her head. "I wouldn't count on that, honey. The other teams aren't going to let the Harpies run up the score if they can help it – they've likely all told their Seekers to keep going for the catch against you even if it means losing the game."

"They probably have," Ginny agreed, "but they'll still have to beat me too, and you know how much I hate to lose."

"Yes I do, but you're not the team manager either, and eventually Glynnis is going to need to start pacing all of you, or you could burn out before the playoffs."

"Hopefully she won't have to make any of those decisions," Ginny answered. "She's always done the right thing in those cases, but none of us like it."

They continued chatting while working on everything from pies to cookies and fudge treats. Harry and Arthur had some time to talk when they were working together, though they had split up the jobs for the bedrooms and bathrooms so they could get more done. They had all of their work finished with about a half hour to spare before Ginny's team curfew, and rejoined their girls in the kitchen to have the promised bedtime snack and hot drinks. Harry and Ginny left for home on time, and though Ginny did try to do a little last-minute game study, she was fairly easily distracted from that, and instead enjoyed sharing the alternate motivational exercise program that Harry assured her would be very effective for getting ready for the game. While that assertion was highly debatable, by the time they eventually went to sleep, they were both very happy, and Ginny was convinced that their evening had ended with exactly what she needed.

Harry cooked breakfast for two, and made sure that Ginny was still very happy by the time she left for work. Once she was on her way, he worked around the house for a couple of hours, and then ran a few errands in Diagon Alley before going home again to have lunch, and get ready for the game. He apparated to Bryce and Christine's place; and since they'd had all six kids there for lunch, by the time he got there, they were ready to head over to Exmoor stadium. They did a quick round of hugs and kisses, and Harry was introduced to Jeremy's girlfriend, Pauline Pepper, and Kate's boyfriend, Aaron Lynch, and then they were on the way.

"Which team are you going to cheer for today?" Harry asked Dawn as they checked out the concession stands before going to their seats. "It must be tough choosing between your team and your team's former Captain and fellow Chaser for this match."

Dawn laughed. "I'll be cheering for the Harpies. Hopefully Ryan will have a good game too, and he's doing well enough with the Wasps, but I'll be a Harpies fan forever."

"That's okay, honey," Christine told her. "The rest of your family will be cheering for our home team."

"Not that we expect it to help today," Bryce added with a grin. "It should be fun seeing the whole team on Firestorms for the first time today, though."

"How's school going?" Harry asked Dawn and Jonathan. "You must be busy keeping up with Quidditch, Prefect duties, and all of the OWL work."

"I'm fairly sure that's the same order of priority they have," Christine joked.

"You and Dad are probably happy that we have so much on the go," Dawn countered; and Bryce laughed.

"Nice try, honey, but your mother and I didn't go to Hogwarts so long ago that we don't remember what it was like."

"Please stop there before you start scaring the kids," Jeremy told his father. "Anything more is way too much information."

"We're all doing good in classes," Dawn advised Harry. "Kate's doing the best, despite the fact that she's crazy enough to want to be an Auror like you and Mum; but that does mean that she's more motivated than the rest of us are when it comes to classes and studying."

Harry smiled encouragingly at Kate. "We'll be very lucky to have her when she does come to work for the Aurors." He stopped at one of the souvenir booths. "Let's pick up something for Teddy here. He really feels left out when I don't bring him to the winter games."

They picked up programs and a few souvenirs, and then made another stop to get hot drinks and snacks before going to their seats with about ten minutes to spare before game time. All of the Weasley men, except George, were there already, but only Julianne and Hermione came with them, while Molly, Fleur, Audrey, and Andromeda stayed at the Burrow; partly to work on dinner, and to take care of Teddy, Victoire, and Molly. With just three shopping days until Christmas, George couldn't get away from the store – even for the afternoon. Their block of seats was in three rows, and Harry sat with Dawn, Jonathan, Ron, and Hermione in the middle row. Christine, Bryce, Arthur, and Percy were in the row behind them with Kate and Aaron; and Bill, Charlie, and Julianne were in the row ahead with Jeremy and Pauline.

"I'd nearly forgotten just how much faster they are," Dawn breathed as they watched the two teams take off when the quaffle was thrown into the air to start the game. She laughed when Demelza reached the quaffle first; flipping upside down, and using her broomtail to bat it over to Angelina. "What an awesome play too!"

"If you don't have too many Gryffindors or Slytherins here today, maybe you, Jonathan, and Jeremy can use it for your games in January and February," Harry suggested.

"Maybe," Dawn agreed. "It's probably a lot harder to pull off than it looks, though."

"And if you miss, the other Chaser has a free shot," Jonathan added. Harry smiled and shook his head; waving toward Alicia.

"Demelza had backup in case that happened," he advised the two teens. "That part of their game doesn't get much attention, but Glynnis and Gwenog are probably the best in the league at game plans and designing new plays. Try to watch the overall action more, instead of the individual players, and you'll see what I mean."

They were all on their feet and cheering then. There had been a few more quick passes while they'd been talking, and then Angelina had put the first shot past the Wasps' Keeper. While the Harpies gave their fans a lot to cheer about, the Wasps fans weren't totally disappointed. Both teams were playing hard, and having all of the players on Firestorms did make the game more exciting. The Harpies pulled ahead by more than one hundred and fifty points fairly early in the game, but Ginny was in a real battle with her opponent – just as she'd expected to be – and it took until the four hour and fifty-six minute mark for her to catch the snitch; ending the game, and giving the Harpies a well-deserved, four hundred and seventy to one hundred and ten victory.

"It's a good thing that Mum had planned on a late dinner," Ron said as they waited for the first mad rush for the exits to finish; and watched the post-game activity on the pitch. "George might even get to the Burrow first."

"We won't be that much longer," Hermione told him. "I'm sure that everyone here wants to get somewhere warm as quickly as possible."

She was right about that, and it wasn't long before they got in line and made their way out of the stadium. There was a quick round of hugs and kisses goodbye, and then Harry went with the rest of his family to the Burrow, while Christine and Bryce took their group of teens home; where they were having their annual home for the holidays party. George had made it there ahead of them, and had brought Aunt Muriel along. She was sitting at the kitchen table, and in fine form; if what they'd been able to hear from the yard was any indication.

"How'd our Ginevra do today?" she asked in her booming voice as everyone coming in from the game started taking off their cloaks, boots, and winter gear.

"The Wasps' Seeker made a game of it, but she caught the snitch, and the Harpies won four-seventy to one-ten," Arthur answered. "Angelina had a good game too," he told George. "She scored nearly half of the Harpies' goals today."

"Good for them," Aunt Muriel said with an approving nod. She was distracted for a moment when Teddy ran into the kitchen from the sitting room, and hurled himself into Harry's arms for a hug. Victoire wasn't far behind, though she went straight to Bill and they were both laughing happily as he scooped her up for a hug and kiss. "Now that's a sight." Clearing her throat, she brushed what might have been a tear from an eye, and turned her attention to Percy. "I heard that you've been promoted again - Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. You've done quite well for yourself."

"Thank-you, Aunt Muriel," Percy answered; smiling as Audrey welcomed him, and handed Molly to him. "So much for that surprise, but it was probably one of the worst-kept secrets at the Ministry anyway."

"Probably," Molly agreed. "Congratulations, Percy. We're all very proud of you. Come and sit down. I'll have hot drinks ready for everyone in a minute, and snacks for anyone who needs something while we wait for Ginny and Angelina. We'll have dinner in about an hour if they're here by then."

Harry kept Teddy with him when he sat down at the table with everyone else, and though Aunt Muriel continued to rule the conversation, Teddy happily chatted away too; telling Harry all about his day at the Burrow, and peppering him with questions about the game. When he was finished his drink, Teddy had him go into the sitting room so they could play until dinnertime and get away from the boring grown-up talk. Ron, George, Charlie, and Bill took that opportunity to escape for a while and came along. Teddy wasn't all that impressed when Bill brought Victoire with him so she could play too, but Victoire was very happy to be included in the fun.

"Didn't you get enough of Quidditch at the game?" Ginny asked as she leaned over to hug Harry from behind. "At least it's a lot warmer for your game."

"Teddy couldn't decide between Quidditch and Dragons, so we're doing both," Harry answered; turning his head so they could share a soft kiss before Ginny had to let go of him so she could scoop Teddy up for his hug and kiss. "Hopefully the Harpies will do better in your real game against the Cannons in January. Ron, Bill, Charlie, and Victoire have their team way ahead of ours today."

Ginny laughed. "That's because they have the only Witch in the game on their team, and everyone knows that Witches are way better Quidditch players than Wizards." Victoire laughed too, and was next in line for a hug and kiss from Aunt Ginny.

"That's true," Harry agreed, "but this probably has more to do with the dragons running off with you and Trish. It's hard to win games when your Keeper and Seeker aren't able to play."

"If the Cannons had Bill, Charlie, and Ron on their team, they might actually have a chance against my Harpies without the dragons," Ginny told them. "You'll have to wrap this game up, though. Dinner's ready, and Grandma sent me in to tell you that it's time to clean up and join us in the kitchen."

Even with the bad things that had happened to them during the holidays, the Christmases he'd spent with the Weasley family were some of Harry's happiest memories. This year was even better, and though that was partly because of their collectively improving financial situation, it was the kids that made everything so much more fun – or at least they did that for Harry and Ginny. They had Teddy and Victoire with them during dinner; with Teddy next to Harry, and Victoire sitting between Ginny and Fleur. The noise level was as high as ever, and they were all having fun as they enjoyed another amazing meal.

"You've quite outdone yourself, Molly," Aunt Muriel told her niece.

"Yes she has," Arthur agreed, "and now it's time for the guys to do their part." He laughed when they all heard Ron's groan of protest. "Witches and kids are free to go relax in the sitting room. Wizards over seventeen – start cleaning up!" he ordered enthusiastically.

"I should've brought a pack of my New Year's Baby wheezes," George muttered; loudly enough for everyone to hear. Angelina laughed and leaned close to hug and kiss him.

"You'll survive, and after having all of this food, it's probably just as well that you didn't; considering the little problem you have with that wheeze."

"I thought you had that one perfected," Ron said in surprise. "What little problem?"

George laughed too. "It's not technically a problem," he answered. "More like a biological fact of life for babies," he added meaningfully.

"I so do not want to know how you found that out," Hermione told him while everyone else laughed.

"You really don't," George agreed. He pushed his chair back; stood up; and held his hand out to help Angelina while pulling her chair back too. "Speaking of dirty jobs, though, let's get started on this one so we can get back to the fun. I'm sure that Teddy and Victoire aren't the only two kids in the house who want to find out what they're getting for Christmas."

While the Grandmothers, Mums, Aunts, and kids escaped to the sitting room, the guys did get to work. Harry was on dishwashing duty; and literally had the dishes flying through the sinks from the dirty piles that Bill and Charlie were stacking on his right to the neatly stacked clean dishes on his left that Ron and George were then putting away. Arthur and Percy were in charge of dealing with the leftovers, and with getting a couple of snack trays ready for the sitting room. When the dishes were done, the table, counters, and floor all got a once-over, and then they joined Teddy and their girls in the sitting room. By then, Teddy and Victoire were both bouncing, and ready to get the gift exchange started. Ginny was put in charge of that, and had two eager little helpers.

"What are these?" Molly asked as small, identical gifts were handed out to all of the adults.

"Ginny and I wanted to do something special for all of you this year," Hermione answered after Ginny nodded and waved for her to do the honors. "It's something we've been working on for quite a while now."

"It's a mirror," Fleur exclaimed; smiling as she looked at her reflection in the palm-sized, slightly oval mirror that was set in a thin, gold frame.

"Are these like the mirrors that you and Ron, and Harry and Ginny have?" Molly asked excitedly, and Hermione and Ginny both nodded.

"They're even better," Ginny advised her. "You can use yours to see and talk with everyone else who has one of the mirrors in this set."

"How'd you manage that little trick?" Bill asked curiously. Ginny laughed and waved to Hermione again.

"I did what I was told. Hermione came up with the really cool spells for them."

"You did a lot more than that," Hermione countered. "There's a card with instructions in each box," she advised everyone. "I'll show you the basics now if you'd like." She received a round of enthusiastic nods, and continued. "Put your mirror on the table please, Fleur," she instructed. When Fleur did that, she held her mirror up, and said "Hello Fleur." They could all clearly hear the soft chiming coming from Fleur's mirror. "When you pick it up, I'll be able to see and hear you, and you'll see and hear me in your mirror." Fleur did that, and laughed happily.

"This is brilliant. Thank-you so much," she told Hermione and Ginny.

"You're very welcome," Ginny assured her. "We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, so Hermione and I thought this would be a great way to keep in touch."

"Will they work for Julianne and I when we're at home?" Charlie asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, they will. Ginny and I tested that out when she was there for your birthday; though I'm fairly sure that it doesn't matter how far apart they are. It's sort of like apparating – there is a miniscule time factor, but even over long distances, it's barely noticeable."

"True," Percy agreed, "but the magical power needed does grow exponentially with distance and mass for apparating."

"It does for this too," Hermione confirmed, "but the mirrors only use a tiny bit of magical power, so it's not a problem."

"Can you make more to go with these?" Fleur asked. "It would be nice to be able to talk with my parents and sister like this too."

Hermione smiled; but shook her head. "There are a lot of spells that needed to go into each mirror to make them work with each other, so we can't practically add more to the set, but Ginny and I did think about that, and have more mirrors for you, Audrey, Julianne, and Angelina to give to your parents and siblings. Those mirrors are a bit different, but we included notes to explain that."

They needed to continue handing out gifts; keeping Teddy and Victoire busy, and everyone entertained; but Ginny and Hermione took turns doing some one-on-one tutorials for the multi-way mirrors; which were definitely the number one gift hit of the day. George and Angelina were the first to leave, at a quarter to eleven, so he could get back in time to close the store. Teddy was still awake by then, but Victoire and Molly were both sleeping, so while the party was winding down, it did roll on until shortly after midnight, when Harry and Ginny decided that it was time to take Teddy home with them, and everyone else seemed to collectively agree that it was time to call it a night.

"Why don't we keep him until dinnertime?" Ginny suggested to Andromeda. "You can sleep in, and have most of the day to do whatever you want, and we don't have anything planned except for the Harpies' Christmas dinner and party tomorrow night."

"That works for me," Andromeda agreed. "It'll give me time to get packed for our little holiday trip, and get a few other things done."

Since everyone except Aunt Muriel, Arthur and Molly, and Harry and Ginny were going to be away for Christmas, the goodbyes took quite a while. Charlie and Julianne escorted Aunt Muriel home before going on to Bill and Fleur's place, while everyone else headed for their homes too. After sending two boxes of gifts and Teddy's overnight bag ahead of them, Harry and Ginny took their tired out little Godson home, and soon had him changed and tucked into bed.

"Those mirrors were a great idea," Harry said softly as he and Ginny snuggled close together after getting ready for bed too. "I have no idea how you and Hermione found time to make them, though."

"We bought the mirrors months ago," Ginny answered just as quietly, "and we just worked on them here and there when we could." She sighed contentedly. "I'm really glad that everyone liked them as much as we'd hoped they would."

"You and Hermione ought to sell them. I imagine that nearly every Witch and Wizard would love them."

Ginny laughed and hugged him. "We've got quite enough on the go already, honey, and if we did do that, they'd need to cost quite a bit to make it worth all of the time that goes into making them."

Harry pulled her close and kissed her tenderly before pulling back and smiling. "You do remember that, among other things, we have investments in a number of businesses, right? A couple of them deal specifically in making magical objects. I wasn't suggesting that you and Hermione make them personally."

"That's a very interesting suggestion," Ginny complimented him, "but right now, all I'm really interested in doing is getting some sleep. We can talk about that sometime with Hermione, though. I'm sure she'll love the idea too."

They shared a few more soft kisses, but it wasn't long before they were sound asleep. Teddy decided that sleeping in was not an option, and woke them up by pouncing on Harry; and sharing hugs and kisses with them before allowing Ginny to wrap him in her arms for a little lazy cuddle and chat time. She and Harry tag-teamed getting ready for the day, taking care of Teddy, and making breakfast, and after cleaning up, they decided to take a trip to Diagon Alley to check out the holiday shopping action.

Teddy kept them entertained all morning; they took him out for lunch at the Leaky; and then spent the afternoon back at home, mostly playing in the sitting room and listening to Christmas music on the WWN. When it was time to get ready for the Harpies dinner party, Harry and Ginny again took turns doing that while playing with Teddy too, and when it was time to go, they both took him home to Andromeda before going on to Glynnis' house. Angelina was still taking off her cloak when they arrived, so she and Glynnis both welcomed them with warm hugs.

"Is George meeting you here, or did he get stuck at the store?" Ginny asked.

"Hopefully both," Angelina answered. "Your brother may not appreciate it, but those mirrors you and Hermione gave us sure saved him today when he used his to let me know that he wasn't going to be able to get away from the store until later. His days in the doghouse for missing or being late for plans we've made might just be over."

Ginny laughed. "I'm sure he'll still find lots of other ways to get in trouble. He always does."

"Come on in, and we'll get you set up with drinks," Glynnis told them. She spent a few minutes doing that, and chatting with them before needing to go and welcome the next group of arrivals. Ginny and Angelina wandered off to chat with some of the other girls, and Harry ended up standing around and talking with Lee Jordan and Kirley Duke McCormack.

"How's the music business going?" Harry asked Kirley. "I saw that you're not doing the Minister's New Year's Eve party this year. Are the Weird Sisters playing somewhere else?"

Kirley smiled and shook his head. "We had some offers, but decided to take the night off this year. We've worked New Year's Eve every year since we started the band, and now that more than half of us have wives and kids, we're ready for a break."

"It must be fairly strange to grow up having rock stars for fathers," Lee suggested.

"No stranger than it'll be for your kids to have a famous WWN personality and Quidditch star for parents," Kirley countered. "One of the reasons I got into music was to rebel against everyone who was sure that I'd grow up to be a great Quidditch player like my Mum. It's probably a good thing that Meghan was willing to keep the family tradition going, and inherited the talent too."

"I'd say that you both made good career choices," Harry told him. "Are you and Gwenog doing Christmas Day with your family or hers this year?"

Kirley smiled as he looked over to where Gwenog was talking with Ginny and some of the other girls. "Mine this year. We were with her family most of today. At least we'll be on our own for the day tomorrow – thanks to Ginny."

All three Wizards laughed. That had become something of a team joke after Gwenog and Kirley had both decided to make the Christmas Eve for two that Ginny had set up for them an annual tradition. Ginny looked over at them then, and Harry's heart did a couple of happy flips as their eyes met, and both of their smiles brightened. Kirley and Gwenog weren't the only couple in the room who were looking forward to spending Christmas Eve alone together; though it wasn't an annual tradition for them.

"Welcome back," Lee joked when Harry turned back to the other two Wizards. He held up his glass, and was smiling too. "Here's to hoping that our girls will always have that effect on us."

Harry laughed and tapped glasses with them. "They will," he predicted.

"If we know what's good for us," Kirley added.

"That could, and probably should, be taken in more than one way," Lee suggested with a grin. "Especially since the girls like to teach each other their best revenge spells."

They continued talking, and were joined by some of the other guys. A Harpies party was probably one of the few occasions where you'd find Witches talking about sports even more than Wizards, but other than that, and having so many famous people there, it was a fairly normal, fun, and entertaining time for everyone. Harry, Lee, and Kirley were mostly left to entertain themselves until dinnertime while their girls did the rounds, but spent the rest of the evening in pairs pretty much from the time they sat down to eat until the party began to wind down by shortly after midnight. Harry and Ginny were among the last guests to leave; and it was past one o'clock by the time they made it home, and started on their next-to-last sleep before Christmas.

"What's the occasion?" Ginny asked as she joined Harry in the kitchen. He was nearly finished cooking, and had put together a major breakfast meal for them.

"I thought that we'd do this today, and just go with a fruit and pastries breakfast tomorrow," Harry answered before Ginny pulled him into a long, sweet good morning hug and kiss.

"That works for me," she agreed. "We ate so much on Christmas Day last year; I could barely get into the air the next morning for practice."

Harry laughed. "It wasn't that bad. Gwenog was just using the occasion to push all of you harder to get ready for your next game. She'll probably do the same thing again on Wednesday – especially since you're losing three practice days between games this year."

"No doubt about that," Ginny confirmed with a sigh. "That's still two days away, though, so let's talk about what we're doing today and tomorrow instead. Do we need to pick up anything today for the dinner tomorrow? The stores will be crazy today, but we could do that while we're doing our visiting and dropping off gifts."

"I'll do one last check before we head out, but there shouldn't be anything," Harry answered. "Your Mum, Dad, and Aunt Muriel are bringing the desserts tomorrow, and we have everything here for the rest of the meal. It won't even be all that much work for just the five of us."

"One of the good things about the 'away' Christmases for our family," Ginny suggested, and then grinned at Harry. "Maybe for the next away year, you'd like to pop over to their holiday home on Majorca and pay your Aunt, Uncle, and cousin a surprise Christmas visit."

"Since they're technically your Aunt, Uncle, and soon-to-be cousins too, you should be as glad as I am to know that there is zero chance of that happening," Harry countered before pointedly changing the subject. He really did not want to think about Christmases past with the Dursleys, or even imagine what a horror any future Christmas visits with his Aunt and Uncle would be. "We should stop at the Campbell's first. They'll probably be off and running all day, but hopefully you'll be able to see all of the kids if we get there early enough."

"Hopefully we'll get to see everyone; even if we can't spend much time with each of them."

They had breakfast and went over their plans for the day, and then Harry cleaned up while Ginny rounded up the gifts they'd be delivering during their visits. The Campbells were just finishing breakfast when they arrived, and Dawn was particularly fired up to see Ginny when she met them at the door and welcomed them in.

"I'm so glad that you're here," she said happily as she took Ginny's hand and led her toward the kitchen. "Jonathan and I are going out to Diagon Alley soon; and I thought that we wouldn't get to talk with you until after Christmas."

"You're going to brave the shopping madness today?" Ginny asked, and Dawn nodded.

"Just for the morning," she confirmed. "We'll be spending the afternoon with Jonathan's family, and then be here after dinner."

Ginny put her arm around Dawn and hugged her. "Sharing families at Christmas sounds serious. When's the wedding?"

"You're scaring the Dad," Bryce told her as Ginny and Dawn walked into the kitchen with Harry following them.

"We're thinking about waiting until a few weeks after we graduate, like you and Harry did," Dawn answered; grinning at the look on her father's face.

"And you're scaring both of your parents," Christine joked. "Merry Christmas Ginny, Harry. Good timing. In another half hour, we'll be kidless around here until after lunch."

"Merry Christmas," Harry and Ginny both answered while taking turns being greeted by their friends.

"I doubt you're being scared at all," Ginny said in answer to Christine's comment. "At least Dawn's giving you a couple of years notice. I gave my Mum about three weeks."

Christine laughed. "I remember that, and while I'm glad that Dawn and Jonathan have picked a pretty good pair of role models, I also vaguely remember my once-shy little girl too, and seriously miss her sometimes."

There was a knock at the front door, and Dawn was off and running again. "That's probably Jonathan," she advised them on her way out of the kitchen.

"She hid the disappointment well when it was just us last time," Ginny joked; laughing too when they heard Dawn's laughter drift back to them as she moved down the hallway. "What are you guys doing this morning if the kids are all out?"

"Probably the same thing you are," Bryce answered. "We're going to do a few Christmas visits and drop off some gifts."

"Jeremy and Kate are meeting Pauline and Aaron in Diagon Alley this morning too," Christine added. "They may not be at the family sharing stage yet, but they do seem to be making a fair number of plans to hang out together over the holidays."

"That'll make working on their revision more fun," Ginny suggested with her best earnest teen voice and an innocent smile that had Bryce and Christine laughing again.

"You're just a bit too good at that," Christine told her. "If you ever get tired of Quidditch, think about a career in theatre. Would you like cups of coffee? It'll probably be another ten or fifteen minutes before Jeremy and Kate are finished getting ready. It may take Dawn a while to get back here again too."

"It's only been about eleven hours since they saw each other last," Bryce pointed out. "Their reunion might not take that long."

"I can take Jonathan back out by the front door if you think we should take a bit longer for a proper welcome," Dawn suggested with a bright smile for her father.

"Merry Christmas, Jonathan," Christine said before turning her attention to Dawn. "I'm sure the welcome you did share was just fine, judging by your smiles, and I'm sure you'd both rather sit down and chat with Harry and Ginny while you wait for Jeremy and Kate."

Harry, Ginny, Dawn, and Jonathan all sat down at the table while Christine and Bryce got drinks ready before sitting down too. When Kate and Jeremy joined them, Ginny handed out the presents they'd brought, and then she and Harry both enjoyed watching as their friends quickly opened their gifts. Their entire visit lasted nearly a half hour, but then it was time to move on, and for Bryce, Christine, and the kids to get on with their own plans.

"I almost forgot this," Ginny told Dawn as they were all getting up from the table to leave. She handed Dawn an envelope, and smiled at her. "It's not technically a Christmas present, but we thought it might be something you'd like."

"I'd say that she must way more than like it," Jeremy joked as they all watched Dawn hug Ginny tightly; her eyes filled with happy tears.

"The Harpies invited me to a luncheon next Monday at their training pitch," Dawn advised them excitedly, "and I'll get to play Quidditch with them for a while too!"

"We've invited fourteen girls," Ginny told her. "We'll do some position training, and then play a couple of short scrimmages. I'm sure that you'll know most of the others, since they're all between eleven and eighteen, but I won't tell you their names in case you run into them before they find out about their invitations."

"Don't look so disappointed guys," Bryce told Jeremy and Jonathan. "Did you think that the Harpies would invite Wizards to something like this?"

"You could always suggest the idea to the Wasps for next year," Harry suggested. "You do have a friend on the team now who could help you out with that."

"Or with the United team," Kate added, "though Laura might prefer to leave the boys out of that one and just invite Dawn too." She smiled at Harry and Christine. "I am terribly hurt that I didn't get asked to a career day lunch with the Aurors, though."

Harry laughed and winked at Christine and Bryce. "That's a rather brilliant idea, Kate. Consider yourself invited. Same day and time. Be at Auror Headquarters instead of the Harpies training pitch."

"Are you serious?" Kate asked; and Harry nodded.

"You bet," he agreed. "Maybe we'll even be able to get your Mum and Auror Ogden to join us for the luncheon."

Kate hugged him. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, Kate. Thanks for the great suggestion."

They moved on with the goodbyes after that, and then Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the morning visiting their friends, and delivering Christmas gifts; including a stop at Grimmauld Place to see Kreacher that included being served hot drinks and snacks in the still-dismal looking drawing room before they could give him his gifts and move on. Lunch was at the Leaky, and included leaving presents for Neville, Hannah, and Alice, and then they wandered around Diagon Alley for a while before going home to get started on a quiet, very romantic Christmas Eve for two.

That included a candlelight dinner; a couple of hours spent cuddling in the sitting room with the fire providing the only light, and just some of the heat; and an early bedtime that did not include getting any sleep until sometime early Christmas morning. While they didn't get to have much sleep, Ginny's early Christmas morning wake-up call for Harry had them both smiling and happy by the time they eventually went down to the sitting room to exchange gifts. A Fair bit of Christmas snogging went on while they did that too, but it wasn't long before they needed to start taking turns getting ready for the day, make breakfast, and get to work on their Christmas dinner plans.

"Hermione and I should have figured out a way to leave messages on our mirrors," Ginny told Harry as she walked into the kitchen after taking her turn to get cleaned up and dressed. "Mom just told me that Aunt Muriel tried calling around to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, but only got two answers."

Harry grinned at her. "By the way, you're Aunt Muriel called my mirror to wish us a Merry Christmas while you were in the shower. I actually think it's great that she's giving it a try. She didn't seem too sure about using her mirror last Saturday."

"I doubt that she'll use it to call you or me very often, but she has talked with Mum a few times already. What can I do to help?"

"Set the table, get a hot drink, and relax," he answered. "The cooking is under control."

Harry had their breakfast ready shortly after that, and he'd dressed the turkey while Ginny had been upstairs too, so after enjoying their morning meal, he was set free to go and have a shower too while Ginny took care of the cleanup and continued working on getting vegetables ready to be cooked later, and putting together a few snack trays to serve before and after dinner. Molly, Arthur, and Aunt Muriel came over shortly before noon, and by then, most of the work was done, and Harry and Ginny were able to spend most of their time entertaining their guests.

"Why in Merlin's name do you have one of those contraptions in here?" Aunt Muriel asked; waving toward the new television that Harry had already set up for Ginny.

"It was one of the gifts that Harry gave me for Christmas this year, Aunt Muriel, and we have it because they're really quite amazing. There are a lot of things that Hermione and Harry have shown us from the Muggle world that I love. We could watch a movie on it later if you'd like."

"You're as bad as your father with this fascination for the Muggles, Ginevra. Is there not enough excitement for you here in the Wizarding World?"

Ginny laughed and shook her head. "There's more than enough excitement for me here, Aunt Muriel, but I do find many things about Muggles fascinating, and it's nice to be able to move around in their world more easily, thanks mostly to Harry and Hermione. Maybe if more Wizards and Witches did understand Muggles better, we'd have fewer problems in the Wizarding World."

"That discussion is far too serious for Christmas Day," Molly told her aunt and daughter. "Did you and Harry enjoy spending the day with Teddy and the Harpies party on Sunday?"

Ginny was happy to entertain her parents and great aunt with at least the family-rated stories from the last couple of days. Aunt Muriel was, as always, the focal point of nearly everything they did for the rest of the afternoon and early evening; though she was a bit more easy-going when she was just with her favorite niece, grand-niece, and their husbands. They spent the early afternoon talking and listening to Christmas music on the WWN, and sat down to dinner at around three o'clock. That was a two-hour adventure that was followed by some quiet time for the girls while Harry and Arthur took care of the cleanup before rejoining their girls in the sitting room to watch one of the Christmas movies that Ginny had been given.

"That was unexpectedly good," Muriel conceded, almost grudgingly, a couple of hours later as the movie credits began rolling. "It would be more interesting if you could talk with the Muggles, like you can in our Wizarding paintings, but even so, it was a well-told story."

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it," Ginny told her happily. "Maybe you and Mum could come over and try watching some other movies with me sometime."

It was a training curfew night for Ginny, so after a lengthy goodbye with her parents and great-aunt, they headed out, while Ginny did a little studying, and Harry took care of the post-movie cleanup. Other than ending their Christmas Day as brilliantly as they'd started it, and the regular evening therapy sessions for two, the rest of the week, and most of the weekend, was all about work. The Harpies were putting in tough training sessions, and while Ginny was busy with Quidditch, Harry had his normal work at Auror Headquarters, plus the added job of preparing for the training and luncheon session he'd promised for Kate. By the end of the week, that had grown to include eight teens. While Ginny worked most of the day on Saturday, Harry took care of the usual shopping and house work, but they wrapped that up in time to have dinner and spend the evening with Ron and Hermione at their house.

"Good, you brought your computer," Hermione told Ginny as she welcomed them. "We'll play with them after dinner sometime. How's your day been going? All work and no play?"

Ginny laughed, and smiled brightly at Harry for a moment before answering. "It hasn't been all work, but you and I can talk about that sometime when the boys aren't around. Harry was stuck with all of the real work while I studied today. You'd think that would get easier by now that I'm in my third season, but it's amazing just how much information the Harpies scouts come up with each week just from watching the other matches."

"At least you've finished your work for today, and can take the night off," Hermione said with a nod; smiling too as she watched Harry blush slightly because of the first part of Ginny's answer. After helping them with their cloaks, she led Harry and Ginny into the kitchen, where Ron was just popping the cork on a bottle of wine.

"Let's not talk about work," he told them. "We're half way through the holidays with no major problems, and I'd really like to keep it that way for the second half."

"Will not talking about work help with that?" Ginny asked in amusement. Ron shrugged and handed her the first glass of wine he'd poured.

"Can't hurt, at least for our work," he answered. "I guess we'll have to make an exception for you, since we always talk about Quidditch."

"I know," Hermione said with a meaningful sigh and roll of her eyes that had Ginny laughing, and the boys grinning at her. "If Witches and Wizards would only put as much time into working on all of the problems in the world as they do on Quidditch, we'd actually get some things done at the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh no," Ron grumbled, and then held up a hand when he saw Hermione's eyes flash with irritation. "We get it," he told her quickly, "and we really should do more, but if we didn't spend time with the people we love, doing things – like Quidditch – that we love to do; then what would be the point of it all?"

"Wow, Ron. Nicely done," Ginny told him; sounding as surprised as Hermione looked.

"Why do I always get that reaction?" Ron asked, and Harry laughed before answering.

"That's your own fault, mate. Usually you're having too much fun to bother with such profound truths," he joked.

"Since having fun was the plan for tonight, we should get on with it," Ginny suggested. "What can we do to help with dinner?" she asked Hermione.

"That's your idea of fun?" Ron asked. "Working in the kitchen?"

"You've been trying to get out of helping for the last two hours," Hermione reminded him. "I'd have thought you'd appreciate the reinforcements."

"I was trying to help," Ron protested. "Harry and Ginny will really appreciate that I didn't cook anything they'll be eating tonight."

"Did that plan work any better with Hermione than it did anytime you tried it with Mum?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Not really," Ron admitted, "but it's definitely more fun trying to get out of the work with Hermione."

The girls did have good news for Ron then, as he and Harry were told to sit down and relax while they finished getting their meal ready. They then spent an hour and a half having dinner and talking about weddings, family, kids, and only a little Quidditch before Ron got the bad news that he and Harry would be the two-Wizard clean-up crew. Hermione and Ginny got started on the computer lesson while their boys did that, and worked at the kitchen table so they could continue to talk with Harry and Ron while they played with their new toys.

"I've made a memory charm to help you with learning the basics," Hermione advised Ginny as she handed it to her, and put a second charm on the table that she'd made for Harry. "Use it first, and while you're doing that, I'll get your computer ready so we can both use the internet.

Ginny was quickly lost for a while as the memory charm gave her the equivalent of what Hermione told them was about forty hours of training and experience. She also told them what she was doing to Ginny's computer, and explained what the rest of the computer equipment she was working on did; though neither of them really understood any of it. By the time Ginny was 'back', Hermione had everything ready, and they happily surfed the internet for the next couple of hours. Harry and Ron kept them supplied with drinks and snacks, and had fun too as their girls checked out a wide range of Muggle websites, and even chatted with some Muggles from different places all over the world in a chat room.

"I'm not very good at typing, but I liked the chat room a lot," Ginny told Hermione as they packed up their computers after deciding they'd had enough for the night. "It'd be cool if we could do that in the Wizarding World, but we don't have anything like it."

"I can do a more advanced memory charm for typing to help you with that," Hermione offered. "Once you know how, you could use magic to work the keyboard and mouse too if you wanted to; just like with charming a quill."

"Why not just charm them and be done with it?" Ron asked.

"You do remember that you needed to learn how to write before magic quills would work for you, right?" Hermione countered. "The same thing applies here."

"Okay, but if you can teach us how to type with memory charms, why didn't Mum just do that with us at Hogwarts instead of spending years teaching us the hard way?"

"It's a lot of work making memory charms," Hermione answered. "I'm not sure it would ever be practical to make all of the charms you'd need to teach kids everything they learn before going to Hogwarts – or for lessons at school."

When Hermione and Ginny had their computers packed up, they all moved into the sitting room, where they listened to the WWN and talked for another couple of hours before it was time for Harry and Ginny to head home again. On Sunday, while Ginny worked in the office, Harry did a little housework, and then went to pick Teddy up so they could spend a few hours together. They wandered around Diagon Alley until lunchtime, and then met Ginny at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Harry and Teddy went home with her, and they played for another couple of hours before Teddy needed to be back home again. George and Angelina were coming over for dinner, so Harry got to work on cooking after dropping Teddy off with Andromeda. Spending a few hours with George and Angelina was fun, and then Harry and Ginny ended their weekend with a fairly brilliant bedtime routine for two that they were both still smiling about when they woke up on Monday morning.

While Ginny and the Harpies started out their New Year's Eve day the same as any other normal training day, Harry and Neville had Dennis and Natalie work with them to get everything ready for their visiting students. Those preparations included a morning meeting, a trip to the Leaky for Neville and Dennis to finalize lunch plans with Hannah, and a full run-through of the modified workout they'd be doing with the kids. When it was time to welcome their guests, Harry and Neville took the lifts to the Atrium level, where all of the kids had already cleared security, and were excitedly waiting for them with the young security guard who had been assigned to stay with them until their escorts arrived.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," Neville told them; smiling as Kate happily hugged Harry. "I'm Auror Neville Longbottom, and I'm sure that you all recognize Auror Potter. Let's start with the introductions, and then we'll move on to a short tour of the Ministry." He smiled at Harry and Kate again before continuing.

"For those of you who may not have met her yet, Kate Campbell is third year Ravenclaw, and is on a hugs and kisses basis with Auror Potter because her mother is a close friend of ours, and one of the finest Aurors at the Ministry." His comments earned Kate some instant bonus points with the older students in the group, and she had a quick hug for Neville too before stepping back to stand with the other kids again. Neville went on to introduce seventh to fourth year students David Gudgeon, Anna Capper, Casey Fawcett, and Diana Dorny; wrapping up with second year boy, Quentin Quirke, and firsties Mike MacDonald and Erica Davis. Harry and Neville both shook hands with each of them, and then Neville led them to the lifts while Harry and Kate brought up the rear of the group.

"Good morning, Minister Shacklebolt, Undersecretary Weasley," Neville said; looking and sounding surprised as he led the group from the lifts. The Minister and Percy were just getting to the lifts, and so Harry held the door for them once all of the kids were out of the lift. He smiled and added his greeting too.

"Good morning," the Minister answered with a nod and smile. "This must be the group of potential future Aurors I've heard about."

"Yes sir," Neville agreed. "We're starting our tour at the top, though this is a bit higher up than we'd expected or planned."

"Since you have some of the best students at Hogwarts to work with today, I'd say you started out at the top with the invitations," Kingsley countered, and smiled when he saw Percy checking his watch. "I must get to a meeting. Enjoy your tour and training with the Aurors, ladies and gentlemen. I'm quite sure that you're all in for an interesting and fun morning."

"Thank-you, Minister," Harry answered for everyone; pulling his hand away from the door once Kingsley and Percy stepped into the lift.

That little surprise had been fun, and so was the rest of the tour; with the highlights being the tour of the level ten courtrooms and Auror Headquarters. Dennis and Natalie joined them for the last part of the tour; and then the eight students were each given a set of the training clothes that Harry and Neville had started using with their trainees. Ginny and Hermione had suggested the addition of a Ministry of Magic and Auror logo to the clothes, and when they all gathered in the training room after getting changed, the looks of pride and excitement on the kids' faces proved to Harry that the girls had been absolutely right about adding that little touch.

"We're going to begin with the full physical workout that Auror Longbottom and I have begun using for the first time this year with Auror-trainees Creevey and McDonald," Harry advised them. "It's based on the training that the Harpies use in their daily practices; so I'm sure that the Quidditch players among you will be familiar with at least some of what we'll be doing." He smiled at two of the younger boys who suddenly looked a bit worried. "Don't be discouraged if you can't keep up with everything we do – our workouts are meant to be challenging for Aurors. Just do the best you can, and watch and learn."

"Does that go for us too?" Natalie asked winsomely; and Harry laughed along with everyone else.

"No, it doesn't," he answered. "Nice try, though."

As usual, Harry led this part of the training session, but he also watched and assessed each of the kids too as they did their best to work through the tough exercise routine. While all of the students were there because of their interest in becoming Aurors, he knew that they had different reasons for that interest. Three of them had lost family members in the war. Kate, of course, wanted to be an Auror like her mother, and two of the teens were reportedly motivated to join mostly because of what Harry, and the other Aurors, had been accomplishing since he, Ron, and Neville had joined. He didn't yet know why first year Mike MacDonald was interested in being an Auror, but he did know why the other firstie, Erica Davis, was there; and that information had come to him through one of those 'feelings'.

Erica Davis was an enchanting little pixie with dark red hair and brilliant emerald eyes. She was also a younger cousin of Tracey Davis'; her family was counted among the pureblood elites; and his insight advised him that she had been sent on this trip to find out everything she could, and use her obvious similarities to his mother to get close to Harry. That had been surprising enough, but what had really amazed him about what he saw in the little girl was that she had the potential to be very special. Whether that would be for good or bad wasn't at all clear to him, but he was sure that Erica was going to get more out of this visit to the Ministry than she or her family expected. He was thinking about that as they wrapped up the physical workout, and smiled at Erica and Mike as they stood next to each other; both of them trying to catch their breath as Dennis and Natalie quickly handed out bottles of water to everyone.

"You all did very well with that. Congratulations. We're going to have a DADA practice next," he advised them. "Auror-trainee McDonald and I will work with the first, second, and third year students, and Auror Longbottom and Auror-trainee Creevey will train with the older teens."

"We get to use magic?" Kate asked enthusiastically; and Harry nodded.

"Special exemption from the Minister," he confirmed. "Let's split up and get started." Neville and Dennis took the four older teens to the other side of the room, and then Harry put up a shield between them so that they didn't have to worry about getting hit by any errant spells passing between the groups. He and Natalie started out by having their four kids show them their shield charms.

"That's very good, Ms. Davis," Harry said as he checked out Erica's shield. "Can you move it around yet?"

"Yes sir," she answered while demonstrating that she could by moving it up and down by about a foot in each direction.

"Nicely done," he congratulated her. "When you're working on that, though, think about using your shield in three dimensions."

"What do you mean?" she asked; looking up at him with those gorgeous emerald eyes that did have exactly the effect on Harry that her family had hoped for.

Harry stepped back, put up a small shield too, and began to demonstrate as he answered her. Kate, Mike, and Quentin all turned their attention to him too. "When your shield is in front of you like this, and presumably facing your attacker, it would need to stop the full force of the spell being directed at it. This takes a lot of practice to get good at, but your shield can protect you against much stronger magic than you might think possible by angling it, and deflecting those curses and jinxes instead of meeting them head on."

"That doesn't seem that hard," Mike said as he tried moving his shield around like Harry was demonstrating.

"Moving it around is easy enough," Harry agreed, "but getting the angles right, and making sure that you can direct those deflections so they don't hurt anyone else, or cause any damage, is much harder."

"You also need to be able to move fast with that defense," Natalie added. "Don't forget that your opponent in a real duel won't just use one spell, and it's much harder to do against multiple opponents." She smiled at Harry. "Not all of us can keep multiple shields going at the same time." She'd waved to the small shield he'd been demonstrating the technique with, and the massive shield that divided the entire room, and smiled at the sudden looks of comprehension on the faces of the four kids. "Exactly. Let's work on those shields, and then we'll test them against some jinxes and hexes."

She had Kate work with Quentin, and Erica dueled with Mike while Harry and Natalie both worked with them until it was time to get changed again and meet the group of Aurors and trainees that they were going out to lunch with. That group included all of the current trainees, their trainers, and Emma Ogden. It took a while to get everyone over to the Leaky from the Ministry, but they were all there and seated by shortly after noon. Harry was at a table with Neville, Dennis and Natalie, and they had Mike and Erica with them. The other six students were in pairs too, and at tables with a similar mix of Aurors and Auror-trainees. Emma was having lunch with David Gudgeon and Anna Capper; mostly because they were both very likely to be joining the Aurors over the next two summers.

"I hope that being seen in public with a whole gang of Gryffindors won't hurt your reputation," Harry told Erica as they waited to place their orders. "We're very happy to have someone from Slytherin interested in joining the Aurors."

"You are?" she asked in surprise; and Harry smiled and nodded.

"Yes we are," he assured her, "and I think you definitely have what it takes too. So do you, Mike. I wanted to be an Auror from the first time I learned about them when I was your age. Why are you each interested enough to lose most of a day of your holidays to hang out with us?"

"My Mum and Dad think I'm crazy, and hoped that coming here would cure me," Erica answered after Mike waved for her to go first.

"Did it work?" Natalie asked with a laugh; and Erica shook her head.

"Nope. I want to be an Auror more than ever now." Harry had laughed too, and though Erica had obviously practiced that lie, and delivered it very convincingly, he still knew it for what it was. The real irony of the moment was in the fact that if the potential he saw in her was realized, then her little cover story would become very close to truth; both for her, and for her family.

"And why are you here Mike?" Neville prompted.

The boy looked down at his hands shyly for a moment, but then looked up again, and at Harry. "Some of my family, and our friends, were killed during the war; and more were persecuted, and sometimes tortured." He looked down at his hands again. "Even with everything that was done to us, nobody stood up and fought to stop the Dark Wizards." He looked up at Harry again. "Not like your family, or so many others, did. I want to change that, and help stop things like that from ever happening again."

"We'll be glad for the help, but you shouldn't feel that way about your family," Harry said gently. "They were doing what they thought best during a very bad time."

Mike looked down at his hands again, but shook his head in disagreement. "If we'd done more – or really anything at all – then maybe families like yours wouldn't have had to pay such a high price." He looked up at Harry again. "Your Mum even stood up for my Aunt Mary when she was attacked at Hogwarts by a Wizard who became one of the Death Eaters. It may not be right or fair, but I believe that becoming an Auror is supposed to be my way of repaying the debt my family owes everyone who did fight in the war for us."

Mike's comment brought one of Professor Snape's memories to life for Harry as he remembered the sad scene between Snape and his mother as she rejected him. The fact that Mike's Aunt Mary was the Mary MacDonald that she'd spoken of in that conversation certainly ensured that he would be taking an interest in Mike MacDonald's future. "I can't say much about that, since being an Auror is just as personal for me," he answered with a nod and muted smile.

The conversation moved on to less weighty topics as they had lunch, and while the group of Aurors and their guests were enjoying themselves at the Leaky, the Harpies were having a catered lunch at their practice pitch with the fourteen girls who had been invited to their special morning training event. Most of the girls had arrived early, and had watched part of the workout that Gwenog put her team through before they were hooked up with some Harpies gear and put through a modified, but very strenuous workout that included physical and flying training, bludger practice, and two short play games that pitted seven of the girls at a time against the Harpies team. Dawn was Ginny's guest, though she'd mostly worked out with the Chasers. Ginny spent most of the training time with Gabrielle Delacour, who had been thrilled to be invited by Angelina. Both girls were having lunch with Ginny and Angelina at a table with Demelza, Alicia, and the two girls they'd invited.

"We probably shouldn't look this happy after getting our butts kicked all over the pitch during our game, but I had way too much fun to be upset about losing," Dawn told Gabrielle.

"So did I," Gabrielle agreed with a laugh, "but did you seriously think we had a chance to win that little match?"

Dawn laughed too and shrugged amiably. "No, but I really don't like losing either." She grinned at Ginny. "I wonder where I might have gotten that from?"

"Probably from the same place I did," Gabrielle answered. "At least we've got a better idea of how much we need to improve over the next year and a half if we want to play in the show too."

"One and a half for you," Dawn countered. "Some of us are stuck at a seven-year school, and have two and a half years left to go."

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea Ginny," Angelina suggested. "The way they're talking, we should be worried about losing our jobs to them in a couple of years."

Ginny nodded and smiled at the two happy teens. "True, but the only thing scarier than that would be playing against them."

"I have played against Dawn – twice - and that didn't work out so well for Gryffindor," Demelza told them, "but it wasn't scary. We all had a lot of fun; or at least we did until Ravenclaw won those matches."

"It's our turn for a while," Dawn countered. "You had more than your share of wins while Harry and Ginny were playing for Gryffindor."

"With the team you still have there, it could be a while before you'll have to worry about losing your turn," Alicia predicted.

"We'll see," Dawn said with a shrug. "Gryffindor has a lot of new players this year; and they could be a pretty good team by the time we play them in May. What are you doing for New Year's Eve tonight?" she asked Gabrielle.

"Babysitting my niece while Bill and Fleur go to the Minister's party. You?"

"I'm babysitting too. Jonathan is going to help me, though, so we'll have fun. He and I are busy with our families tomorrow, but if you're bored by Wednesday, I've got a team practice on Wednesday morning, and you're welcome to come and practice with us. Maybe we could have lunch at the Leaky and wander around Diagon Alley for a while after that too. I still need to get my back to school supplies anyway, so that's as good a time as any to get that out of the way."

"That sounds like fun," Gabrielle agreed enthusiastically. "I'll check with Fleur and let you know."

The rest of the lunch conversation revolved around Quidditch, with the four teens asking a lot of questions about how to help their respective teams, and improve their own abilities. When it was time for the Harpies to get back to work, the goodbyes were quick and painless; mostly because Gwenog promised her team that they'd be very sorry if they weren't out on the pitch and ready to go on-time. Once they'd sent their fourteen smiling, happy guests on their way, it was back to training as usual, and Glynnis kept her team working hard for the next few hours; only letting them wrap up a bit earlier than usual so they could all move on and get ready for the Minister's New Year's Eve party that most of them were attending.

Harry was already home, and had finished showering and getting ready for the party by the time Ginny got home, so after a quick welcome home visit, she went upstairs to get ready too. While she was busy, he spent a little time with Snowstorm and Snowflake, and then mostly just puttered around the kitchen until Ginny met him there. He hadn't been allowed to see the dress she'd picked up for the party, and from the way her smile and eyes lit up the room; Harry was sure that his reaction to seeing her wearing it was exactly the effect she was hoping to have on him.

"Now I know what you meant," he said as they shared a hug and soft kiss. "It may be too late to get away with missing the Minister's party, but it's a really good thing that you don't have to worry about a training curfew tonight." He laughed softly while breathing in the flowery, intoxicating scent of her hair. "Even tomorrow night's curfew could be a problem."

Ginny laughed too and kissed him again. "You know that's not true. We have plans with Teddy tomorrow afternoon; and dinner at the Burrow after that. If you're ready, we should get going. I know how much you love all of the pre-dinner glad-handing and politicking that goes on at all of these parties."

"You love watching my feeble attempts to survive all of that without getting stabbed in the back or ending up on the front page of the Daily Prophet with a terrible picture and wildly misquoted headline," he countered; and then smiled again. "We'd really better get our cloaks and go before I think about that much more, and decide to skip the party and take you upstairs instead."

Ginny laughed, kissed him again, and then they headed out and apparated to London. The Minister's New Year's Eve party had grown a bit each year since the war, and was now being held in a new Hall that a group of enterprising young Witches and Wizards had opened not far from Diagon Alley that offered the biggest venue in Wizarding England for parties, concerts, and other shows and Wizarding events. The Magick Hall was not a new building, but the plain exterior and unassuming entrance hid from Muggle view a magically enhanced, beautifully appointed facility. There was a large reception hall just inside the door where Witches and Wizards could gather and socialize before the start of a concert or party, and the main hall, which could seat hundreds for a dinner party like they were having tonight, and a couple thousand people for concerts and shows.

They'd apparated to a safe spot a block or so from the Hall, and were both smiling when they approached the entrance and found a pair of very cold-looking young girls waiting there for them. The bright, excited looks on their faces when they saw Ginny was all she and Harry needed to see to know that the two young Witches had come there exclusively in the hopes of seeing their beautiful Quidditch hero. When they reached the girls, Ginny's smile was as bright as theirs, and she held her hand out to the little fan closest to her.

"Have you been out here in the cold for very long?" she asked; and both girls nodded.

"A couple of hours," the girl who shook her hand first said breathlessly.

"This is so worth it, though," the other girl added as Ginny shook her hand too. "You're our favorite Quidditch player in the whole world!"

"Thank-you," Ginny told them sincerely. Harry had quickly noted the worn cloaks and shoes that both girls were wearing, and exchanged a knowing look and smile with Ginny as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a quill and two of Ginny's team photos; which he handed to her.

"I try to come prepared," he told the girls.

"Prepared for what?"

Harry and Ginny both smiled when they turned and saw George, Angelina, Lee, and Alicia taking the last few steps toward them. It had been George who had asked the question; though their smiles told Harry that they all knew what he and Ginny were doing. "Don't you keep a quill and pictures of Angelina with you in case of fan emergencies?" he countered; earning a pair of giggles from the two girls.

"No I don't," George answered, "but I do have a small supply of Harpies wheezes that I use instead," he answered as he pulled two packages out and handed them to Angelina. "They don't last as long as autographed pictures, but they are more fun."

The three couples talked with the two Harpies fans while Ginny signed the autographs. Kim and Anne were both eleven, but wouldn't be starting at Hogwarts until September. They were a bit overwhelmed by the attention from three of their heroes, but still happily chatted with Ginny, Angelina, and Alicia.

"Are we ready to go inside?" Lee asked when Ginny had handed Anne her autographed souvenir.

"Just about," Harry answered as he reached into his cloak and pulled out another surprise for the adorable pair of fans. Ginny laughed, and had everyone laughing when she fairly enthusiastically hugged and kissed him after he handed her four tickets to Saturday's game.

"You're allowed to hug him too," she assured the now-astonished girls as she gave them two tickets each. "Hopefully you don't have plans for Saturday afternoon already." Both girls happily did that, and had hugs for Ginny too.

"Anything else, or do you have a pair of Harpies Firestorms in that cloak for them too?" George joked.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "No brooms," he assured his brother-in-law; though he was rummaging around in his cloak pocket again. "I do think that a little game-day spending money is probably a good idea." He and Ginny took care of that, and then they sent the happy young Witches on their way before going inside, where the pre-dinner festivities were already underway. Ron and Hermione were already there, and met up with them by the time they'd checked their cloaks.

George whistled appreciatively when he saw Hermione. "If Junior Ministers had looked like you when we'd graduated, Fred and I might've actually considered the careers Mum wanted us to have at the Ministry a bit more seriously."

Hermione laughed as she began the round of hugs with Ginny and Harry. "Thanks, but we all know that would have never happened – unless they'd started a department for magical jokes and pranks or something."

"The Ministry would be more fun if they did do that," George suggested. "I'm certainly hoping that some of the guests here brought a few of our New Year's Wheezes with them to help make this party more fun."

"And if they didn't; you and Ron brought enough to share?" Angelina guessed. George laughed and hugged her, while Ron suddenly looked guilty, and everywhere except at Hermione.

"Of course," George agreed enthusiastically.

"Have all the fun you want boys, but don't expect to be getting any kisses from your girls at midnight if you've got confetti blasting out of your ears and bogey streamers coming out of your noses," Ginny advised Harry, Ron, George, and Lee while the other girls nodded their unequivocal agreement.

"And you'd better tell us about any puking pastilles that might accidentally fall into select punch bowls this year too," Alicia added.

They didn't get any more time then to visit as they were drawn into the social swirl. Harry stayed close to Ginny whenever he could; mostly because the conversations going on around her were rarely about politics. Getting to admire his beautiful, amazing wife as she confidently worked the room, and share frequent hugs and kisses with her, was a great added bonus. There was planned seating for the dinner, so they weren't able to completely escape the political theatre. The guests at their table included two members of the Wizengamot and their spouses, a Witch from the Department of Magical Games and Sport and her husband, and a young couple who both worked in Wizengamot Administration. Harry and Ginny didn't spend nearly as much time with them as they did with the rest of their family, but they were very glad to find out that Percy and Audrey were at their table too.

"Do you have a babysitter taking care of Molly tonight?" Ginny asked Audrey as she stood to welcome her sister-in-law and brother.

"My parents have her tonight," she answered. "That's why we're just getting here now. I'm still trying to figure out how to juggle all of the extra work we have with Molly before we go out."

"You haven't missed anything important," Ginny assured her. "Come and sit down. You look beautiful, but ready for a little break too."

"Thank-you; and I am," Audrey agreed. She and Percy did greet the rest of the Witches and Wizards at their table first, but then took their seats, with Audrey next to Ginny; and Percy sitting beside one of the Wizengamot Elders.

While Harry didn't escape the mostly political dinner conversation, he was grateful to have Percy and Audrey there to handle most of those discussions. Ginny always shone at parties, and it was her infectious smile, the fire in her eyes, and bright enthusiasm that allowed her to voice strong opinions without offending or angering anyone. Three of the diners at their table were either openly supportive of the pureblood elites, or secretly sympathetic to their causes. Harry knew that without needing the whispered warning from Percy, and though he did give them some fodder that their friends would be happy to hear about; he did manage to get through dinner without saying anything that might be front-page news for the next edition of the Daily Prophet.

"Take a deep breath – the worst is over," Ginny told him quietly after they'd left the table.

"Why am I suddenly very afraid?" he joked; smiling as Ginny laughed and leaned close to kiss him.

"Bad things don't happen every time we say something like that, honey."

"No, but bad things do happen a bit too often just when we think the worst is over," he countered. "Let's hope that this isn't one of those times."

"Which is a really good reason for why we should have fun whenever we can – like right now," Ginny suggested.

There was a break in the action while the cleanup from dinner was taken care of, and the band set up for the dance. That gave Harry and Ginny time to meet up with Hermione, Ron, and some of the friends they were going to spend the rest of the evening with. They picked out a table that was two rows in from the dance floor, picked up a round of drinks, and were sitting down and swapping dinner stories by the time the band started playing at ten o'clock. Ginny and Angelina got their boys up dancing right away, and had the other couples at their table doing the same by the time the second song started.

"I should've ordered a dance limit," Gwenog told Ginny as she and Kirley stopped by their table for a visit. "You and the other girls are going to be too tired to practice the rest of the week even with the holiday tomorrow."

"Can't you do anything to distract her from thinking about Quidditch?" Ginny asked Kirley with a bright smile before answering Gwenog. "We'll be ready for work on Wednesday, or you'll make sure we regret that we weren't."

"You don't seriously think that's possible do you?" Kirley answered. "As long as she keeps me around, I'm okay with not being number one on her top priorities list."

"Music's number one on your list," Gwenog told him; waving off his comment dismissively. The little flash of insight that hit Harry then advised him that she was wrong about that. Ginny's smile, and the look she exchanged with Kirley, clearly showed that she was thinking the same thing. If music was still number one in Kirley's life; he and the Weird Sisters would be playing at a New Year's Eve party somewhere. "I shouldn't need to tell you that I want to keep you around for a while."

Ginny's smile brightened, and she turned it toward Gwenog. "In a 'bonded for life' kind of way?"

Gwenog gave her a hard look; but couldn't help laughing too. "Stop that, Potter. Even you might have problems playing this weekend if I turn you into a wood louse."

"You'd never do that to your own team," Ginny said confidently.

"Maybe not on game day," Gwenog conceded, "but I definitely might – and have done it - for a practice day or two."

"Since I'm not particularly interested in carrying my wife around in a jar for a day or two, let's move on," Harry suggested. "How was dinner at the Minister's table?"

"Boring," Gwenog answered while Ginny and Kirley both laughed. "If I was the Minister of Magic, there'd be a lot more wood lice, and fewer Witches and Wizards, at the Ministry of Magic. I don't know how he can stand all of that sycophantic sucking up."

"What I'd like to know is how Harry and Ginny never have to sit at the head table for these things," Kirley told them. "Kingsley makes a great Minister of Magic because he can deal with all of that while still mostly doing everything he wants too."

"It's my fault," Harry explained. "I don't want the attention hanging out with the Minister would bring, and Kingsley doesn't need any added hassles that would come with being too chummy with me."

"Your enemies are going to talk about you no matter what you do, so I don't know why you care one way or the other," Gwenog stated. "Just do whatever you want, and ignore what the idiots say about it. That's what I do."

"And if that doesn't work; you turn them into wood lice," Ginny added with a laugh. "Unfortunately, Harry's too nice to do that."

"Then it's a good thing he has you and your bat-bogey hex around to back him up," Gwenog told her.

She and Kirley didn't stay much longer, and Harry and Ginny went back out onto the dance floor after that; catching the last song in a up-tempo set, and then dancing close together for a pair of slow dances. The party was in full swing by midnight, and the traditional countdown and first New Year's kisses and embraces were accompanied by the special, deafening, New Year's Eve edition of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz Bangs that George, Ron, and Lee set off in the room. The 'Happy New Year 2002' shone brilliantly in the air near the vaulted ceiling during the entire fireworks display, and then faded away slowly once the pyrotechnic show ended.

"I'd say you've got another wheezes hit," Ginny told her brothers once it was quiet enough again to talk and be heard again.

"Maybe," Hermione agreed, "but somebody should have warned us that using a Muffliato spell would backfire and make them louder." She was smiling, but looked more than a little irritated too as she looked pointedly at Ron.

"It couldn't have worked that well, or you wouldn't be able to hear at all right now," George told her. "I'll have to take a look at them and see what went wrong."

Hermione shook her head. "They worked just fine," she assured him. "I just did something else to protect my ears after that didn't work." She laughed and shook her head again. "I'm not telling you, George."

"That's probably a good thing," Angelina suggested. "If George had a deafening spell like that to put in one of his wheezes, the Hogwarts Professors would soon have whole classrooms full of deaf students."

"Not to mention the wives who'd be mad about their husbands using that kind of wheeze too," Alicia added; laughing and giving Lee a little shove when he nodded and grinned at her.

"We'll talk later," George told Hermione. "You have to give me that spell now."

"You might want to consider re-phrasing that," Ginny said with a laugh. "Hermione still looks a bit put out about the fireworks; and she might decide to give you what you want."

"What?" George joked. "I didn't quite 'ear that."

"If we have to keep listening to your ear jokes, we'll all want Hermione to teach us that spell," Angelina predicted.

Hermione didn't need to do that, and the party rolled on. Harry and Ginny endured some teasing when they were among the first to leave, but the New Year's celebration for two that they shared after getting home more than made up for that. Sleeping in was an option that they took advantage of, and then there was a little more holiday play time before they went out for lunch in London with Andromeda and Teddy. They spent a couple of hours after that with their Godson before he needed to be back with Andromeda, and then it was off to the Burrow for the rest of the day. Though it was only for a few hours, Charlie and Julianne came home for the family dinner, and Molly was especially happy to have everyone there for what could be the last chance for a family get-together until Easter.

When Charlie and Julianne needed to get back to Romania, Harry and Ginny headed home too so that she could get a little work done before curfew. That marked the end of the holiday for them, and the last three days of the week were all work too. Harry took care of the meals and work around the house when he wasn't busy at the Ministry while Ginny concentrated on the big game against the Prides. They had after-dinner Seeker duels on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and the only breaks in the action for them were the nightly bedtime activities, and one, very hot start to the morning that kept them both happy and smiling all week. On Saturday, while Ginny was busy with the usual team duties, Harry worked around the house and went grocery shopping like he normally did on game days. They had a fairly large group going to the game, and they met for lunch at the Leaky before going on to Ellis stadium.

"Are you ready to go back to school?" Harry asked the teens who were all sitting close to him. Gabrielle was next to him, and answered first.

"I am, but I wish we had more time. This holiday has gone by way too fast."

"We're ready, and can't wait to get back," Dawn told him next.

"That's because you guys want to be able to spend every day with your boyfriend or girlfriend," Gabrielle said with a laugh.

"You've spent at least part of nearly every day with Jonathan while you've been home," Bryce told his daughter, "and when you add in the sleepovers; Jeremy and Kate have probably spent more time with Pauline and Aaron."

"I should've become best friends with Laura so I could do sleepovers too," Dawn joked.

"Why didn't you think of that before she moved out and got her own place?" Jonathan asked; though he blushed slightly too as Christine, Bryce, and some of the other adults laughed.

"Some of us are excited about going back so we can use magic again, and because we've got Quidditch matches to play," Jeremy advised his parents. "Change the under-age use of magic rules, and then I'd be with Gabrielle."

"Excuse me?" Pauline asked archly. "What do you mean by 'with' Gabrielle?" Jeremy blushed several shades of red at once, and though Pauline had managed to keep a straight face for a long, drawn-out moment, she started laughing after that, and hugged him.

"Nicely done," Kate complimented her best friend. "If I was a Prefect; I'd give you points for that one."

"Look – it's the wild snitch!" Jeremy said; pointing toward one end of the stadium.

"We're not at Bodmin, and that's just a local legend," Kate told him dismissively.

"You're right about that being at Bodmin moor, but you never know – that snitch could still be out there," Christine said with a laugh. "It was never caught, and I've definitely seen stranger things than that turn out to be true."

"You're an Auror, Mum," Dawn reminded her. "Strange is part of the job."

"Then Kate should make a great Auror," Jeremy declared with a laugh as he grinned at his little sister.

"I hope that Pro Quidditch career works out for you," Kate shot back. "You'd starve as a comedian."

The teens kept the rest of their group entertained until the Harpies and Prides flew out into the stadium and the match quickly got started. While the Prides were only the second team that the Harpies had played against that had a full set of Firestorms, they'd had their brooms for longer than the Wasps had, and all of their players were much more comfortable and ready to compete at the new, faster speeds. Meghan McCormack was still running a close second to Trish in the Keeper statistics, but both Witches were in for tough game as the Firestorm advantage for Chasers that Harry had predicted back in August began to show up on the scoreboard for the first time for both teams.

"Erin's really giving Ginny a go for it again today," Hermione leaned close and told Harry. "I can't help but feel a bit sorry for her."

Harry nodded as he watched the two Witches battle to another draw as Erin managed to block another of Ginny's attempts to catch the snitch. Just as with the Keeper statistics, Erin Connelly was in second place to Ginny in the Seeker rankings. "So do I, but if she does win a game against Ginny, she'll know that she earned it. That's not going to happen today, though."

Hermione laughed. "Can't anything happen in Quidditch?"

"Yes, and Erin's trying hard, but she's making some little mistakes too," Harry answered. "It's just a matter of time before she makes a mistake that Ginny can use to catch the snitch."

"Do I want to ask, and get into a big technical Quidditch lesson or not?" Hermione asked rhetorically.

"Erin's missing the flying angles – just by a tiny bit," Gabrielle answered; smiling at Hermione for a quick moment before returning her full attention to the ongoing Seeker battle. "One of the Seekers I play against at Beauxbatons does the same thing, but in this case, it's probably because she's not quite used to the new broom."

"Good job," Harry complimented her. "That's exactly it."

Gabrielle's smile flashed brilliantly at his praise; and she took a quick moment to hug him. While the Seeker battle was always the most important part of the game for Harry, the Chasers on both teams were giving their fans a lot to cheer about. The Harpies were scoring more goals, but as the game moved into the fourth hour, the Prides were only down by one hundred and thirty points. The mistake that Harry had advised Hermione would come happened at the three hour, nine minute mark when Ginny led Erin into a maneuver that Erin missed. She'd needed to swerve to miss hitting the left Prides goalpost, and that was the tiny opening that Ginny needed to put some distance between them, and grab the snitch with a cool-looking, but not particularly tough catch.

"Yes!" Gabrielle shouted, and then hugged Harry again. They'd been the first two in their group who had jumped to their feet, and Harry laughed when he saw Ginny's bright smile as her eyes met his, and she caught him in mid-hug.

"I can't tell if she's amused or not," Hermione told him. "You could be in trouble, Harry."

"Ginny won't be mad, but Gabrielle could be in for an interesting day or two at school if that hug ends up on the front page of the Daily Prophet," Harry told her as she, Gabrielle, and everyone else who'd heard Hermione's comment laughed.

"Most of the Witches at school would believe any scandal story about me, and hardly any of the Wizards can even manage a coherent sentence when they're around me, so something like that wouldn't be a problem at all," Gabrielle told him; a sad shadow crossing her beautiful face before she smiled again and shrugged it off. "That's one of the reasons I like coming to visit Bill and Fleur so much. I almost feel normal hanging out with everyone here."

Harry laughed. "That's funny, because we think that you and your friends here are really extraordinary."

"We're also very cold," Dawn advised him. "Let's head for the exits, and move on to the going back to school party at our place."

That suggestion was unanimously accepted by everyone; though only about half of them were actually going to that party, while the others had different post-game plans. Harry picked Teddy up on the way to the party. Ginny met up with them there, and they stayed and had fun with their friends until shortly after dinner. Teddy spent the night with them, and while the Hogwarts students were busy getting ready to head out on the Hogwarts Express on Sunday, Harry and Ginny spent the morning with their Godson before dropping him off by lunchtime with Andromeda.

After seeing Teddy home, Harry and Ginny ended their Christmas holidays with an afternoon spent working around the house, followed by a quiet, playful evening alone. While the New Year was officially nearly a week old, as always, the kids' return to school really made it officially feel like they were starting a New Year. With a Quidditch World Cup coming up in addition to everything else they had to look forward to in two-thousand and two, like the upcoming birth of Bill and Fleur's second child and Ron and Hermione's wedding in the summer; Harry and Ginny were both sure that they were going to have another best year ever!


	31. 31 Winter Wonders

Chapter Thirty-One – Winter Wonders

The holidays were over, and as the deep cold of winter settled in, it was back to work and life as usual in the Wizarding World. Ginny had two games coming up in the next three weeks, so she and the Harpies were working even harder than usual to get ready for the Cannons and Bats. Harry and Neville were trainee-free while Natalie and Dennis did their training at St. Mungo's, so they spent that time working on their new assignment – investigating the Mulciber family. Emma wanted to know who was really in charge now, and there had been a number of suspicious incidents that some members of the family, or people working for them, might have been involved in. To lay the groundwork for their investigation, Harry and Neville split their time between doing research at the Ministry, and going out in the field to talk with all of the contacts in Harry and Ron's network.

When he wasn't working the new case, Harry spent the rest of his time during those first weeks of the New Year taking care of Ginny, and helping her with getting ready for the two Quidditch matches. The Cannons game was on the second Thursday night after the holidays, and though the Cannons had a full set of Firestorms by then, they hadn't been training with them for long, and the match was a disaster for them. One of their Chasers crashed early, and Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza had fun, and a fairly easy time of scoring goals as they played three against two for most of the game. The Cannons new rookie Seeker played well enough against Ginny up until he crashed too at the three hour and seventeen minute mark. He'd spun out of control trying to duplicate a maneuver Ginny had made, which also gave her the clean shot to catch the snitch, end the game, and seal the Harpies' seven hundred and forty to twenty victory.

With their next game just nine days away, there was no break at all for the Harpies, and Ginny put in long days every day, including doing weekend and evening Seeker duels with Harry. The Bats managed to stay on their brooms, and play a bit better than the Cannons when they met the Harpies on the last Saturday in January, but that wasn't of much comfort to them after losing the match by a score of four hundred and ninety to fifty. After three busy weeks, Harry and Ginny took the rest of the weekend off for some overdue quality play time for two, and by Monday morning, they were rested up and ready to go again as the last days of January wound down, and February began.

The first fun event of the new month was Arthur's fifty-first birthday party on Wednesday, February sixth at the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny had set everything up, and had many of her parents' friends, and as much of the family as she could round up, there for the dinner and party. Percy ended up being stuck at work, and Charlie and Julianne couldn't make it over from Romania, but everyone else in the family was there, including some of Arthur's cousins and Aunt Muriel. Roasting the birthday Wizard was number one on the party entertainment plan, and Fleur's any-day-now impending delivery was the next most popular topic.

"I guess your Mommy isn't going to give Grandpa a new Grandchild for his birthday," Ginny told Victoire. Her adorable niece had been bouncing back and forth between Ginny and Audrey and Molly until they sat down for dinner, and was now sitting between Ginny and Fleur.

"Mommy says not today," Victoire advised her. "Baby here soon."

"Are you ready to help take care of your new brother or sister?"

"Yes!" Victoire assured her emphatically. "I help Grandma with Molly to pwactice." Audrey tried to drop Molly off with her Grandmother at least once a week now so that she could do a little running around; and Victoire could have some regular visits with her cousin. Ginny had heard a few of those 'help' stories, and she smiled and nodded.

"Grandma told me that you're a very good helper," she advised Victoire. "Your new baby is going to be very lucky. I sure wish that I'd had a big sister like you. Older brothers aren't nearly as nice."

"Maybe for you," Harry disagreed; smiling at Fleur. "Your sisters-in-law seem to feel differently about that."

"They probably wouldn't have if they'd been hanging out with them when they were little," Ginny suggested. "Angelina and Hermione know what I mean."

Angelina was sitting across the table from them, and she laughed. "I do, but then I'm not one of your sister-in-laws."

"Yet," Ginny countered. "I have high hopes that you might be some day." She smiled at the looks on both George's and Angelina's faces and held up a hand. "I'll bug you about that some other time. We should definitely get on with the birthday roasting while we can."

They did that, and the dinner and roast was followed by cake and ice cream; Arthur opened the few gifts that his kids had collectively given him; and then they spent another hour or so having after-dinner drinks as the party wound down, and the guests began heading out into the cold winter night. Ginny and Angelina needed to be heading home in time for their training curfew, so they left the Leaky somewhere in the middle of the pack, and after getting home, Harry and Ginny both worked for a while before ending their night with the usual training day bedtime routine. It was back to work in the morning, and the rest of the week sped by as Ginny focused on her game against the Tornados; Harry and Neville worked on their assignment; and they continued training Natalie and Dennis.

Saturday was the coldest game day of the winter, at least for a Harpies match, and Harry had quite a few new guests to watch the game with. Molly had stayed home to watch Victoire and give Fleur a break while Bill and Arthur were at the game; and the other fair-weather fans had given their tickets for the game to friends or co-workers. Harry had gone to Bodmin stadium on his own, and met up with Arthur and Bill there; getting to their seats with only a few minutes left until game time.

"Mark Summerby played against Ginny at Hogwarts," Harry reminded Arthur and Bill as the game started. "He's having a decent season, even though he had a tough time against Ginny in their first match back in August. We'll see how he does now that the Tornados have Firestorms too."

"The whole team will need to play better," Bill told him. "They only scored one goal in that game, and the Harpies scored over six hundred points."

"Six-twenty," Arthur advised him. "The Tornados are moving up in the standings, though, so I think they'll play much better today."

He was right about that, but the Harpies were playing even better, and Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were scoring two goals for every one the Tornados Chasers could manage to get past Trish – for the first three hours, anyway. They got better after that, and were ahead by more than one hundred and fifty points before the fourth hour ended. The Tornados continued to battle, and Mark had been given the go-ahead to try and catch the snitch for the loss, but Ginny wasn't interested in letting that happen, and she continued their Seeker duel until at five hours and two minutes, Mark crashed his broom into the pitch trying to keep up with Ginny while she caught the snitch just a few feet off the ground to give her team the six hundred and ten to one hundred and eighty point win.

"That was fun," Bill said as he stood and stomped his feet. "Let's get out of here. I want to make sure that Fleur's okay."

"Do you have your mirror with you?" Harry asked, and Bill laughed.

"I keep forgetting about it," he admitted; pulling it out of his cloak and taking a moment to check in with his wife. "She's at the Burrow," he advised Harry and Arthur. "We have orders to go there for a late dinner."

With that decision made for them, they joined the exodus of semi-frozen Quidditch fans out of the stadium and apparated to the Burrow. While Arthur and Bill took care of Victoire, and gave Molly and Fleur the post-game review; Harry helped Molly with getting dinner ready. They had that done by the time Ginny joined them, and they spent another couple of hours together before it was time for Bill and Fleur to take their sleepy little girl home, and for Harry and Ginny to head out too. The Harpies' next match was on Thursday – Valentine's Day – and taking Sunday off wasn't an option for Ginny. With just three regular practice days available to get ready to play Puddlemere United, Glynnis had ordered an extra, light workout on Sunday afternoon. Ginny spent the morning studying, went out for lunch with Harry in London, and then went on to her practice while he went to spend a few hours with Teddy. They ended their weekend with an impromptu working dinner for all of the Harpies players and their spouses or boyfriends that Harry and Ginny hosted at their house.

"Shouldn't the all-Witch team get to have Valentine's Day off?" Alicia asked plaintively. "It seems like we get stuck with all of the holiday games."

"They want the best matches," Gwenog advised her. "If you don't want to be stuck with big games on holidays, go play for the Cannons. They haven't been on the A-list for about a century, so it wouldn't be a problem for you anymore."

Alicia laughed. "Thanks, but I've gotten rather fond of winning. I guess the only thing that really surprises me is that there are very many Witches who want to be taken to a Quidditch match to celebrate Valentine's Day."

"I heard that this was one of the few matches, other than the games that are played when the kids are out of school, that was sold out before the season started," Lee told her. "Maybe your fans just want to spend the evening with the team they love the most."

"That's very sweet," Gwenog told him. "Now let's get to work on the game plan. Staying out past curfew is not an option."

"We could be in for our toughest match so far this season," Angelina declared. "United will be rested, and have had a week longer to get ready for us."

"The scouting reports are a bit mixed, but Wilda and Laura are definitely picking their game up to the Firestorm level; and Oliver is playing a lot better too," Ginny added. "I think we still have the advantage at Seeker and Beater, though."

"Self-confidence, and sucking up to the Captain," Trish told her with a grin. "Nicely done!"

"And fairly accurate," Lysa said with a nod and smile for Ginny. "Does that mean that Gwenog and I should concentrate on United's Chasers and Keeper?"

Ginny shrugged. "That's an option," she agreed, "but we'll need to be ready for them to come after me and Alicia too."

"We all know why they'll go after Ginny, but why me?" Alicia asked; using her best little-girl whine for the 'why me', and earning a few laughs.

"Because the scouting reports are that United's Beaters have been going after their opponent's playmaker Chasers instead of their top scorers," Gwenog explained with an approving nod for Ginny. "It's been fairly effective for them during their last few games."

"Sucks to be you this week," Angelina joked.

"We could let the rookie be the playmaker this week," Alicia suggested hopefully as she smiled brightly at Demelza. "She's better at dodging bludgers than I am anyway."

"That's exactly what we're thinking about doing," Gwenog advised her Chasers. "It might throw Wood's game off too."

Harry and the other guys mostly let their girls talk out their game plan while they ate, and took care of the cleanup while Gwenog kept the planning session going. The meeting wrapped up about an hour before curfew, and once they were alone again, Harry ignored Ginny's protests that she needed to study, and gave her something else to do that at least ended their weekend with some play time and fun before the start of another crazy-busy work week.

"You have a beautiful, red-haired, blue-eyed niece," Harry advised Ginny on Monday at shortly after noon. She was on her lunch break, and he was at St. Mungo's; where Fleur had spent a bit over ten hours giving birth to her second daughter, Dominique. Ginny couldn't get out of training, so Harry had checked in with her using their two-way mirrors as soon as he was sure she'd be on lunch. "She was born at ten fifty-two, and weighed in at seven pounds, six ounces."

"Have you seen her yet? How's Fleur?" Ginny asked; her face lighting up, and her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Victoire and I got to hold her for a minute or two," Harry answered. "Fleur's tired, but doing great. She and Dominique are resting right now, so Mum and I are going to take Bill and Victoire out for lunch. I'll go back to work for a few hours after that. Do you want to meet me here after work, or at home?"

"I'll meet you at St. Mungo's. Tell Victoire congratulations, and to give her Mum and sister extra hugs and kisses from me when she sees them again." She looked away from her mirror for a moment, and nodded. "I'd better go," she advised Harry as she looked back at the mirror. "I love you. Thanks for the update."

"I love you too, and you're welcome, honey. See you after work."

Harry went out for lunch at the Leaky, and then met up with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie at Auror Headquarters and got back to work. Concentrating on their assignment wasn't all that easy, and though he and Ginny were now experienced at being an aunt and uncle, he had been just as touched by meeting his third niece as he'd been with her big sister – or with Teddy. A little field work helped to make the afternoon hours pass by a bit more quickly, but Harry was ready to get back to the hospital and meet up with Ginny after they wrapped up the work day with a short meeting at Auror Headquarters. He still managed to get there about fifteen minutes before she did, and welcomed her with a long, warm hug, and a few soft kisses.

"Oi! Cut that out," Ron said as he and Hermione walked up to them. "We came here to see a baby, not watch a snogfest."

"Your timing, as usual, is lousy," Ginny told him bluntly. "How are you, Hermione? Have you seen our new niece yet?"

Hermione nodded as she hugged Ginny after Harry had stepped back so she could do that. "I stopped in while I was on lunch; though Fleur and Dominique were both sleeping at the time, so I only saw the baby for a couple of minutes. She's definitely got a bit of you in her. I wonder how rare a red-headed Veela is?"

"We didn't see any at Bill and Fleur's wedding," Ron reminded them.

"And Ron was looking very hard," Harry joked.

"He barely took his eyes off of Hermione the whole time," Ginny disagreed. "Except for a few dozen glares directed at Viktor Krum."

"I wonder if he'll be playing for Bulgaria again for the World Cup this year?" Harry asked innocently; then laughed when Ron glared at him.

"He is still considered the best Seeker in the world," Ginny advised him helpfully. "I'd expect him to make their team."

"Where is that new niece of ours?" Ron asked; looking around theatrically. "I can hardly wait to see her."

Ginny laughed. "That's worth letting you off the hook for. Let's find out where we'll be on the visitation schedule."

Their timing was good, and Molly quickly ushered them into Fleur's room for a short visit. Ginny won first cuddle with Dominique after sharing quick hugs and congratulations with her brother and sister-in-law. Ron didn't attempt to hold his new niece, but did put his arm around Hermione when she took a turn; brushing a finger through Dominique's soft red hair, and managing a couple of tentative compliments. Harry was holding the baby when Molly returned to let them know that their visiting time was up; and he reluctantly gave her up to Ginny again for a last hug and kiss or three before she was returned to Fleur.

"You can play with the baby again later; after dinner," Molly promised as she smiled contentedly at the three couples. "George and Angelina are waiting, and Percy and Audrey, and Charlie and Julianne, will be here any time now too."

"Aw Mum, do we have to go? Dominique and I are having fun," Ginny joked.

"Yes you do," Molly answered. "We're going out for dinner soon, and the other kids want a chance to play first too."

"Can we smuggle something in for you that isn't hospital food when we come back?" Ginny asked Fleur.

"Bill's already going to do that for me," Fleur advised her, "and you'll still be able to play with Victoire while you're waiting for your next visit. Just don't be surprised if I'm napping by then. It's been a long day."

The waiting room was nearly full, so after leaving Fleur's room, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione spent most of the next three-quarters of an hour in the hallway chatting with the rest of their family; and with Fleur's parents. They'd arrived by mid-afternoon, and had been sharing taking care of Victoire with Molly whenever they weren't visiting Fleur, Bill, and Dominique. The best baby story of the day was theirs too; and everyone had thought it was great that they'd been able to use their two-way mirrors with Gabrielle after she was done classes for the day so that she could see her new niece, and talk with Bill and Fleur for a while.

"We should probably mention to Fleur that she might want to be careful about using her mirror for a while," Ginny told Hermione.

"Why?" Ron asked; looking at Ginny blankly. Both girls laughed.

"Do you vaguely remember a potential mirror problem we had to deal with while Ginny and I were still at Hogwarts for our last year?" Hermione asked him. "Using the mirrors while nursing babies could be a problem too." She and Ginny both laughed again as Ron blushed furiously.

"Been there, nearly made that mistake with Percy when he was at work not long after we got our mirrors," Audrey told them as she joined them; carrying Molly. "Mum's starting to round everyone up to go for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. Charlie and Julianne are just about finished their visit, and then she wants us all out of here so Fleur and Dominique can have some quiet time."

"And hopefully a nice long nap too," Ginny added with a nod. "Would you like a hand with Molly for a while?"

Audrey smiled and handed her daughter over to Ginny. "She's had lots of volunteer cuddlers since we got here, but you're welcome to take her for a while too."

"Thank you," Ginny said as she took possession of the baby. "I'll take all of the time I can get with the girls before I have to go back to concentrating on work again for the rest of the week."

"Maybe you should take some time off," Ron suggested. "It might make your game on Thursday more interesting."

Ginny laughed and shook her head. "That's not happening, and we're playing United," she reminded him. "They're playing well right now, and it'll be a tough match."

"I'm sure it'll be tough for them; and for the United fans," Ron said dismissively. "Let's go eat – I'm starving!"

While keeping Ron happy, and saving him from starvation, was a bonus, it was getting to spend a little time with their family that everyone appreciated the most. Taking the evening off from the usual game studying was one thing, but Ginny and Angelina had no intention of risking the wrath of Gwenog by breaking training curfew; so after dinner, they were among the first to get one more short visit with Dominique, Fleur, and Bill. There'd been a little time left to visit with everyone in the waiting room after that, but then Harry and Ginny went home; where they got back to their regular weeknight work and bedtime routine.

Fleur and Dominique went home on Tuesday morning. Bill and Victoire were taking some time off from work and grandma daycare to help with the new baby; and they had lots of support from both sets of grandparents too. Having a new baby didn't exactly allow Bill and Fleur any time for romance or intimacy on Valentine's Day. Harry and Ginny had the same problem; though in their case, it was Ginny's job, and the Harpies' match against United that kept them apart for most of the day. The game was being played at Exmoor, and the stadium was filling rapidly by the time Harry got to his seat with about fifteen minutes to go before the start. Arthur and Molly, Ron and Hermione, George, Lee, and the rest of their guests were already there, so he had a round of hugs and greetings to take care of before sitting down.

"Congratulations," Harry told Ron.

"For what?"

Harry laughed and nodded toward Hermione. "From the smile on your fiancée's face, I'd say you must've done well enough with your Valentine's Day plans."

"Thank you," George told him with a grin, "and you're welcome, Ron."

"The Valentine wheezes were funny," Hermione assured George, "but it was the breakfast in bed; the jewelry; the roses at work; and the romantic dinner for two that have me this happy. Is your Valentine as happy?"

"She must be talking to you, Harry," George said; nodding toward him. "I don't have a Valentine."

"I wonder who sent Angelina the flowers today?" Lee asked innocently. "Alicia said something about her getting diamond and ruby jewelry this morning too." He looked pointedly at George's red hair. "Is it possible that there's a connection?"

George shrugged. "I didn't want Angelina to feel left out when all of her teammates would be getting gifts. Best friends do things like that for each other."

"You didn't send me flowers," Lee joked. "We're best friends."

"I did give you a box of Valentine wheezes, though," George reminded him. "If you like flowers more, I'll remember that for next year."

"Now you've asked for it," Ron told Lee. "Be careful when you get those flowers – they'll likely explode or do Merlin knows what to you."

"Maybe a love potion scent?" George suggested enthusiastically; warming up to the flower wheezes idea. "A swarm of bees coming out of them might be fun too."

"We are talking about Valentine's Day, so Honey bees would work," Ron mused. "Maybe they could spray real honey too instead of stinging."

"You are going to get a lot of Wizards in trouble with a wheeze like that," Molly predicted.

George laughed. "That just makes me love the idea even more, Mum."

"And we're sure that you love the added bonus of another successful subject change from talking about you and Angelina," Arthur told him.

Harry had no doubt that his father-in-law was right about that, and they all helped George out by letting the conversation move on to the latest news that Molly had about Dominique and Victoire. When the game started, the action above the pitch was so fast-paced, that there wasn't time for much conversation. While Trish and Oliver were two of the best Keepers in the league, it was the Harpies and United Chasers giving their fans a lot to cheer about. In the first hour, the six Chasers scored fifteen goals, with the Harpies putting nine quaffles past Oliver Wood while Wilda Griffiths and Laura Madley scored three goals each against Trish.

"I'd say that we have a new rivalry," Hermione told Harry and Ron as they watched Demelza score another goal after getting past Laura, and then using a stop and go move on Oliver before putting the quaffle through the right goal.

"Like the Harpies and United needed any more motivation for their rivalry," Ron said as he nodded his agreement. "Laura and Demelza do match up well, though."

"The Harpies are switching things up because the United Beaters are keying in on Alicia," Harry advised them. "It's actually better for the Harpies when Demelza's playing against Wilda. She doesn't score as many goals, but when she's defending, Wilda hasn't scored at all."

"If you'd been able to notice details like that when we were at Hogwarts, I'd have been asking you for help with our studies," Hermione joked.

"Being more observant wouldn't have changed anything – except to maybe help Ron and I to notice new ways to avoid working on the subjects we didn't like," Harry disagreed.

"Which was every subject except DADA and Charms," Ron added. "The only things that saved me from the wrath of Mum with my reports were your tutoring, and George and Fred's reports being worse than mine."

"Lucky you. Fred and I didn't have a chance following right after perfect Percy."

"I would have been happy with your reports if you'd worked even half as hard in your classes as you did on your wheezes and pranks," Molly advised him, and then smiled; a glint of mischief in her eyes. "If you want to compare yourself to your brothers, though, we can talk about you settling down with a good Witch and giving your father and I some more grandchildren. I wonder where we could find a girl who would be perfect for you?" she added; innocently looking away – and watching Angelina as she raced around above the pitch.

Harry had continued watching the game, and mostly watching Ginny as she battled the United Seeker, while quietly listening to the others. George first had to steer the conversation away from wives and kids to anything else, and eventually Molly and Hermione talked weddings while the guys kept busy watching the game. The goal scoring actually sped up a bit as the game went along, and while the Harpies stayed in the lead throughout the match, they didn't get more than one hundred and fifty points ahead. The Seeker battle was fierce, and while Ginny had many more chance to catch the snitch, her opponent managed to block her time after time. The Harpies were up by a score of four-twenty to two-ninety when Ginny finally caught the snitch at the three hour and forty-nine minute mark of the match to give her team the win with a spectacular catch that even the United fans cheered for.

Valentine's Day was over by the time that Ginny got home from the stadium, but Harry did have a special welcome home and bedtime celebration for two ready for her. That had been brilliantly fun for both of them, but made for a short night's sleep, and a long work day on Friday. Since the Harpies only had eight days until their next match, it was going to be another work weekend for Ginny, but they also had plans to visit Bill, Fleur, and the girls, and to take both Victoire and Teddy for an overnight stay on Saturday night. They had a quiet night in on Friday, with Ginny studying scouting reports on the Catapults while Harry worked on the next section of the new Auror training that he and Neville were going to need for Dennis and Natalie. Ginny studied on Saturday morning too, while Harry worked around the house and took care of the grocery shopping. They had lunch together, and then picked up Teddy on their way to Bill and Fleur's.

"Are you excited about coming to spend the night with us?" Ginny asked Victoire as she picked her up for a hug. Her bag was packed and in the hallway, and her current favorite bedtime cuddle stuffie was sitting on top of the bag where it could still watch everything that was going on around it.

"Yes!" she assured Ginny enthusiastically. "Mommy says I need a hall-day."

"You probably do need a holiday," Ginny agreed as she passed Victoire off to Harry. "New baby sisters can be very tiring."

"Uncle Ron would probably agree with that," he joked, and then reminded Victoire that her Aunt Ginny was Ron's baby sister before she giggled at his failed attempt at humor.

"He probably would," Bill said as he joined them, and hugged Ginny. "The rest of your brothers loved having a baby sister."

Ginny laughed. "You always made me feel that way, but then you were either at school or out on your own for most of my childhood."

"That's actually one of the only things that I didn't like about being the oldest, sis. Charlie felt the same way; though he at least didn't start school until a couple of years after you were born."

"I was full into the terrible twos then, and you were both glad to be off to Hogwarts," Ginny reminded him with another laugh.

"Compared to the twins, your terrible twos were only mildly annoying," Bill told her. He scooped Victoire into his arms and smiled as she hugged him. "I'm so glad that Victoire's going to skip that stage of growing up."

"They did start their career training young," Ginny agreed. "Is Fleur having a nap?"

"She'd probably like one, but Dominique wanted to be nursed. They'll be down in a few minutes, and we'll try for some nap time after you head home."

Fleur's parents were out doing some running around for them, and Harry, Ginny, and Teddy were the only visitors. While they waited in the sitting room for Fleur and Dominique, Teddy reluctantly sat on the floor and played with Victoire; mostly because Harry produced a pair of action figures and a dragon for them, and sat down to play with Victoire too. Bill and Ginny sat on one of the sofas; he told them a few of the latest baby stories; and when Fleur joined them, Ginny was quite happy to have some quality cuddle time with her newest niece.

"She's got red hair like yours," Teddy told Ginny after he'd been introduced to the baby.

"And blue eyes like me and Mommy," Victoire added.

"Grandma says my eyes started out blue, but they're not now," Teddy told her, and frowned when Victoire giggled at him.

"Yes they are," she advised him. "And you have red hair now too. It's funny when you do that."

Teddy scrunched up his face and turned his hair and eyes back to normal. "I mean that maybe her eyes won't stay blue either," he told her.

Harry nodded. "They might not, but we're pretty sure that she'll have blue eyes like her Mum, Grandma, Aunt, and sister."

While they would have liked to spend more time with Bill, Fleur, and Dominique, Harry and Ginny knew that they'd be having lots of visitors all weekend, so they only stayed for a bit over a half hour before taking Teddy and Victoire with them and heading home. Ginny took the rest of the afternoon and early evening off so she could play with Harry and the kids too. They played games in the sitting room until dinnertime, and then watched an animated Muggle movie before bath and bedtime. Once the kids were off to sleep, Ginny worked for a couple of hours while Harry mostly cuddled with her and listened to the WWN. When she fell asleep, he carried her up to bed, and though she'd woken up again, and been interested in some quiet playtime with him; they'd instead ended up with a little blonde haired, blue eyed cuddle buddy for the rest of the night instead.

Ginny needed to get back to her work on Sunday, so after breakfast, she did that; and Harry took care of Teddy and Victoire until Andromeda came to get Teddy at around eleven, and then Arthur picked up Victoire just before noon. Harry and Ginny had lunch together, and then went outside for a lengthy Seeker duel. They had Ron and Hermione over for dinner and another computer tutoring session after that, and then ended their weekend with a little more homework; followed by some quality post-curfew bedtime fun.

Starting on Monday, all was not well in the Quidditch world; at least according to a trickle of media reports that covered a few fairly serious crashes that had happened on the weekend. One of the injured players had blamed his Firestorm, and suggested that the new brooms were faulty and uncontrollable. Statements like that soon had news sensationalists like Rita Skeeter off and running with stories that were big on sensationalism but without a shred of fact to back up their stories. The media frenzy over those first accidents was just getting warmed up when the Harpies met the Catapults on the last Saturday in February. Molly, Arthur, and Lee were the only regulars there with Harry, and the rest of their block of seats had been given away to other friends. The game had only been going for about fifteen minutes when one of the Catapults' Chasers lost control of his broom and crashed onto a guard rail; snapping his Firestorm in two before being flipped into a group of spectators.

"That'll give the press another excuse to hype their idiotic Firestorm stories," Lee suggested as they watched a group of Medi-Witches and Wizards tend to the injured player and fans. "All it takes is one Wizard trying to cover his butt after destroying a very expensive broom by blaming it instead of his own incompetence, and now it's a safe bet that this guy, and anyone else who crashes will do the same thing."

"Some will," Harry agreed, "but I seriously doubt that any pro players will go back to using the Firebolts or other brooms instead. They just wouldn't be able to compete at this level anymore."

Lee laughed. "That guy will – at least until the Catapults can get their hands on another Firestorm."

Harry was sure, from the look on the Catapults' manager's face, that he wasn't happy about losing that broom, and nothing happened during the rest of the game to cheer him up. With a three on two advantage at Chaser, Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza pounded the Catapults Keeper. The only thing that could even remotely be considered good news for the Catapults was that Ginny caught the snitch at the one hour, thirty-six minute mark. Since the Harpies won by a score of three hundred and eighty to forty, that early catch really only put an exclamation mark on just how poorly the Catapults had played.

By the end of the game, Harry was in a great mood. After weeks of having to put work first, he and Ginny were planning on spending the rest of the weekend together at home. The short game had the added bonus that they could get to that play time sooner. That happy mood lasted until he got home and found the Ministry of Magic Owl Post waiting for him. After reading it, he popped over to Auror Headquarters; picked up the report that had been left on his desk, and returned home again. He was sitting at the kitchen table reading through that file when Ginny got back from the stadium.

"Who do I have to blame for messing up our weekend for two plans?" she asked before leaning over to share a hug and kiss with him.

"Your brother and Josh," he answered; sliding his chair back so he could gently tug her onto his lap before wrapping his arms around her again and pulling her close. "They've found a group dealing in Dark Arts artifacts, and Emma wants to put them out of business."

"I suppose she wouldn't consider holding off on that until next weekend, when I have to work too?" Ginny suggested hopefully. Harry laughed and kissed her again.

"We wish, but no. I need to read through the rest of this report first, but after that, we do at least have the rest of tonight for you and me. I don't have to be at Auror Headquarters until eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

While he did that, Ginny made dinner for them, and then they spent the rest of the evening making the most of the play time they did have. While Harry had to go into work early on Sunday morning, and only slept for a few hours, Ginny was able to sleep in as late as she wanted. Harry was in his cubicle; silently lamenting the fact that he couldn't still be in bed with his beautiful, amazing, and currently rather scantily-clad wife when Ron came in and flopped tiredly into a chair.

"Sorry to mess up your weekend off," he told Harry. "Hopefully Ginny doesn't have another bat-bogey hex waiting for me next time I see her."

"You don't have to worry about that," Harry assured him. "You and Josh have been busy. This is going to be a nice catch for you." He waved at the report on his desk. "This lot must have nearly as many artifacts as Borgin and Burke did when we shut their store down."

"They do," Ron agreed. "The only thing we're not happy about is that we can't get any hard evidence to link Donatien and Rochelle Rosier to the group running this Dark Arts artifacts ring."

"They're the couple running the Rosier family now?" Harry asked; and Ron nodded.

"Yeah. We know they're behind everything that goes on in their family, but we aren't making any progress with proving that."

"That sounds like the same problem Neville and I have with our assignment. The family heads are definitely hiding in the shadows these days. So what's the plan?"

Ron shrugged. "We'll start working that out today, and then spend a couple of days getting everyone set up and ready to raid all of the caches of artifacts. We'll probably have everything ready to go by Wednesday."

Josh stopped by then to round them up, and when everyone was in the conference room, he and Ron summarized the report that only about half of the Aurors and trainees had finished reading already. Emma joined in to lead the morning planning meeting, and then left Josh and Ron in charge of the afternoon work session. Harry and Ron met Ginny and Hermione for lunch in Diagon Alley during their break, but then they worked at Auror Headquarters until nearly nine o'clock.

Since this wasn't 'their' operation, Harry, Neville, Dennis, and Natalie didn't really have all that much to do on Monday and Tuesday. Ron and Josh were going non-stop as they took each group of Aurors on trips to show them the specific locations they'd be responsible for raiding. Ron took Harry, and the group he'd be leading, for their tour on Monday afternoon. For the rest of the time, Harry and Neville did their usual daily training with Dennis and Natalie, and continued to work their own assignment until late Tuesday afternoon. There was one more meeting after dinner on Tuesday, and then everything was set for an early morning launch for the raid.

Harry and Dennis were in position, and ready to go, by shortly before dawn. Josh and Ron were sure that the building they were about to raid held one of the larger caches of Dark Arts objects; and the two Wizards who lived there, Anton and Marc Rosier, were the most likely to try and fight their arrest. That's why Harry and Neville also had Reggie, Dan, and their trainees, Derek Summers and Alison Chambers, with them. They were in position too, covering the rear of the building; while Neville and Natalie were providing cover for Harry and Dennis in the front. All of the raids were being done at the same time to make sure that none of their targets had any chance to find out about what was happening and escape, so when it was time, Harry and Dennis left their cover and approached the front door at the same time that Reggie put up the anti-apparition shield around the building.

"Auror Harry Potter!" Harry shouted as the two Wizards came running out of the front door; Reggie's shield alerting them to the raid. "Drop your wands – you're under arrest!"

"That worked well," Dennis joked under his breath as Anton and Marc immediately began attacking them instead of surrendering. "Have you thought about disarming them first and offering to arrest them later; or would that just be poor form?"

Neither of them had time to laugh as they defended themselves against the flurry of curses directed at them using shields and throwing their special blocks and engorgement charms into the paths of the killing curses. Dennis stepped away from Harry; putting a few strides of space between them. Neville and Natalie joined the battle, and they all soon heard Reggie, Dan, Derek, and Alison making their way toward the fight; two of them coming through the building while the others flanked the outside to block those escape routes.

"Right!" Harry shouted as he blocked a killing curse from Anton that Dennis hadn't seen coming as he dueled Marc. Dennis' training kicked in; and he quickly dove out of the way as the curse hit Harry's defense just inches from where his head had been a moment earlier. Harry's anger flared immediately, and he blasted Anton; destroying his shield, and throwing him hard against the wall behind him. He turned to look at Natalie for a second after seeing her counter-attack hit Anton too; destroying the Wizard's wand, and causing a bright flashover.

He sensed the danger to himself then, and turned back toward Marc in time to watch the dagger being thrown at him as it was blasted by several repelling charms at once before it was half-way to him. Those spells had come from Neville, Dan, and Alison; and while they were protecting Harry, Reggie, Derek, and Dennis disarmed and bound Marc. By then, the wildly spinning dagger had been blasted back toward him; slicing a shallow cut on his left arm before striking the wall and clattering to the ground.

"The dagger was cursed or poisoned," Reggie declared as they all watched Marc's reaction to the cut.

"Take him to St. Mungo's," Harry told him. "Take Alison with you; and the rest of us will deal with Anton, and take care of the Dark Arts artifacts."

"Don't touch it, but bring the dagger," Reggie told Alison. "The Healers may need to see it to figure out what's happening to him."

Alison quickly retrieved the dagger and put it in a protective case before she and Reggie took Marc and apparated to St. Mungo's. Once they were gone, Neville and Natalie dealt with Anton while Harry, Dennis, Dan, and Derek started to take a look around the main floor of the building.

"We need to take Anton to St. Mungo's too," Natalie reported. "He's got a nasty flashover burn, and I broke his hand when I destroyed his wand. He's probably got a fairly serious concussion from hitting the wall, and at least three broken ribs."

"I'll apologize to him later, but I take it rather personally when people try to kill Dennis."

Natalie smiled grimly and nodded. "So do I, though I don't plan on apologizing to him; since I'm not sorry about blasting him."

"I'm sure glad you were both there for me," Dennis told them, "but is there any chance we can keep this from my Mum?"

"You just finished dueling two Dark Wizards, and you're worried about what your Mum will do to you when she finds out?" Dan asked in amusement; and Dennis nodded.

"Definitely," he agreed. "She's not exactly thrilled with my career choice, and this will not help."

"You'll have to tell her," Harry counseled. "Trust me on this – you do not want her to hear about it on the WWN, or see something in the Daily Prophet. The good news is that your Mum and Dad have a new reason to love Natalie even more than they already do."

"That might help a bit," Dennis conceded. "Do you want one of us to help Neville with getting Anton to St. Mungo's?"

Harry looked around the room and nodded. "You can both go, and then one of you should pop over to Auror Headquarters and give Ron and Josh an update. We're just going to seal this place, and leave it for Bill and his curse-breakers to deal with."

He went outside with them, and talked with Neville for a moment before they left with their prisoner, and then he, Dan, and Derek got to work on sealing and protecting the building while also making sure that nobody would be able to break in and make off with the cache of artifacts. They did do a full search of the building first, and were there for more than an hour before finishing the protections and apparating to Auror Headquarters. By then, most of the action from the raids was over, and they had a short meeting with Emma before she gave each of them different assignments.

"Don't you have enough pull around Headquarters to get out of hospital guard duty yet?" Natalie asked Harry and Neville after Harry told them that they were being relieved.

"Apparently not," Harry answered. "Emma wants you and Dennis to spend the day watching Josh and Ron interview their prisoners; and take notes. Don't be surprised to find that night guard duty is in your future until Anton and Marc Rosier here are healed, though."

"With trial guard duty to follow," Neville added. "The good news for you there is that it's warmer here and at the Ministry than it'll be for Harry and I out in the field."

"Maybe we should take the guard duty," Harry joked. "Give us the latest you have on our prisoners, and then you should get going."

Natalie did that; and then she and Dennis went to Auror Headquarters while Harry and Neville settled in for what they expected would be a long, boring day. The only reason they were on guard duty was because Emma had decided that the big roundup of Dark Arts objects was a perfect learning opportunity for Derek and Alison; so Reggie, Dan, and their trainees were going to work with Bill for at least the rest of the day so they could find out how the curse breakers safely handled cursed and poisoned artifacts.

"It's nice to see that our Aurors were able to stay safe this morning, even if these two weren't so lucky." Harry smiled and nodded as Healer Kendrick walked across the room to where he and Neville were sitting while watching their prisoners.

"I might've been if the dagger that one threw at me had hit its mark, Kellie," Harry answered. "Fortunately for me, my friends had my back today." She frowned and shook her head.

"That would have been nasty," she agreed; looking over at Marc. "If he hadn't been brought right in, he probably wouldn't have made it; and the blade really barely made a scratch on his arm. He's still not out of the woods, and will have a long recovery."

"How's Anton?" Harry asked.

"We'll need to keep him overnight because of the concussion, but we've dealt with the broken ribs and hand already. The flashover burns will finish healing in a week or so. I have to wake him up now, so I hope you're ready to hear some nasty insults. He wasn't very happy with you the first time I saw him."

"No doubt. He was unconscious when they left, but Natalie told me that he woke up; and apparating in his condition would've really sucked to be awake for."

Kellie nodded as she moved over to Anton's bed and pulled out her wand. "I'm sure it did, but he was more interested in insulting you." She woke Anton, and the moment he saw Harry and Neville, he immediately launched into a loud, nasty monologue of insults and threats.

"Do you still want to apologize to him?" Neville asked after he'd put Anton into a full body-bind. He'd made a grab for Kellie's wand, and was now glaring daggers at Neville.

"I am sorry that he was hurt," Harry answered honestly. "For some reason, though, my apologies are never accepted by our prisoners."

"I wonder why?" Kellie asked dryly. "He's obviously doing well enough, but we'll have him checked every hour or so to make sure that concussion isn't worse than it appears." She checked Marc next; though that only took a moment. "This one will likely sleep for a day or two, but if he wakes; we'll need to check him immediately."

Neville released Anton from his body-bind after Healer Kendrick left the room, and then he and Harry sat back and enjoyed the entertainment their prisoner provided as he continued to taunt them and offer vivid, and wildly improbable, depictions of the torturous deaths he and his pals were going to inflict on Harry. Neville did lunch and dinner food runs over to the Leaky so that he could see Hannah and Alice, and then he and Harry stayed on guard duty until midnight; when Dennis and Natalie relieved them.

They were pretty much out of the loop for Ron and Josh's case after that. Dennis and Natalie were on guard duty until further notice; and the rest of the trainees were working with Ron, Josh, and a few others as needed too. Bill and his team were taking care of the Dark Arts caches, and after writing up their reports for the actual raid, Harry and Neville were free to work on their own investigation.

Ron's twenty-second birthday was on Friday, and while he was busy interviewing prisoners with Josh all day, they did wrap up in the late afternoon, and Hermione was having a small birthday dinner for him at the Leaky before taking him away for the weekend. Harry and Ginny were there; along with about half of their family; and the few friends who'd been invited.

"No way!" Ron exclaimed as he pulled his new Firestorm out of the undetectable expansion bag that it had been hidden in. "This is brilliant guys. Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Ginny assured him. She leaned close to Harry and kissed him. "That's one of the first Firestorms that anyone outside of the pro Quidditch and Broom Racing leagues have."

"Be careful with that thing," George told him. "They're dangerous you know, and we wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"I'd like to see some of those guys who think the Firestorm is dangerous duel a few Dark Wizards and then see if they still think they are by comparison," Ron joked. "It's probably shocking to all of you, but I do have enough sense not to push this thing faster than I can handle."

"Too bad we've finished the birthday roast; we could've taken a comment like that and had a lot of fun with it," George told him.

"Save it for the wedding," Angelina suggested. "By then you'll come up with hours of jokes on how broom sense can be applied to marriage and wives."

Ron groaned. "When will I ever learn to just keep my big mouth shut?"

"Hopefully never," George answered. "We all appreciate the ongoing entertainment you set yourself up to provide us with."

The entertainment for Ron's birthday was nearly over, and once he finished opening his gifts, Hermione took him away for a weekend escape for two. If it hadn't been for his birthday, Ron would have been working the weekend; but instead of having to cancel the plans that Hermione had made for them, Harry and Neville offered to spend the weekend helping Josh with the ongoing interviews and case wrap-up work. Harry took the Saturday shift, and then had Sunday off. Ginny needed to work all weekend, but he was happy to spend his time off taking care of her; puttering around the house; having a long Seeker duel with her on Sunday afternoon; and making sure that each day ended with some quality bedtime fun for two. The Harpies were playing the Wanderers next, and Ginny was working even harder than usual – something she needed to do when playing her former Reserve Seeker, Melissa Maddock, as much as she did when playing against Erin Connelly.

The Harpies won that game convincingly in just two hours and thirty-two minutes, by a score of five-twenty to eighty; but the big Quidditch news story continued to be the hype about how dangerous the Firestorms were – especially after one of the Wanderers' Beaters crashed during their match, and quickly joined the growing group of players blaming the brooms for their accidents and injuries. Starting on Monday, the Wizarding sport media had a new hot story to go along with the hotly burning Firestorm controversy. The Falmouth Falcons managers and players were talking trash with anyone who would listen about how badly they were going to put a beating on the Harpies now that they all had the new Firestorms too. Their often graphic descriptions of exactly how they planned to avenge the pasting they took in their first match of the season made the front pages of the Daily Prophet every day, and was highlight material for every WWN news and sports show. While the Harpies only had eight days to get ready for that Monday night game, those snide and arrogant comments gave them all of the motivation they needed to get ready for their match, and they were definitely ready by game time.

"What do you think the Harpies are going to do tonight?" Hermione asked Harry as they waited for the teams to be called out and the game to start.

"I have no idea; but Ginny told me that we won't want to miss a second of the action. Whatever they do, though, I'd say the Falcons deserve it."

"And then some," Ron agreed. "Especially Harper. He was a total git when he played for Slytherin; but he's grown up to be a hippogriff-sized ass."

"If he does anything to Ginny, turning him into one is an option," Hermione suggested; then laughed at the grins on all of the boys' faces around her. "I'm joking – mostly."

"And I'd help you," Molly assured her.

The Harpies and Falcons were introduced then, and from what they could see and hear, the Falcons were busy taunting the Harpies while they waited for the referee to start the match. As always, Harry's attention was all on Ginny, and as the quaffle was sent high into the air, he was on his feet and cheering for his amazing wife.

"Yes!" he shouted joyously as Ginny's hand closed over the snitch and she raised her arm in victory. Spinning around, she looked straight at Harry, and her eyes were flashing with triumph as she smiled brilliantly at him; loving the look she saw in his face. That moment seemed to hang there for long seconds, and then the stadium erupted as more and more of the spectators realized that the game was already over.

"I guess that's one way to make the Falcons shut up," Hermione said as she stood up and cheered with everyone else.

"She did more than that," Harry advised her. "Ginny broke the unbreakable record."

"What?" Ron exclaimed; staring at Harry in astonishment. "That's impossible."

Harry grinned at them. "It'll take the referees a few minutes to confirm it, but she did break the record," he assured Ron. "I'll guess her time will be between three point one and three point two seconds."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione demanded. "What record?"

"The fastest snitch catch," Ron supplied; now looking back and forth between Harry and where Ginny was now being congratulated by her teammates. "Set in nineteen twenty-one by Roderick Plumpton. Everyone knows that it was a fluke catch, though he always insisted it wasn't."

"There won't be any doubt about Ginny's catch," Harry said happily. "If you were watching; all of the Harpies were in on that try. That's why she had a clean shot at it."

Hermione had closed her eyes, and looked like she was concentrating hard. She was smiling when she opened them again and looked at Harry. "Three point one one seconds," she advised him confidently. "The officials will be wrong if they come up with something different."

"That's my girl!" Molly shouted proudly. "Ginny Potter shatters the unbreakable record!"

"The Falcons don't look too happy," George told them; pointing to the pitch where the Falcons players and managers were glaring up at the still-celebrating Harpies; talking angrily with the head referee; and shouting angrily at Glynnis.

"I expect that they're coming to realize that the Harpies tried this against them specifically as an insult," Arthur said with a laugh. "It worked perfectly tonight, but when you think about it, there are other teams they could have used this play against and had much better odds of succeeding."

"And the Falcons don't get any points at all," Lee added. "That'll really hurt them in the run for a playoff spot."

"I wonder if they'd have tried this if the Harpies weren't so far ahead of the other teams right now?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"They wouldn't have," Harry assured her. "Glynnis and Gwenog would never allow something like this to mess up an entire season."

"By the way, Harry, how did you know? You were standing and cheering long before anyone else. Did Ginny tell you they were going to try for the record?" George asked him. "Angelina didn't say anything to me."

"She didn't say a word," Harry answered; laughing happily as he again made eye contact with Ginny as she and the rest of the Harpies flew around the stadium before landing on the pitch. "When I saw everyone else running interference for her when they took off, and totally ignoring the quaffle and bludgers; I knew what they were trying to do. They still needed more than a bit of luck, but the whole play was brilliant, and that catch was a lot harder and more spectacular than it seemed. Ginny just made it look easy."

"You're biased," Ron told him; and Harry nodded.

"Yes I am, but I'm not wrong. When a few of the other Seekers try it too, they'll find out just how hard it was." He turned and smiled at Hermione for a moment. "I'd say that your Arithmancy help made a difference too."

"I don't think she needs any help from me with that anymore. Too bad I can't get anything done at the Ministry that fast."

After watching a three-second game that ended with a play that most of the spectators didn't even see; nobody was in a hurry to leave the stadium. It was a full fifteen minutes before the announcers advised them that Ginny had broken the unbreakable record, and they'd confirmed the catch time that Hermione had calculated in seconds just from looking at the memory. The Falcons helped provide some entertainment as they continued their impotent bluster. The reporters mostly ignored them, and had Ginny surrounded as they pelted her with question after question.

Her family and husband stayed to enjoy the moment too, even if they couldn't be with her while they all celebrated, but Harry eventually left for home so he'd have time to put together a private celebration for two. When Ginny joined him there, she was definitely ready to do that, and they spent the rest of the evening making some very hot memories together. They were just over half-way through March, and the next big event coming up was the Easter holiday that was now less than two weeks away.

Harry and Ginny had a lot to look forward to as they moved from winter to spring; and Easter was just the beginning. The Harpies were now just four matches away from an undefeated regular season. They had the usual spring birthdays coming up; the League Championship playoffs; and hopefully some World Cup Quidditch action. With a little luck, maybe Ginny's amazing catch would just be the beginning of a record-breaking spring!


	32. 32 RecordBreaking Spring

Chapter Thirty-Two – Record-Breaking Spring

The last two weeks of March were mostly quiet for Harry and Ginny as she got ready for the Harpies' Easter weekend game against the Wasps, and Harry and Neville continued to investigate the Mulciber family. Neville and Hannah got an early Easter gift when they found out that she was pregnant again; and due sometime in early December. That happy news was actually quite timely too, since going to look for gowns for Hermione and her bridal party was one of the wedding tasks that Ginny, Hannah, Fleur, and one of Hermione's House Elf Liaison officers, Serena Fawcett, had on their wedding appointment schedule shortly after; allowing the girls to take that into account when picking out their dresses. The Firestorm controversy began to die down too after several crash investigation reports from the Department of Magical Games and Sports proved that the brooms were in perfect working order at the time of each accident, and that it was, in fact, the operator's mistakes that caused the crashes.

By the time the students got home from Hogwarts for their Easter holiday, Harry was ready to take a break, and enjoy spending the weekend with Ginny, their family, and friends. That started with his usual game-day morning housework and shopping trip, and then he met Andromeda and Teddy for lunch at the Leaky. Though they hadn't planned it, the Campbell family were there for lunch too, so they had their meal together, and then went on to Ilkley stadium; where they checked out the concession stands until it was time to go to their seats and get ready to watch the game.

"Welcome home," Harry told Gabrielle when she hugged him happily. Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, and Victoire were with her; and Harry had stood up to welcome them.

"This isn't actually home for me," Gabrielle reminded him. "Mum, Dad, and I are just visiting."

"Welcome home is simpler than saying Welcome back to your not-to-distant-future home," Harry countered. "You do want to play in the best Quidditch League, so moving here is inevitable."

Gabrielle laughed. "Let's not get too far ahead of reality on that, or I'll be crushed if it doesn't happen."

"Did your Mum and Dad win the babysitting Dominique contest?" Harry asked next as he hugged Victoire next.

"We offered," Molly advised him before Gabrielle could answer. "They wanted some uninterrupted Granddaughter time more than they wanted to watch one of Ginny's games."

"They don't get as many chances to do that as we do," Arthur told her. "We'd do the same thing if we only saw Victoire and Dominique once every month or two."

"This is my first time seeing Dominique, and I still picked the game," Gabrielle said with another laugh. "Does that make me a bad Aunt?"

"You sat up with Dominique half the night," Fleur reminded her, "and you are spending the afternoon with your other niece. I'd say you're doing just fine."

There were more incoming family and friends, so Harry was on his feet nearly until the game started while Teddy mostly kept the teens entertained. As usual, he and Teddy were sitting with the students in the group. That gave him the chance to catch up on everything that had been going on at Hogwarts and Beauxbatons while getting lots of help with Teddy. The teens helped with Victoire too, since she'd wanted to hang out with Gabrielle and Harry instead of with her parents and grandparents.

"It sounds like the Quidditch Cup is up for grabs this year," he told Dawn after she'd led the Hogwarts Quidditch scene recap with support from the other players. Harry had heard about Ravenclaw's tough loss to Slytherin in January, and Hufflepuff's win over Gryffindor in February; but the kids had happily given him the game highlights for each match in between the running commentary about the plays they were seeing above the pitch.

"Only if Jonathan's team beats Slytherin in May," Dawn answered. "If Slytherin wins, they win the Cup, and our match against Gryffindor won't matter."

"According to the Slytherin players, the Cup is already theirs," Jeremy said just before jumping up to cheer for a goal one of his Wasps Chasers scored on Trish.

"You do vaguely remember that you're sitting in the season ticket section for the Harpies, right?" Dawn asked.

"So? That was a great play and goal. Besides, we've been to enough games with Harry for everyone to be used to me cheering for my team by now."

"We are, and cheer all you want," Harry told him before returning to the Hogwarts Quidditch discussion. "You're in for a tough end to the season regardless of what happens, Jonathan. If you lose to Slytherin, that won't be any fun, but if you win; you'll need to cheer for Gryffindor to beat your girlfriend's team, or at least to not lose by enough points to give Ravenclaw the Cup."

"I'll be cheering for Dawn anyway," Jonathan assured him.

"Good answer," she said happily before hugging and kissing him.

"Only in this crowd," Kate told them. "That wouldn't be nearly as popular with his Quidditch buddies or most Hufflepuffs."

"I'm fairly sure he doesn't care about that right now," Aaron suggested as they watched Dawn kiss her boyfriend again.

"Probably not," Kate agreed.

"How's your Quidditch season going?" Dawn asked Gabrielle as she sat back in her seat again. "Still undefeated?"

"So far, and hopefully we'll keep that going," she answered. "There's only one other team still in the running for our Championship, and even though we beat them, if we tie on wins, they'd win on points; since they ran up the score on all of the other teams."

"I don't like it when teams do that," Dawn said; and then smiled at Jonathan. "With all of the smack Slytherin's been talking, though, I'd be willing to make an exception for your game against them. A lucky snitch catch and ten point win over us, and they think they're the best team in the history of the school."

"Right," Jeremy scoffed. "Like the teams that Harry and Ginny played on were so mediocre by comparison."

"Why do they never remember that I played on some of those teams too?" Ron joked; looking back over his shoulder at Harry and the teens. "The Seekers and Chasers always get the glory."

Harry laughed. "I didn't have my own songs like you did at Hogwarts, mate."

"The Slytherin version wasn't much fun," Ron reminded him.

"It may not have been fun, but you have to admit that it was pretty funny," Lee told him. "George, Fred, and I were shocked to find out that Slytherins actually had a sense of humor."

"At least you got the last laugh on them in the end," Harry added quickly. "I'd say you did pretty well – especially when you consider that, all together, we played with six future Pro Quidditch players."

"And counting," Dawn said with a nod. "Jimmy Peakes may not have a great Gryffindor team this season, but he's probably the best Beater at school right now, and the grapevine at Hogwarts says that the Catapults are looking at pairing him up with Ritchie again." She laughed and shook her head. "Of course, the rumor mill is also suggesting that Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke are being recruited too, even though they're only Reserve Beaters for Gryffindor."

Ron snorted. "Those two had problems flying Cleansweeps. They'd likely kill themselves on Firestorms."

"They're not that bad anymore," Jonathan told him. "I've played pickup games with them a few times, and though Jimmy is a lot better than they are, Jack and Andrew are probably nearly as good as some of the Beater pairs on the other teams."

"But not good enough to make the pros," Jeremy added. "They'd be destroyed playing against Gwenog and Lysa, or any of the other top Beaters."

"I'd say they do a pretty good job of that against the best players," Harry said as he nodded toward where one of the Wasps' Chasers was now wincing in pain and holding his arm next to his chest after Gwenog had hit him rather solidly with a bludger.

The Wasps were playing hard, and mostly keeping pace with the Harpies, at least for the first couple of hours. Angelina was having a very good game, and by the end of the third hour, she had the Harpies out into a comfortable lead; though they were still less than one hundred and fifty points ahead. That points advantage wasn't reached until they were into the fifth hour, and then the Wasps redoubled their efforts in an attempt to close the gap again to give their Seeker a chance to win the game for them.

Unfortunately, the Wasps needed to take some risks to try and do that – risks that Angelina and Demelza took advantage of to continue scoring goals, and keeping their lead intact. Ginny had been playing hard all game too, and it took a mistake by the Wasps' Seeker to give her the opening that ended the game at the five hour, thirty-seven minute mark. The five-ninety to two-sixty score looked more lop-sided than the match really was, and though the Wasps' players all looked disappointed after Ginny's catch, they did have some consolation as their fans cheered as loudly for their effort as the Harpies fans cheered for their winning team.

Since the game had gone longer than usual, nearly everyone needed to get going; having other holiday weekend plans. Harry and Ginny actually didn't have plans to do anything except spend a quiet night together at home. They did that, and even went to bed fairly early; mostly because they needed to be at the Burrow early to help out with getting everything ready for the family Easter dinner.

They went over there right after breakfast, and Molly quickly put them to work; sending Harry and Arthur outside while she and Ginny baked, cooked, and cleaned indoors. Both Wizards were good with that plan, though Harry actually took care of most of the work while his father-in-law played in his workshop; mostly getting his toys ready to fly so he and the other kids could play with them later. Harry was busy de-gnoming the garden when Ron and Hermione got there, and laughed when she emphatically turned down his offer for a welcoming hug.

"Don't even think about it - you're a mess," she told him.

"I didn't know you were coming early today. Were you bored?"

"Hermione thought it'd be a good time to talk weddings with Mum and Ginny while they were both here," Ron answered. "That's why I'll be out here helping you."

"You could always give Dad a hand in the workshop," Harry suggested, and Ron laughed.

"There's a tough choice – help you with the de-gnoming, or listen to Dad talk airplanes and helicopters."

Hermione went inside, and Ron began 'helping' Harry with the de-gnoming; though that seemed to mostly be in a supervisory capacity. Since they really hadn't had many chances to talk on their own all that often since Ron had started partnering with Josh at work, Harry was just glad to have the company for a while.

"I'm sure you really don't want to talk weddings," he told Ron, "but have you heard much about whether there's anything we need to be doing to get ready for it?"

Ron grinned at him. "I'm practicing every day with my new broom in case I need a fast escape. Does that count?"

"No, and I'll take a wild guess that you haven't tried that line out anywhere near Hermione," Harry answered with a laugh. "I don't really expect we'll have much to do until sometime in June or July. It's not like the girls are going to want our advice on things like dresses, cakes, or decorations."

"Hermione tells me about what's going on, but except for scaring me with the budget for the whole thing, I sort of tune it all out," Ron admitted. "For what this thing's going to cost, we should've eloped."

Harry laughed again. "That's fairly inconsistent, mate. One minute you're talking about running away, and the next you're suggesting you should have just gone and gotten it over and done with."

Ron shrugged and smiled ruefully. "There's not much I can say that wouldn't get me into trouble, so let's move along before that happens. How's the Auror training going? Emma seems impressed so far with what you and Neville are doing."

"Hopefully we're making the training program better," Harry answered. "Emma does really like the daily workout we're doing. She's thinking about having us do it with all Aurors; or at least making it available to everyone. It'll never really be possible for everyone to do that every morning."

"I'm not all that happy about the idea of more work, mate, but considering how we always trained for Quidditch, it does make sense that we should be doing the same for a job like ours." He grinned at Harry. "Considering the shape that some of the Witches and Wizards in most of the other Departments are in; maybe Shacklebolt should consider getting everyone at the Ministry to do your workouts. There's definitely something wrong when the Department of Magical Games and Sports is the biggest department at the Ministry – if you know what I mean."

"That thought is a little scary, Ron – or at least some of the mental pictures I'm getting right now are."

Ron stayed and talked with Harry until he was done de-gnoming the garden, but moved on to have a visit with his father when Harry started working on the rest of the yard clean-up that needed to be done. That work took Harry most of the morning, and then he popped home to grab a badly needed shower and get cleaned up and changed before returning to the Burrow to continue helping with the work still going on indoors. The three couples worked a light lunch in around the baking and cooking, and then Harry, Ron, and Arthur were sent into the sitting room to entertain the incoming kids and Wizards while the Witches gathered in the kitchen to keep Molly, Ginny, and Hermione company while they worked.

"Ginny's looking for volunteers for a Quidditch pickup game," Gabrielle announced as she walked into the sitting room. "Grandma Weasley says we can play for an hour or so before dinner will be ready. Anyone in here interested?"

"I am," Ron answered enthusiastically. "Maybe I'll have a chance with Angelina now that I've got my new broom."

"You can at least dream," George joked, "though you might want to think about re-phrasing that when the girls are around. I'm in too," he advised Gabrielle, "but before we do that, and while you have me thinking about Quidditch; how would you like a summer job working a wheezes concession booth for me – at some of the Quidditch World Cup matches?"

"Do you think she likes the offer?" Harry asked mildly as he and the other guys watched Gabrielle hug George rather enthusiastically.

"I'll have to get the parental okay, but I definitely would love the job," she assured George.

He nodded and looked quite happy too. "I'm still working everything out so that we'll have a booth at every game, but once you've got that approval, I'll let Lisa, my Hogsmeade store manager, know that you're confirmed for one of the jobs."

There were more laughs when Gabrielle ran out of the room to talk to her parents about it right then, and none of them were surprised when they were quite easily convinced to let her take the part-time, temporary job. Percy was the only brother who didn't go out to play Quidditch, but while the Quidditch fanatics in the family played in the orchard, he and Arthur went outside with Teddy and Victoire and played with Arthur's airplane and helicopter. They all had to be called in to get cleaned up for dinner, and it wasn't long before they were all sitting down to their meal, and the Quidditch and flying enthusiasts began regaling their family with the highlight stories of their outdoor adventures.

Having the Delacour family there didn't keep Aunt Muriel from being as forceful and opinionated as always, but she did make a visible effort to temper the volume a bit for the benefit of Victoire, Molly, and Dominique. That resulted in a near-shout level whisper that was almost as amusing as many of her emphatic pronouncements. The hour and a half or more they spent together having their meal was as heart-warming and entertaining as all of their big family dinners were, but eventually, it was time to get started on the cleanup for the volunteers doing that, and for everyone else to either retire to the sitting room, or get on their way home or to other commitments. Gabrielle and her parents needed to leave for France, and were among the first to say their goodbyes and get ready for the Portkey trip home. Molly, Ginny, and Harry went outside with them, and with Bill, Fleur, and the girls, to see them off.

"I'm really glad you were able to come here for a couple of days," Ginny told Gabrielle as they hugged goodbye. "Have fun on the rest of your holiday; and good luck with school and Quidditch when you get back to Beauxbatons."

"Thank you," Gabrielle said before letting go of Ginny, and hugging Harry next. "Good luck in the playoffs. I wish I could be here for those matches, but maybe I'll get to work some of the World Cup matches that you'll be playing in."

Ginny laughed. "Our National team hasn't been selected yet. Did you have a vision in Divination class or something?"

Gabrielle wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "For your sake, I hope not. The only way that you could remotely say that I have any talent for Divination would be if it counted that every single one of my predictions turned out to be wrong."

"I've seen your reports," Fleur told her. "You can't be that bad."

"That's only because I ace the theory, and get pity points from the Professor for following every instruction and trying my best on the practical assignments. I definitely won't be having a career at the Department of Mysteries, or have my prophecies stored there."

"Maybe not, but if you really are one hundred percent wrong, could you take a look at the rest of our league Quidditch matches and send me your list of winners and losers?" Bill joked with a grin that had Gabrielle laughing.

"Bet on Ginny and the Harpies," she advised him. "That's as close to a sure thing as you'll get this season."

"Time to go, Gabrielle," Mr. Delacour told her. "We don't want to miss our Portkey time, and still need to get our bags from Bill and Fleur's place."

There were a few more hugs, and then Harry went back inside with Molly and Ginny; where they joined the group in the sitting room. Since Ginny had two weeks until her next match, she and Harry were able to take the whole day off, and stay at the Burrow to enjoy spending the evening with their family. They were the last to leave, and it was getting late by the time they got home and went up to bed, but it had been one of those really great days; and amazing way to end March; and had them in a great mood to start a new month and workweek when they woke again on Monday morning.

The first week of April was another comparatively quiet time for Harry and Ginny. It was George's twenty-fourth birthday on Monday, and while their family had included a little birthday celebration with their Easter dinner; Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione also went to the little dinner party that Angelina, Lee, and Alicia put on for him after work. Training curfew didn't allow the girls to have a late night, though the couple of hours they did get to spend together were very entertaining for everyone there. By the weekend, Quidditch was again the hottest topic of conversation in many parts of the Wizarding World; mostly because every Quidditch player, reporter, and fan wanted to discuss the impending selection announcements that were coming on Monday for many of the Quidditch World Cup National teams. England, Scotland, and Ireland were among the teams that would be making their selections then, and while the Harpies weren't playing on the weekend, their players were all definitely on nearly everyone's short list to make England's team.

The Harpies had their game against the Kestrels on Tuesday to get ready for, and while Ginny was quietly excited about the possibility of playing for England, she did manage to stay focused on her job; mostly by having a quiet weekend in with Harry. He took care of her while she worked; had a couple of Seeker duels with her on Saturday and Sunday afternoon; and made sure that they both had some quality play time to help them both stay happy and motivated.

Glynnis and Gwenog had scheduled a near-normal morning training session for the Harpies on Monday, but they broke for lunch early so they could get cleaned up and over to the Magick Hall in London by shortly before noon. The Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Games and Sports was hosting the event, and the National teams for Scotland, Ireland, and England were all going to be announced. Most of the League's players were there, and all of the Quidditch reporters. The event was open to the public too, and though the Hall was nowhere near full, there was a very good turnout. Ginny had expected to see Harry and her parents there, and had looked for them as she and the rest of her team went to sit down in the section reserved for players and managers. Her smile flashed brilliantly when she did catch sight of them, and saw that they also had George, Ron, Hermione, Teddy, Victoire, and Lee with them. Percy was there too; but he was sitting with the Minister of Magic next to the stage where the Ministry VIP section had been set up.

The press conference got started at just a couple of minutes after twelve, and after a few short speeches, they began with announcing the selections for Ireland's National team. While there was some buzz in the crowd about a few of the players chosen for the team; the only pick that was even remotely surprising was when Erin Connelly of the Prides was selected as team Seeker; while veteran player Aidan Kiely of the Kestrels was announced as Ireland's Reserve Seeker. Scotland's team was next; which didn't surprise Ginny even as it dragged out the tension for her, and all of the players hoping to play for England. She was cheering along with all of the Prides fans when Meghan McCormack was named the Keeper for Scotland first, and she and Gwenog both laughed when they were the only players outside of the Prides who were standing and doing that. There weren't any surprises for the rest of the Scotland team selections, and finally, it was time for the picks that most of the Witches and Wizards in the room were looking forward to the most.

"England selects Patricia Murray of the Holyhead Harpies at Keeper," the slightly pompous-sounding Wizard declared, "and Oliver Wood of Puddlemere United as Reserve Keeper."

"Yes!" Ginny said enthusiastically, if quietly as she and the rest of the Harpies congratulated Trish before she went to stand on the stage with Oliver; who had waited for her, and then escorted her up the few steps. A bespectacled, equally formal-sounding Witch made the next announcement, and the room began buzzing with excitement.

"At Chaser, England chooses Angelina Johnson, Alicia Jordan, and Demelza Robins of the Holyhead Harpies. Wilda Griffiths and Laura Madley of Puddlemere United and Ryan Bradley of the Wimbourne Wasps are selected as Reserve Chasers."

Ginny was on her feet to hug each of her friends, and it took a couple of minutes before the team announcements could continue. When Gwenog and Lysa were announced as the National team's Beaters, the buzz in the room grew so loud that Ginny couldn't even hear the names of the two Reserve Beaters; needing to wait until one player each from the Tornados and Arrows joined the rest of the players on the stage.

"We are very pleased to announce a new Quidditch World Cup record as England chooses Ginny Potter as our National team Seeker, and the seventh member of the Holyhead Harpies to be selected." The Wizard decided to wait for the roar of approval from the crowd to subside – which took nearly five full minutes – and then announced that Melissa Maddock of the Wigtown Wanderers would be the team's Reserve Seeker; just as she'd been during Ginny's first two seasons with the Harpies.

From the stage, Ginny could see Harry, and she loved watching the blazing emerald fire she saw in his eyes, and the fierce pride and joy shining in his face as he stood with Teddy in his arms, and they both clapped and cheered for her. The rest of her family was cheering too, and she loved having all of them there to share this moment with her. Making the National team was amazing, but this – having all six of her teammates selected too – was beyond brilliant; and right up there on the best days ever list. Nobody in the room was surprised when Glynnis Griffiths was announced as team manager, and after a few closing comments, the press conference was opened up to allow the now-rabid hoard of reporters to begin firing questions at the officials, managers, and players.

The Harpies were front and center for that, and they were all kept busy straight through until shortly after one o'clock; when the question period was wrapped up, and the Hall began to clear. By then, more than half of Ginny's personal fan club had left to return to work, but Harry, Molly, Arthur, and the kids had waited so they could at least spend a couple of minutes with her before she needed to get back to work with her team.

"Congratulations honey. I knew you'd make the team," Molly told her as she hugged Ginny, "but I never imagined they'd pick all of the Harpies! Is that really a Quidditch Cup record?"

"Thanks, Mum, and yes it is," Ginny confirmed. "The old record was six players from one team." The hug with her mother was sort of a group hug that Victoire happily joined in for, and then she and Harry had Teddy and Victoire giggling when they shared a hug and kiss while he was still holding Teddy.

"I think they made a brilliant decision," Harry told them. "Wilda's definitely a bit better than Demelza, and Oliver's at least a tie with Trish, but the National team wouldn't be as good if they messed with the chemistry the Harpies have right now. Hopefully they won't be too disappointed, and understand."

"Wilda does for sure," Ginny answered, "or at least that's what she told Gwenog." She looked over to where Gwenog was already gathering her team to head back to their practice pitch. "I've got to go," she said regretfully. "Thanks for coming to watch, even though most of the press conference was pretty boring. I love you."

"Love Aunt Ginny," Victoire told her at nearly the same time that Teddy told her that he loved her too; and they were both giggling again when she had hugs and kisses for them before kissing Harry goodbye, and going to catch up with her team.

Harry took Teddy to the Burrow, where he was spending the afternoon with Molly and Victoire, and then went back to Auror Headquarters, where he met up with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie. The press conference news had been making the rounds at the Ministry, and he was asked to pass along dozens of congratulations to Ginny, along with quite a few hugs and kisses, by the time he'd made it into the office, and then back out of the Ministry again. They spent the few hours they had left of the afternoon working in the field, and then Harry went home in time to make a special celebration dinner for Ginny that he had ready by the time she got home about an hour later than normal.

"You'd think that we could've had a shorter practice today to celebrate instead of being ordered to work late to make up for the long lunch break," Ginny told him; pretending to complain about the extra work. He had time for a short laugh before she wrapped her arms around his neck and they shared a fairly serious sort of welcome home embrace.

"I wasn't surprised," he eventually answered. "Your game's tomorrow night, and none of you will be happy if today's fun leads to a big upset against the Kestrels. You know that they'll be hoping that you'll be a bit off your game, and I won't be surprised if Aidan is even more motivated than usual after Erin was picked as Ireland's Seeker over him."

"There's no chance we won't be up for the match," Ginny assured him. "The only change in our game plan is that Glynnis wants us to play shorter matches if we possibly can."

"The good news there is that you're so far ahead on points this season that you can get away with that. We'll see if the rest of the teams you play against will cooperate with that for you."

Ginny had more work to do after dinner, and they had a short Seeker duel too. They ended the night with a little bedtime celebration for two, and then it was back to work as normal on Tuesday morning. The Kestrels definitely came to play on Tuesday evening, but so did the Harpies, and they made a fairly emphatic statement with a three hundred to forty point win that Ginny wrapped up for her team in just one hour and twenty-two minutes.

The Harpies only had nine days between each of their last two matches of the regular season, so Ginny was back to work on Wednesday getting ready for their game against the Magpies a week from Thursday. The only time off she took was for a shopping trip and dinner out with Ron and Hermione that was mostly to take care of a little birthday gift shopping for Teddy's and Victoire's upcoming birthdays. The Magpies definitely didn't want to cooperate with Glynnis' short games plan, but the Harpies did win that game in two hours and nineteen minutes; winning by a score of four-ten to seventy.

With just one match left to go before the playoffs; and a perfect regular season now only one game away from being reality; the Harpies worked even harder during the last week of April to get ready for the Arrows game. Ginny had worked all weekend, and Harry had been there every day to help her with Seeker duels, and to handle all of the cooking and housework so she could concentrate nearly exclusively on her job. The only break she took was to go with Harry to Teddy's fourth birthday party after work on the Friday night before the Arrows game.

"Happy birthday, Teddy," Ginny told him as he enthusiastically hugged her in welcome as she and Harry arrived in the back yard. Since her final practice of the week had gone a bit long, she and Harry were the last party guests to arrive at Andromeda and Teddy's house.

"Thanks Aunt Ginny," Teddy said as she handed him off to Harry next. "Hi Uncle Harry. I'm already packed for coming to stay with you this weekend."

"Was that this weekend?" Harry joked. Teddy laughed and hugged him.

"Yes it is," he confirmed emphatically. "Come on. Grandma said we can have dinner as soon as everyone is here."

'Everyone' included Molly, Arthur, and Victoire; a few of Andromeda's friends; and some of their grandchildren. The kids were becoming some of Teddy's playmates and friends, and were between three and five years old. Victoire quickly latched on to Ginny, and stayed with her during dinner while Harry mostly kept busy helping Andromeda with a seriously fired-up Teddy. Dinner was grilled burgers and hot dogs, along with salad sides and veggie trays. Since they were mostly hanging out with the kids while they ate, the dinner conversation for Harry and Ginny was definitely on the light side as they talked about everything from Quidditch to coolest new toys from a kid's perspective. That was a lot of fun, though, and the cake and ice cream dessert that followed was both fun and fairly messy too. Teddy opened his gifts after that, and then Harry spent most of the evening playing with his Godson and little friends as they flew their little brooms, played games, and thoroughly tested out Teddy's new toys.

"I should have Teddy and his buddies come to Auror Headquarters every day and have my trainees try to keep up with them," Harry suggested to Ginny and some of the other adults when he stopped for a break. "My new training program isn't even close to as tough as a couple of hours with a group of pre-school Wizards is."

"And you based your training on our Harpies workouts," Ginny added with a laugh as she hugged him.

"The good news for you is that Teddy will be ready to drop not long after you get him home," Andromeda told them. "He's been in hyper mode all week, so hopefully, now that his birthday is over, he'll be calmed down to his normal over-active self by the time you bring him back on Sunday."

"Does that ever work out for you when he spends the weekend with Harry?" Molly asked; and Andromeda laughed.

"Not very often," she admitted, "but I keep hoping for the best."

"I'll be working all weekend," Ginny reminded them, "so you know that Harry and Teddy will be playing all weekend. Maybe they'll both be tired out by Sunday night. Are you doing anything exciting with your kid-free weekend?"

Andromeda shook her head. "Not really. A little shopping and dinner out with friends tomorrow; but mostly I'm going with a quiet weekend at home."

"That's what Arthur and I are doing, except for Ginny's game tomorrow," Molly said with a smile for her husband. "We need to rest up for what will hopefully be three big playoff games for the Harpies."

Andromeda nodded. "Will you get much time off before training starts for the National team after the playoffs, Ginny?"

"We'll have two weeks," she answered. "Training starts the first Monday in June, and our first-round match will be on June twenty-second – the day after the Hogwarts students get home for the summer. That'll give us three weeks to get ready; though we won't know who we're playing until the schedule is announced; or where we'll be playing."

"Let me know when you do find out. I'll need to know which days to try and keep open for Teddy if Harry wants to take him along."

"I will," Ginny promised. "Whether our team makes it to the Championship match or not, though, we'd like to take Teddy to that game for sure – and you too if you'd like to go. It's going to be in China on the first Saturday in August."

"A week before Ron and Hermione's wedding?" Andromeda asked. "That'll make for a crazy couple of weeks for you, Molly."

"Compared to putting Harry and Ginny's wedding together in three weeks, this will be easy," Molly answered, "and we'll get a lot of work done ahead of time during those two weeks that Ginny has off."

That sent the girls off on a discussion of those wedding plans, and after taking a short break, Harry went back to playing with Teddy until the party wrapped up, and he and Ginny took Teddy home with them. Though Teddy was still fired up, after having a bath, he only managed to stay awake for their bedtime snack and about half of the bedtime story before falling asleep. Harry and Ginny had gone straight to bed after tucking him in too, and in the morning, they were both kept busy getting ready for a game day; taking care of Teddy; and making a special breakfast. Ginny had to leave for work right after eating, so Harry took care of the cleanup, and then he and Teddy decided to go play at one of the Muggle Malls in London for the rest of the morning. They had lunch there, and then headed for Exmoor stadium with lots of time left to get drinks, snacks, and the usual souvenir game programs before going to their seats. George and Lee were the only members of their group who were there already, and Harry was happy to let them take Teddy for a few minutes while he dealt with the load he'd been carrying along with Teddy.

"Happy day-late birthday," George told Teddy as he was being hugged enthusiastically. "Sorry I couldn't come to your party last night, but I do have a present for you." He and Lee were both laughing when Teddy happily took the gift George handed him and began tearing into the wrapping paper right then as he half-stood on George's lap.

"Thank you!" Teddy said excitedly; and hugged George again. "Uncle George got me my very own Headless Hat, Uncle Harry!"

"I see that – or don't," Harry answered; since by then, Teddy already had the hat on his head, and had disappeared from the neck up. Teddy giggled, and had all three Wizards laughing as the headless boy bounced up and down. "You've improved them," he added to George as he took a moment to actually study the charm.

"Yes, and we've got them in eight different styles now too."

Harry nodded and laughed. "I heard about that trouble you had over the Easter holiday with the baseball cap style Headless Hat mix-up with that pair of Muggle boys."

George shrugged. "It happens, and the kid that owned the hat was in fourth year, and ought to have known better than to leave things like that around for his Muggle buddies to find. One of the Obliviators came and talked to me, but even they were mostly just amused. I agreed to make an addition to the instructions and warnings on the packaging, and that was the end of it."

"What do you think about today's game, Harry?" Lee asked as they all settled in again; and Teddy continued to play with his new Headless Hat.

"The Arrows are in a tough spot," he answered. "There are three teams that could potentially get the last playoff spot, so it's going to come down to how many points they need today; and the other two teams are playing too, so they may not even know before the Harpies beat them."

"They won't want to be the team of record for the unbeaten regular season either," George added, "and what's worse for them is that even if they do make the playoffs, they'll just have to turn around and play the Harpies again next weekend. They might want to re-consider how much they really want that."

Harry agreed with that, but expected the Arrows would put up a tough fight anyway. The rest of their group joined them, with Molly and Arthur getting there next, and Bill, Fleur, and the girls joining them just a couple of minutes before game time. Ron and Hermione were at the Cannons' last match instead, and though Percy and Audrey had been invited; he'd ended up needing to work with Kingsley, so Audrey and Molly had come with her father instead.

"They're playing full-on defense," Molly said as they watched the action above the pitch. The match had been going on for about fifteen minutes, and neither team had scored yet; though the Harpies had several good chances.

"Which you'll love," Arthur told her, "but that's a tough strategy to try against our Harpies. It's a lot harder to play defense all the time."

"That's true, Dad, but the Arrows are playing to lose with enough points to still make the playoffs," Bill advised his father. "This may be the only strategy that'll give them a chance. A wide-open blow-out could push them into ninth or tenth place. The other two teams in the running for eighth place likely don't even give them a chance since they both have much easier matches today."

As the game rolled on, the Arrows continued their defensive game play, led by their rookie Keeper, and former Hufflepuff, Kevin Whitby. He was playing an outstanding match, but even though he was stopping more than nine out of every ten scoring attempts, Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were getting a lot of scoring chances. The Arrows managed to score a few goals against Trish too, but the Harpies were outscoring them three to one, and the shots on goal were ridiculously lopsided. None of the Arrows gave up, though, and the battle continued hour after long, action-packed hour.

"What are they doing?" Fleur finally asked; pointing toward the Arrows' sideline; where the Manager and a group of Arrows staffers were huddled together, like they'd been doing off and on all through the match. She was holding Dominique, Bill had Victoire, and both little girls were asleep. They were over five hours into the game, and the Harpies were ahead by two-hundred and sixty to one-hundred.

"Trying to work out what they need for points to make the playoffs," Harry guessed. "They've got a WWN radio with them too – probably to see what scores the other two teams trying for eighth place have."

"It must be close for them to even bother," Lee suggested.

"And if it's that close, why not just catch the snitch and be done with it?" George added with a grin.

"Maybe because they think their Seeker has zero chance of doing that against Ginny?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Yes, that could be why."

The game continued, and the Arrows' Manager spent as much time next to the WWN and his staff as he spent watching the match until near the end of the fifth hour; when he called a timeout, and brought his team down to the pitch. He spoke animatedly with them right up until the referee called to get the game going again.

"Any guesses on what the number is?" Arthur asked as the two teams started battling again.

"We'll know when the Arrows' Seeker stops battling so hard against Ginny," Harry answered. "They'll have included that hundred and fifty points into their calculations. It's a safe bet that the timeout was because the other games are over. If we knew those scores, and had Hermione with us; I'm sure she'd be able to tell us fairly easily."

The magic number ended up being one hundred and thirty for the Arrows, and then they threw everything into defense, including having their Seeker help, which left Ginny free to make an easy catch of the snitch at the six hour and twenty minute mark to give the Harpies a hard-fought, four-eighty to one-thirty win. Teddy had been napping, but Harry had woken him when the Arrows pulled their Seeker to help with the final defense, so he'd been awake to watch Ginny's catch. He was still tired, though, and hadn't been able to muster much of a cheer before settling into Harry's arms and dozing off again.

"That's probably about how the Arrows players all feel," George suggested; smiling as he watched Teddy sleep.

"And half of the spectators; including me," Lee agreed. "Even Ginny and Gwenog look like they've had enough fun for one day."

"They'll be studying this game to get ready for next weekend's rematch by the time they get home," Harry predicted. "The Arrows will be lucky if they can even get out of bed tomorrow. They played great, but Gwenog and Lysa really put it to them, and that was probably the toughest six-plus hours they've put in all season."

"I'm sure that there will be lots of Harpies fans willing to take care of the undefeated regular season celebration while they do that," Fleur told them, "but Bill and I need to get our exhausted little fans home, and won't be partying either. I need a volunteer to take Dominique while I round up our things. Any takers?"

Arthur ended up with his youngest granddaughter while Molly took Victoire from Bill; and Audrey's father took baby Molly while she did the same. Though they normally waited until the first crush of exiting spectators was over; despite the fact that the game had been very long, there were a surprising number of fans for both teams who wanted to stay, watch the post-game festivities, and celebrate, so they were able to leave as soon as they all had their things packed and ready to go.

Harry took Teddy home and left him sleeping on a sofa in the sitting room while he did a little work around the house and made up a special celebration snack for them to have when Ginny got home. After a game that long, she was sure to be hungry; even though she'd also already be in study mode for their first playoff match too. It was more than an hour and a half later by the time she did get back, and by then, Teddy was awake again, and he and Harry had been playing in the sitting room and listening to the WWN.

"Are you re-playing today's game, or working on a game plan for the Harpies to use next weekend?" Ginny asked as she leaned over to put her arms around Harry.

"We're just playing," Teddy answered. "Uncle Harry made a snack for us. Can we go do that now?"

"As soon as you kids clean up your toys," Ginny told him. "Then I have to do a little work and go get some sleep."

She shared hugs and kisses with both of them first, and then helped them with putting the action figures, dragons, and toy Quidditch gear away. Teddy wanted to talk about the game while they had their snack and drinks, and then Harry took care of getting him off to bed while Ginny decided to sit at the kitchen table to work so that she could talk to Harry again when he returned to clean up from their snack once Teddy was asleep. They ended up doing that, and talking over the game breakdown she was putting together for more than an hour and a half before calling it a night and going to bed too.

Ginny was back to work early on Sunday, and though Harry spent a lot of his time taking care of Teddy, he also worked around the house, and he and Teddy did a little running around to pick up a few groceries and supplies they needed. A few mirror chats had Molly and Arthur, Andromeda, Ron and Hermione, and George and Angelina coming over for dinner and evening Quidditch, so he also spent some time in the afternoon working on putting that dinner for ten together, and setting up tables in the back yard so they could have their meal out there.

"I thought we were here for Quidditch," Ron said shortly after he and Hermione had arrived, and the girls had started in on talking weddings.

"We're multi-tasking," Ginny advised him, "but if you'd like to help out with the wedding work more, we'd be happy to let you do that so we don't have to worry about things like pavilion rentals, invitation replies, dinner menus and such."

"Never mind," he grumbled, "and you really wouldn't want me to do that."

"Probably not," Ginny agreed cheerfully. "If you're bored, though, you could go get the Quidditch set, and maybe an extra table, out of the garage and over to the pitch. We'll need the table for drinks and snacks," she added before he could comment on that.

"One of these days that's going to backfire on you," Hermione predicted after Ron had left them. "Could you imagine what he'd do with the dinner seating plan? He'd have half the Ministry offended by night's end."

"That might be fun," Ginny answered with a grin. "Maybe we should let him have at it."

"I'm sure you'd find that much funnier at Ron's wedding than yours," Molly told her, "but we want everything to be perfect for Hermione; so we'll just do it ourselves, and make sure it's done right."

"What do we need to go over today?" Ginny asked her.

Molly happily began going over the schedule for what needed to get done over the next couple of weeks, and updated the girls on what she and Hermione's mother had been working on. George and Angelina were the last to get there after he closed the store, and as usual, he was just in time to sit down for dinner. That had been fun, and after cleaning up, the Quidditch players got to work while Molly, Arthur, Andromeda, and Hermione watched them play, and Teddy was the headless boy running around the sidelines of the pitch; cheering for all of them. Harry and Ginny worked on their usual Seeker duel, while Angelina had Ron to train against, and George fired bludgers at all of them. When they all landed for a break an hour later, Ron looked like he was seriously ticked off at himself.

"You're playing great, Ron," Angelina told him. "Stop letting how many goals I'm scoring bug you so much. Even Trish would have a tough time saving half of the shots in a one-on-one, and you're doing nearly that well."

"Against the best Chaser in the league," George added. "Besides – everyone knows that Witches are better Quidditch players – learn to deal with that reality."

Ginny laughed. "Someone forgot to give Harry that memo. He's one catch ahead of me right now."

"One of us didn't have a long, tough game yesterday," Harry reminded her. "Even you get tired sometimes, and I have orders to always try my best."

"Speaking of that game, did the Arrows really make it into the playoffs by just ten points?" Ron asked.

"That's what they said on the WWN last night," Harry confirmed. "I'm not surprised, considering how much time their manager spent during the game trying to work that out." He smiled at Hermione. "We missed having our resident Arithmancy expert with us yesterday. She likely could have told us what they needed to do long before the Arrows figured it out."

"We should've gone to that game," Ron said; frowning again. "My Cannons may not have ended up in last place this season, but they weren't good, and still lost even though they were playing against a team using six out of seven reserve players while they rested the rest of their team to get ready for the playoffs."

"They are trying to get better," Harry said comfortingly. "Maybe they'll get some good recruits over the next couple of seasons."

Ron snorted. "That'd be great, except the other teams – like the Harpies – can all outbid the Cannons for the best talent."

"I'd say it's more likely that the owners prefer to keep more of the profits for themselves," George disagreed. "They're definitely going to need to change that if they ever seriously want to become a championship team again."

Ron didn't really want to talk about his lowly Cannons anymore, so they moved on, and after keeping the break fairly short, they practiced for another three-quarters of an hour before calling it a night. Harry and Ginny were kept busy with the goodbyes after that, and then they cleaned up the yard and kitchen before moving into the sitting room for a little quiet study and cuddle time. Ginny worked, and they both listened to the WWN for another hour or more, and then they ended their night and weekend with a little bedtime fun for two.

The week leading up to the first round of the playoffs was busy for both of them. The League announcements that the Harpies cleaned up on the regular season awards was fun, with Angelina being named League MVP, and Gwenog, Ginny, Angelina, Alicia, and Trish all taking home top honors for Beater, Seeker, Top Scoring Chaser, Most Assists Chaser, and Keeper; but the entertainment highlight of the week was Victoire's second birthday party on Thursday night at the Burrow. Before they got to the fun part of the day, though, the morning started out as solemnly as it had every year since the end of the war. Harry and Ginny were up before dawn, and after getting ready; they went to visit the cemeteries where their friends rested; delivering flowers and taking a few moments to remember them. They always went to visit Fred last, and met Molly, Arthur, and the rest of their family there.

"You look much better this year," Molly told Harry quietly. "The dreams must have been easier last night."

"They were," he confirmed. Though the memories of the night of the battle had haunted his dreams as they had every year; they hadn't been as harsh and soul-searingly haunting as they'd been in the first couple of years. "We saw the Creeveys when we went to visit Colin, and they wanted us to send you and Dad their best."

"Did you see anyone else this morning?" Molly asked, and Harry shook his head.

"No, but we usually don't."

"Some families have already stopped doing this on the anniversary," Ron told them.

"I never will," Molly declared and promised. "Not even if I found out that Fred was sitting around somewhere laughing at me over it with his buddies."

"Which I'm sure he is doing," George advised her; smiling sadly. He did look like he was doing better too, though, and Harry suspected that had a lot to do with having Angelina there with him this morning for the first time.

Their little visit didn't really last all that long, and though there were some tears, they had a few laughs too as they took turns telling Fred and George stories. Harry and Ginny went home from the cemetery; where they had time for a quick breakfast before needing to get to work.

Harry had picked Teddy up after work and brought him to the party; meeting Ginny there after she was finished training for the day. Fleur hadn't gone back to work yet, but had agreed to let Molly take care of putting the party together while she was busy keeping up with Victoire and Dominique. They had dinner, did the cake and ice cream, and had Victoire open her presents all in fairly quick succession after George, Angelina, and Ginny had gotten to the Burrow. Once that was done, Harry was on the cleanup crew, along with Ron and George; while the girls mostly played with Victoire and her new toys.

"Are you bored Teddy?" George asked when Teddy came into the kitchen and hopped onto a chair; looking less than thrilled to be there.

"Victoire wants me to play dolls with her," he told them. "Wizards do not play with dolls – or any of those other girly toys she got for her birthday."

"She is, after all, a girl," Harry pointed out. "You know where we keep the action figures here, though. Why don't you go get some of them to play with?"

"Because she thinks it's funny to put them in dresses," Teddy explained with an exasperated shake of his head. "Especially the Wizard action figures."

"How would you like to go with me and we can take my airplane or helicopter out for a fly?" Arthur suggested.

"Yes!" Teddy agreed; instantly fired up and happy again.

"That was quick thinking," Ron complimented his father. "Any chance you need help so I can get out of the cleanup too?"

"This won't take long, and I meant that Teddy and I could do that as soon as the work's done," Arthur answered. "Molly would definitely have something to say if we tried to sneak out and leave Harry and George with all of the work."

"Something you wouldn't want to hear – or worse," George added. "I'll get you a drink, Teddy, and you can supervise while we finish cleaning up."

The good news for Teddy was that Arthur had come up with something that he really wanted to do. Having Victoire decide that she wanted to play with them too wasn't so hot; though he did admit – at least to himself – that it had been funny when she had Aunt Ginny temporarily shrink one of her new dolls so it could go for a ride in the helicopter. Since Ginny and Angelina both had work to get back to with just one practice day left before the playoff game; they didn't stay late, and took Teddy home by shortly after eight.

All of the work that Ginny and the Harpies put in to get ready for their first-round playoff game paid off on Saturday afternoon when they beat the Arrows for the second time in a week in just two hours and fourteen minutes. The Arrows didn't even look like the same team that had played a week ago, and they only managed to score two goals against Trish; while the Harpies scored twenty-one before Ginny put the game away with a fairly brilliant snitch catch.

Thanks to having such a short game, Harry and Teddy were able to go home and listen to some of the other playoff matches on the WWN while waiting for Ginny, and playing with their toys in the back yard. Second place Puddlemere United won their game against the Ballycastle Bats, and the Wimbourne Wasps lost a surprisingly close match to the Pride of Portree when Erin Connelly caught the snitch to give her team the come-from-behind victory. Teddy had long since gone home; and Ginny had already started working on getting ready for the Harpies' second-round match before finding out that they'd be playing the fourth-place Tutshill Tornados; who had gotten past the fifth-place Caerphilly Catapults in a marathon match that was the second come-from-behind game of the day.

Ginny was back to work on Sunday morning as she continued to get ready for her game against the Tornados. Harry spent the morning puttering around the house, taking care of her, and doing a little work on his training program in the morning. They had a long afternoon Seeker duel, and then ended their weekend with another dinner and Quidditch evening with George, Angelina, Ron, and Hermione. Harry found out from Christine on Monday that Jonathan and his Hufflepuff team won their match against Slytherin by a score of two-ninety to thirty. She'd passed on a letter that Dawn had sent in her Owl Post for Ginny, so after work, they'd learned that Ravenclaw would only need to beat Gryffindor by forty points or more to win the Quidditch Cup over Hufflepuff, and that Slytherin's one loss dropped them from first to third place unless Gryffindor actually managed to win their match against Ravenclaw. Harry and Ginny were as amused as Dawn seemed to be about the idea that Slytherins should be cheering for Gryffindor at that game.

While the Quidditch playoffs were what everyone was talking about all week, and Ginny and the Harpies worked hard to get ready for the Tornados, Harry was busy at work too; though what he, Neville, and their trainees were doing got no attention at all until Thursday morning. Even then, the operation was over, and the two suspects were being interviewed at Auror Headquarters by the time any reporters found out about the arrests.

The case against Myron and Lucien Mulciber had come together fairly quickly, and Emma had ordered their immediate capture once they had solid evidence of their crimes. The two Dark Wizards were using the Imperius Curse on other Witches and Wizards to force them to commit murders and robberies of Muggles. While they hadn't been able to link their crimes back to the Mulciber family leaders, Harry and Neville were sure that at least this family of purebloods was looking to exploit Muggles to get what they wanted now that the Aurors were making the price of crime in the Wizarding World too high to pay.

"Thanks for getting some of the media attention off of Quidditch," Ginny told Harry when he got home late on Thursday evening. "We may even get a break tomorrow too."

"Glad we could help," he joked before leaning over to share a hug and soft kiss with her. Ginny was in the sitting room, stretched out on one of the sofas, and had playbooks and parchment scattered around and on her. "I'm going to grab something to eat. Would you like a snack?"

Ginny nodded as she sat up and swung her legs around. "Sure. I'll come along, and you can tell me all about the big arrest."

"There wasn't much to it. Myron and Lucien were very good at sneaking around and picking on weaker Witches and Wizards to force them to do their dirty work, but neither of them wanted to fight with four Aurors. The only reason I'm late tonight is because I wanted to get my reports out of the way after taking them to Azkaban."

"While hiding from the reporters and hoping they'd give up by now," Ginny added. "Did that work?"

Harry laughed. "Yes and no. There were still three reporters waiting for me when I got to the Atrium level, but at least they were reasonably polite, and didn't waste my time with stupid questions."

"Careful – before you know it, you'll be saying nice things about reporters," Ginny joked.

Harry threw something quick together to eat, and they sat at the kitchen table and talked for a half-hour or so before going upstairs and ending the night with their usual training day bedtime bath, massage, and magic routine. While Ginny was busy with her last workout before the big semi-final match, Harry spent his day at Auror Headquarters; training with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie in the morning, and then spending the afternoon in meetings and doing a little in-house research. His Saturday morning was filled with the usual game day work around the house and yard, and then he picked Teddy up in time to go out for lunch before moving on to the Exmoor stadium. They were sitting down already and waiting for the game to start when Hermione leaned over, nudged Harry, and directed his attention to a spot across the pitch from them on the other side of the stadium.

"Cho looks great," she told him; grinning as she watched him. "No surprise that she's here to cheer for her Tornados. Jared's a cutie too. He's just over a year old now, right?"

"She's beautiful," Harry answered; smiling too as he watched Cho, Roger, and their little boy. "Since Jared looks a lot like his Daddy, does that mean you think that Roger's cute too?"

Hermione laughed. "I'm telling Ginny you think that Cho is beautiful, and it's not fair for you to try and turn this around on me, or get Ron riled up for no reason."

"Ginny would agree with me," Harry countered, "and you started it, so it's totally fair."

"I heard that Cho's pregnant again," Fleur told them. "When is she due?"

"October," Harry answered just ahead of Hermione.

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"Don't you keep track of things like that with your old girlfriends?" Bill joked.

"Uh, no," Ron answered while everyone else around them laughed. "I have troubles keeping up with things like that with our family, let alone anyone else."

"That should be easy enough for you," Harry advised him. "None of your old girlfriends have children, or are expecting any yet." He laughed at the look on Ron's face. "Yes, that is plural, Ron. Did you forget your Yule Ball fling with Padma?"

"I've tried to block the Yule Ball completely from my memory," Ron answered; only half-joking. "That doesn't really explain how you know, though."

Harry laughed. "Seriously? We do work with Padma's husband, mate. I'm fairly sure that we'll hear about it if Terry becomes a father-to-be; and Padma and Parvati are best friends with Lavender."

"That suggests that it's been too long since we've had the gang together," Hermione suggested. "We should do something about that sometime soon."

"That'd be great if we could," Harry agreed, "but doing that before your wedding might not be easy; since Ginny will hopefully be busy with a long Quidditch World Cup run."

They did talk about that for a few minutes, but then the Harpies and Tornados were called out into the stadium, and their attention was all on the pre-game show for a while. Unlike the Arrows, the Tornados seemed to be even more fired up after winning their marathon duel with the Catapults; and they came out playing hard right from the start of the game. They were also playing a wide-open, offensive style that seemed to be an attempt to beat the Harpies by doing what they were arguably the best in the league at – scoring goals. That made for a fast-paced, high-scoring match that kept the fans for both teams on their feet and cheering a lot, but the game plan was not working very well for the Tornados as the Harpies outscored them by about three goals for every two.

"If they were hoping for a come-from-behind win again like they had with the Catapults, they're in trouble now," Ron suggested after the Harpies scored to go up by one-sixty near the end of the fourth hour.

"Maybe they forgot that Ginny's a bit better than the Catapults' Seeker," Hermione said; earning laughs from Harry and Ron.

"Aunt Ginny's the best ever," Teddy declared; smiling happily as Harry hugged him while continuing to laugh.

"Some of us sure think so," he agreed, "and I'm sure Uncle Ron's right too – the Tornados are definitely in trouble now."

The Tornados didn't give up, though, and continued to fight hard; but Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were more than a match, and had extended their lead to one-eighty when Ginny ended the game at the five hour and twenty-two minute mark. She and the Tornados Seeker had both spotted the snitch speeding along about ten feet above the pitch, and they'd both gone into vertical dives toward it; but only one of them was good enough to actually pull off a two-hundred mile an hour vertical flip and catch.

"Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed at the same time that nearly everyone else in their family was cheering wildly for Ginny as she held the snitch above her head, and sped skyward after stopping no more than two feet above the pitch.

She'd been as excited as everyone else for her best friend, but her attention was now focused on the crumpled form of the Tornados' Seeker; who'd completely lost control, and crashed very hard into the pitch. If the scattered pieces of his Firestorm were any indication, he was probably fairly broken up too; and a Medi-Witch and Medi-Wizard rushed out to tend to him. The reaction from the rest of the spectators in the stadium had been similarly mixed with deafening cheers and stunned, hushed concern for the injured Wizard. Ginny had stopped as soon as she could, and flown back to the pitch; though there wasn't anything she could do for her fellow Seeker except offer support for his teammates.

"That's a tough way to end the match," Ron said quietly as they all sat down again. Some of the Harpies fans were still celebrating, but most were now solemnly waiting to find out how the Tornados' Seeker was. "He'd played well up until making that mistake."

Harry shook his head sadly. "What's really dumb is that he must've forgotten how far behind the Tornados were. He should've been blocking Ginny from the catch instead of trying to catch it too; and he could've done that long before he was in any danger of crashing. I really hope he'll be okay. That was probably the hardest crash we've seen all season."

They didn't find out the answer to that until Sunday morning when the media reports confirmed that the Wizard would eventually make a full recovery. Ginny took a short break from getting ready for the Championship match to go with Harry to visit him at St. Mungo's and drop off a get well soon card and gift, and then they went to one of the Diagon Alley cafes for a quick lunch. Puddlemere United ended the regular season in second place in the League, but there had been quite a wide point spread between first and second place. The Pride of Portree had been in third place, and though they were technically the underdogs to United, everyone had expected their match to be the better of the two semi-final games. While United was ready to fight for the chance at a League Championship rematch against the Harpies; it was stellar performances from Meghan McCormack and Erin Connelly that instead helped the Prides to a hard-fought and well-deserved win to put them through to the finals. Ginny was going to work hard to make sure she was up to the challenge against Erin and the Prides; so after having a quick lunch, they went straight home again so she could get back to her game planning and study.

Harry took care of making the dinner part of their dinner and Quidditch evening plans that included the entire Harpies team and their significant others; Molly and Arthur; Ron and Hermione; and Bill, Fleur and the girls. He didn't have a full team to put up against the Harpies after dinner, so they put Bill and Demelza together for two-aside Chasers, and Gwenog, Lysa, and George just played Beater against everyone while Trish and Ron battled at Keeper, and Ginny and Harry had their usual Seeker duel.

That few hours of play, and the nightly Seeker duels and bedtime routines, were the only breaks in a very hectic week for Harry and Ginny. The reason for that was mostly because on Monday, the Wizarding World woke to the news that there was a new media in town – the WWMN. The Wizarding Wireless Mirror Network was fully compatible with the WWN, but could also show live images on all mirrors using the special one-way mirrors that worked essentially the same as Muggle video cameras. The mirrors were based on Hermione and Ginny's mirror sets and the WWN; and that announcement created a news storm; as did the revelation that the very first live show would be the League Championship game; hosted by Lee Jordan.

"I'm so glad that we can talk about it now," Ginny told Harry happily on Monday night after getting home. "Alicia told us that Lee could hardly sleep last night he was so fired up about it."

"Have you heard how they're selling?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded.

"I know that George sold out what he had today, and Lee told Alicia that the company that makes them is expecting to run out of stock before the weekend."

"Good for them," Harry said with a grin.

"And us,' Ginny added with a laugh. They were silent investors in the WWMN with the magical equipment company that was making the mirrors; but not even the owners knew that, since they'd arranged that through Lee, Alicia, and George. "If things go well on Saturday, I'm sure they'll be selling as fast as they can make them for a long time."

"Especially after they find out that some of the Quidditch World Cup matches will be available to watch, and I'm sure that at least some of the WWN shows will start using the mirrors soon too."

"Which will work for some shows, and be a disaster for others," Ginny predicted. "I'm sure that Lee will be even more popular – especially when Witches find out how cute he is."

"I'm glad that he's covering some Quidditch matches. It was always fun listening to him announce the games at Hogwarts."

"Do you think Professor McGonagall would consider helping him out with a few admonishments like she did back then?" Ginny asked mildly.

"I doubt it – but that would be brilliant too," Harry answered with a laugh. "Did George happen to mention whether he kept a few mirrors for us? We should get a couple of them up to Hogwarts by the weekend so Dawn and the rest of our kids can watch your game."

"He did, and Angelina will bring them to work with her tomorrow, so we can send them out tomorrow night. I've got one for Gabrielle too, so I'll probably pop over to Bill and Fleur's before coming home."

They continued talking about the WWMN, and then moved on to the latest in Harpies Quidditch news while making and having dinner, and then moved on to their Seeker duel and Ginny's study time after that. The rest of the week was just as busy as Monday had been. By Saturday, they were both ready to get on with the big game; and while Ginny was completely focused on that, Harry was happily looking ahead to the two weeks of vacation time she'd have until training started for the National team. Since this was the last match, Harry and Teddy had a big group with them at the Leaky for lunch. Charlie and Julianne temporarily stole the family spotlight with the announcement that Julianne was pregnant, and they'd be having their first child in January; so talking babies was naturally the main lunch conversation instead of Quidditch.

Watching a game at the World Cup stadium was always just that much more fun and special than other matches. The whole party atmosphere was even bigger and better this year, and it took nearly an hour to navigate the food and souvenir concession booths before going to find their seats with fifteen or twenty minutes to spare before the pre-game show. Their lunch group had split up while running the concessions gauntlet, and Harry and Teddy were in the last group to make it to their seats and get settled in.

"You brought a WWMN mirror?" Hermione asked when she saw Harry pull one out of the bag he'd brought along mostly to carry all of Teddy's gear in.

"I wanted to see how Lee does, and what the game will look like using them," He explained. "Didn't you bring one too?"

"No, but I'll be happy to take a look at yours when we get a chance after the game starts. It's probably going to be hard to hear Lee over the crowd noise and stadium announcer, though."

"They'll likely need some time to work out how best to show the games too," Harry suggested. "It will be confusing if the mirrors following the action can't keep up with the play-by-play."

"We'll see," Hermione answered with a shrug. "Lee may have all of that worked out fairly well."

When the pre-game show started, they quickly saw that Lee did at least have that well-handled by the mirrors that were sending the images along the new magical medium, and he – or someone – smoothly transitioned between the different views. It wasn't always possible to hear the sound coming from the mirror; since it was often drowned out by the cheers from the crowd as the spectators were encouraged to get fired up for their favorite team. Harry's WWMN mirror was popular, and as the game started, he passed it around so that everyone in their group could see what the game looked like on the small mirror. Teddy and Victoire were particularly fascinated by it – especially when they saw their Aunt Ginny's image flying around; usually when she or Erin made a particularly good play.

Harry thought that the WWMN was even better than advertised, but there was a great game being played too, and he loved watching Ginny when she was playing her very best like she was today. All of the players on both teams were doing that, and the action above the pitch was non-stop and fiercely competitive. Angelina was really in a zone, and was quite possibly playing her best match ever; which was a very bad thing for Meghan McCormick and the Pride of Portree. Trish had her hands full too; and the Prides' Chasers were putting up very good numbers against her.

"We could have some very interesting Quidditch World Cup games if our team draws matches against Ireland and Scotland," Hermione predicted. "Those teams probably wish that they could've just picked the entire Prides team like England did with our Harpies."

"Probably," Harry agreed. "I'd hate to see one of those matches unless it was in the Championship match, though. The one downside of the Quidditch World Cup for us and for teams like the Prides and United will be that there won't be much time to get ready for next season."

"Only for the players that make it to the Quidditch World Cup final," Ron reminded him. "Even then, at least for the Harpies, they'll have been playing together all summer."

"With no real break in over a year," Hermione countered. "Even Ginny will get tired eventually."

"I wouldn't count on that," Molly told her with a smile. "Arthur and I used to say that when she was little, but it never took Ginny long to recharge and be ready to go again."

Ginny needed to be at her fired up best for the battle she was in now with Erin. The Harpies pulled ahead by more than one hundred and fifty points by the end of the third hour, so she backed off after that and waited for her chances; but Erin stayed right with her, and managed to block her every attempt to catch the snitch and end the game. While she battled on, the six Chasers continued to race back and forth in a full-out offensive struggle. The Harpies kept at least one-hundred and sixty points ahead, which was amazing considering that the two teams were combining to put up between ten and fifteen goals every hour.

Erin finally began having problems keeping up with Ginny as it began to get dark; and Ginny nearly won the match on several close calls during the eight hour and into the ninth. She finally made one mistake too many at the nine hour and fifty-one minute mark. The Harpies were up by seven-thirty to five-ten by then, and Ginny managed to completely get Erin turned around as her exhausted opponent fell for a fake move. Ginny then pulled off a wild drop and flip; raced away from Erin while she tried desperately to correct and follow; and then she made an inverted grab for the snitch before rolling again and pulling up hard to avoid crashing into the spectators who'd just gotten an up-close-and-personal view of an amazing Quidditch play.

"Yeah!" Harry whispered as he stood up to cheer for his wife and her team. Hermione laughed; having overheard him despite the roar of the crowd.

"If this doesn't wake Teddy and Victoire, nothing will," she predicted. "I don't think you need to whisper."

"They're going to be mad that they missed the big finish," he predicted; speaking normally again. His smile brightened, and his heart did a couple of happy flips, when Ginny looked toward them, and their eyes met for a brief moment.

"The good news is that our team won, and they'll be very happy about that." Hermione looked around and sighed. "We may as well sit down," she suggested. "We won't be going anywhere for a while by the looks of this crowd."

"Does Lee even have any voice left after that?" Ron asked; looking over at Harry's WWMN mirror after they'd all returned to their seats.

Harry handed it to him. "Take a listen. I haven't been able to hear him over the crowd since Ginny's catch; but he'd still been going fairly strong before that."

"More than ten hours; and still going," he declared after holding the mirror close to his ear for a minute. "That's bloody amazing."

Hermione laughed. "I'd say that compared to what we saw in the game, it's not even remarkable. Ginny's catch was brilliant, and did you happen to notice that Angelina scored forty-six of the Harpies' seventy-three goals?"

"I did," George assured her proudly, "and they were both brilliant today."

The League officials making the game awards decisions agreed with them – about Angelina – and awarded her a well-deserved game MVP honor. Since the next closest Chaser in goals scored – one of the Prides' Chasers – had just less than half as many, and only one more than Demelza; her achievement was just that much more incredible. Most of the spectators stayed for the awards ceremony, and then it was nearly a half-hour more before Harry, Teddy, and the rest of their gang even attempted to join the exodus out of the stadium. Since Harry and Ginny were starting their vacation in the morning, Teddy went home with Andromeda; so Harry went home alone and kept busy getting a special celebration for two ready for Ginny.

"I love you," she told him gratefully as he led her into the candle-lit master bathroom. The Jacuzzi was ready for her, along with wine on ice and several snack options.

"I love you too," he assured her, "and now that you've got a couple of weeks off; I'm going to make sure that you spend some quality time being pampered so you're ready to go when it's time to play with your friends again all summer."

Ginny laughed, hugged and kissed him, and then quickly got out of her clothes and into the hot, soothing water. "After today, you'll get no argument from me on that," she assured him. "Even Gwenog looked like she'd had enough by the time we got to the locker room. I don't even want to think about what it's like right now for the Prides' players to feel this wrung out and be on the losing end of the match too."

"I'm sure they'll feel lousy for a while," Harry said as he poured two glasses of wine; handed one to her; and then sat on the floor next to the Jacuzzi. "They made it a better match than I think anyone expected they would, though, so they'll be okay, and if Meghan and Erin keep playing like that next season, I'd say they're going to give the Harpies – and the other teams in the League – all they can handle and then some."

"Hopefully not too much more than we can handle," Ginny joked. "It may be greedy to want more after three League Championships in a row, but I definitely want to keep the Harpies' success train rolling."

"The Harpies are going to be successful for a long time," Harry said confidently, "but no matter how much we'd like it; you're not going to win every League Championship."

They sat and talked while Ginny had a long soak, and while he would often join her for her bedtime Jacuzzi adventures, after such a long day, this was not going to be one of those kind of nights. He did follow up her Jacuzzi time with a long, magically healing massage that she fell asleep during, and then ended his night by cleaning up before snuggling in bed with Ginny and drifting off to sleep.

He was going to take some time off from work to spend with Ginny while she was on vacation, but not the entire two weeks. They hadn't made any travel plans; mostly because she was going to need to spend some extra time with Hermione, their mothers, and Fleur, Hannah, and Serena to work on the wedding while she had the time to do that. As he'd promised, though, he was going to make sure that she did have some fun and relaxation too. There was probably no chance that he could keep her away from Quidditch entirely, but at least they would have a little time where it wasn't the number one focus of their everyday lives. The summer holidays were still nearly five weeks away for the Wizarding World students, but as he floated between consciousness and sleep, Harry thought of the next two weeks as the start of summer for himself and Ginny. Even though they both had summer jobs – or in Ginny's case; because of it – he was sure that they were going to have an absolutely brilliant holiday.


	33. 33 Quidditch World Cup Summer

Chapter Thirty-Three – Quidditch World Cup Summer

"Maybe I should've turned down the spot on the National team," Ginny joked as she hugged Harry. He'd been making breakfast for two after getting ready for work while she'd taken over the master bathroom to do the same. "With the rest of the team away, I could've had another nine weeks of holidays."

"Let me know whether you still feel that way if you and your friends win a World Cup," Harry suggested. "Just remember that whatever Glynnis and Gwenog put you through today; it can't be worse than what the Hogwarts OWL and NEWT students are going through with exams starting today."

Ginny laughed. "Would you like to come along and test that theory out?"

"No more than I want to go write OWLs with Dawn and Jonathan. Hopefully Dawn got back into study mode after winning the Quidditch Cup."

"She's had a week to do that, and will have," Ginny said confidently. "Kate may be the Campbell version of Hermione, but Dawn and Jeremy do well enough; even if they're not straight 'O' students. What are you going to be doing today while Glynnis and Gwenog are making us work harder than usual to try and show up our new Reserve team?"

"Morning training; a meeting after lunch with Emma; and I've kept the rest of the day open."

"Expecting a new assignment?" Ginny guessed, and Harry nodded.

"From the little bit I've heard, we may be pulled off of what we've been doing so that we can give Reggie and Dan a hand with their assignment for a while." He smiled at the look on Ginny's face. "Don't worry. I may not be able to help you with Seeker duels every day, but I'll make sure that I'm there for your games."

"Unless you can't be," Ginny countered, "and it's not much fun around here when you're stuck on night shift stakeouts."

"True, but since we're moving into summer; I'd really rather be working nights than broiling under the hot sun every day for twelve or thirteen hours. We don't know what Reggie and Dan are going to need yet, though, so let's just wait, and deal with whatever assignment I get."

Harry had Ginny sit down; and they mostly talked Quidditch after that while having breakfast. England's National team was going to be training at Exmoor stadium; and Ginny wanted to get their early, so she left shortly after finishing breakfast while Harry cleaned up before going on to Auror Headquarters. She wasn't surprised when she walked into the 'Home Team' locker room and found Gwenog already there and getting ready, but she was surprised that Gwenog wasn't alone.

"Mum and Gwenog told me that you were old-school," Wilda said with a welcoming nod as she sat on a bench while putting her gear on. Ginny went over to hug her first, and smiled brightly when Wilda laughed. "Okay, maybe not totally old school," she amended; smiling too as Ginny hugged Gwenog next. "Once upon a time, doing that would've earned anyone a little time to contemplate life as a woodlouse."

"I make an exception for Ginny," Gwenog told her dryly.

"And for Kirley McCormack," Wilda added with another laugh, "though there isn't a Witch anywhere who could blame you for that."

"Hopefully you made a lot of exceptions for him over the last couple of weeks," Ginny told Gwenog.

"You're just saying that because you hope I'll ease you into training again. That isn't going to happen. Three weeks isn't long to get ready to play against teams that we know almost nothing about."

"I've been thinking that your – our – biggest problem is going to be that the other teams and players will know too much about us," Wilda said seriously. Ginny had put her equipment bag down, and was now getting ready too. "Of course we knew a lot about you too, and that didn't help my team win our two matches this season; so I could be wrong."

"I don't think you are wrong," Gwenog answered with a nod. "We knew as much about United as you did about us. That's not going to be the case for us now; at least for the first couple of rounds. We'll find out more about how well the other teams are playing as we go along."

Ginny smiled and mostly listened as the two friends and veterans talked about that. She'd bounced similar thoughts around with Harry over the past couple of weeks, but they'd come to a different conclusion. She decided not to share that with Gwenog and Wilda – at least not yet. Harry was quite sure that England was going to have a big advantage in the first couple of rounds; mostly because the other teams would still be getting used to playing together even though they would all have the top players from their respective league teams playing. It would be in the later rounds that he expected the matches to get tougher as the teams that gelled the best moved on. Since getting ready for the first round on that premise could mean that some of the players took it a bit too easy, though, she was happy to go along with what Gwenog wanted to do; which would definitely make sure they were ready to play their very best.

The rest of the Harpies, and the other six reserve players, all got to the Exmoor stadium early enough to be out on the pitch on time, which Gwenog seemed very disappointed about. Wilda and Melissa Maddock were the only reserve players who didn't seem surprised that Glynnis wasn't there with them, but nobody questioned that as Gwenog immediately got them started on a grueling workout. That first couple of hours definitely surprised a few players, including Oliver Wood. He was breathing hard and sat down on the pitch as soon as he landed for the ten minute break Gwenog was giving them after bludger practice.

"If we'd trained our Gryffindors like this; we would have won more Quidditch Cups," he told his fellow Gryffindors.

"Or our teams would have mutinied," Angelina said with a laugh. "I'm fairly sure that our training wasn't a problem back then."

"No – it was Death Eaters, Dementors, psycho Professor-Inquisitors, and the rest of their lot," Alicia declared.

"We'd have lost a lot fewer players to injuries without all of that too," Ginny added.

Demelza laughed. "Maybe Harry would've noticed you sooner if he hadn't been hit in the head quite so often too," she joked.

"That may have worked out for the best," Angelina told them. "He didn't exactly have the best reputation around school when it came to being boyfriend material. If he'd dated Ginny back then; he'd have probably spent half of his time fighting off her bat-bogey hex."

"How did we get from Quidditch to Harry Potter's Hogwarts dating incompetence?" Oliver asked plaintively; and all of the Witches around him laughed.

"Get used to it," Ginny advised him. "You'll be spending the next couple of months with a group of girls who are used to being able to talk freely without having Wizards around to offend or embarrass."

"A fact that some of us are going to love," Laura told her, "though I seriously doubt that Oliver will hear anything more shocking than he hears around United's practice pitch and locker rooms.

They did move the conversation on from there, but it wasn't long before Glynnis joined them, and she and Gwenog got them up and going again. One thing that Ginny loved was having much better competition to play against. She'd trained against Melissa Maddock for two seasons, and though she'd also won the two Seeker duels they had over the past season; Melissa was much better than the Harpies' current Reserve Seeker. All of their National Reserve team players were better, and even though they hadn't all played together before; they still did better as a team against the Harpies in their practice matches than their own reserve players normally did.

Glynnis was going to have her National team work essentially the same training schedule that the Harpies had used all season, so by the time Ginny got home after work; Harry was already there, and was about half-way through making their dinner. She was fired up and ready to talk Quidditch, but when she saw the look in his eyes as he turned toward her; she was instantly more interested in what was going on with him at work instead.

"Am I going to like hearing about what you're going to be doing at work now?"

Harry laughed and pulled her close for a long hug and soft, lingering kiss before answering. "You're more likely to be amused. Paddy's going undercover starting tomorrow; and I'm being teamed up with Ron again. Emma doesn't want Dennis and Natalie involved – at least not yet."

"It's not exactly comforting to know that Emma thinks the assignment is too dangerous for your trainees, and is putting her two craziest Aurors on the job," Ginny pointed out; though she laughed too. "What are you going to be doing?"

"We'll be playing at the park. Reggie and Dan had one of the Wizards they were following go there; and it's apparently a meeting place of some sort. Emma's had the park under surveillance for the last two weeks, but they're using wards, and nobody else can get close enough to find out what they're doing."

"So you're going to find out whether they've thought to protect against Animagi," Ginny surmised.

"Even Dumbledore didn't do that for Hogwarts," Harry pointed out, "and he knew about my father, Sirius, and the others – and that Peter Pettigrew was working for Riddle. I think it'll work – and it's worth a try. The good news is that we'll be working days; though it could be until nearly dark each evening. The bad is that it'll be seven days a week to start."

"What's Ron going to be doing while you're playing spy dog?"

"He'll be the Muggle senior citizen owner I keep running off from or back to as needed. He just moved into the area, and will be visiting the park a lot to take me for walks."

"Did you come up with that specifically for Hermione?"

Harry laughed. "No, but that was an added bonus. That just seemed like the easiest cover; though we did consider having a family for me. We could still do that if Grandpa should happen to fall ill or something."

"Is there any particular reason why Emma's being so careful with this?" Ginny asked next, and Harry shook his head.

"They're a tough lot from what we know of them, but I think it's mostly because we haven't gotten close enough to find out what they're up to. Considering how careful they're being; it's probably something serious enough that we need to put a stop to it. I can tell you more about that later if you want. How was your first day ever at a National team training camp?"

Ginny let him change the subject, and told him all about her day at Exmoor, and about where Glynnis and Gwenog were planning on taking their training. They had dinner, cleaned up, and went outside for a little Seeker duel before going back inside; where they both did a little studying while listening to the WWN. They stopped working in time to watch Lee's new WWMN show that had taken his old WWN broadcasts and turned it into something similar to a Muggle late-night talk show. His WWN show had been one of the most popular and listened to broadcasts, and from what Ginny had heard from Alicia earlier in the day; his new mirror network show was going to be even bigger.

Harry was thinking about that, and the playtime with Ginny that had followed, while wandering around Oak Park the next morning. Ron had him on a lead; and they were doing a full tour of the place so they could pick out the different spots they could use for Ron to 'rest at' while Paddy ran off on his little adventures. He gave himself a little mental shake, and returned to focusing on the job at hand. Reggie and Dan had been following a pair of Selwyn cousins, Alexis and Grady Selwyn, and the Aurors that Emma had put to watching the park had identified three others who had been to one or more of the meetings, but that was really about all that he and Ron had to work with so far. There had been no set, observable times, and the shielded meetings had been between as few as two people, and no more than six. Since beginning to watch the park; there had been days with multiple meetings, and others with none; again with no discernable pattern.

"Try and keep it to a minimum for the scooping part of my job, mate," Ron said quietly as he casually looked around. "There are just some things that best friends shouldn't have to do for each other."

"I'll help you out with that," Harry thought to himself, "as long as you don't pull the liver snack dog treats gag you think is so bloody hilarious when I have no choice but to eat the disgusting things and play along like I love them."

"There are some nice spots down by the little lake that'll be nice for sitting and relaxing," Ron continued as if talking to Harry as they crossed paths with a pair of young women pushing strollers. "We could even bring a picnic here, and there's lots of shade for hot days."

"You're playing an old man," Harry wanted to tell his friend when he turned around to check out the two women once they'd passed. "Not to mention that you're engaged and going to be married in just over two months." He did give Ron a doggie glare when he looked around and down again.

"I'm old, not dead," Ron said in a near-whisper, "and there's no law that says I can't look. Even you must've noticed that they were very good looking girls."

He had, but Harry still thought there was a big difference between the way that he appreciated the fairer half of the population, and the way Ron did. They spent most of the morning on their tour of the park, and then left to have lunch at a café near the main entrance where they could at least watch for the Witches and Wizards that they knew about, or any others who would looked suspicious. One of the reasons that the others watching the park had trouble identifying all of the people they'd seen was that they were all in disguise. It had only been because of mistakes that some of them had made while being tracked, and because Reggie and Dan already knew the identities of the Witch and Wizard they'd been watching, that they had identified any of the group.

They went back to the park for the afternoon, and Ron spent most of those long hours relaxing on park benches, chatting with some other seniors, and concentrating a bit too much on admiring the more attractive park visitors. It wasn't until late afternoon that Harry spotted Alexis Selwyn. She was in disguise, but since Reggie and Dan had been on the case for quite a while, they'd known all of the disguises she used even if they'd often been unable to find out where she went, or what she did, while using those disguises. He started making his way toward her; using the trees and underbrush to keep from being noticed by her. She took a path that wound deep into one of the more densely forested sections of the park, and continued until she reached a comparatively secluded rest area. He felt when she put her wards up around the area, including Muggle-repelling charms; and he all but held his breath while silently padding closer to her. He definitely thought a huge sigh of relief when he passed the outer boundary of her wards without any alarms going off, and though he had expected that it wouldn't be a problem, there had still been some risk.

He didn't need to be all that close to be able to hear and see her, and heard each of the two Wizards who met with her long before they were in sight. When the second Wizard got there, they sat down on two of the benches. They were obviously not hugs and kisses kind of friends. It didn't take long for Harry to discern that, at least with these two Wizards, Alexis was in charge, and she spoke in a harsh, low, and rather imperious tone of voice.

"Did you get it done Avery?" she demanded.

"Of course, Alexis," the Wizard sitting by himself answered. "We promised you'd have it in time."

"You promised it would be done a week ago," she disagreed shortly. "Let's see it."

The Wizard looked around hesitantly before pulling a small, polished wooden box out of the hiking bag he was carrying and held it out to her. "Don't touch it, or any part of the inside of the box," he warned in an urgent whisper. "When you're ready to use it, just upend the box and dump it out."

"Where'd you get one of those?" the other Wizard, who was sitting beside Alexis, asked as he looked into the now-opened box.

Avery laughed coarsely. "A family souvenir from better times; finally being put to better use than its original purpose."

"If you've done your job, it well may," Alexis told him.

"Anyone who touches that is dead," he assured her, "and with the time delay you wanted; it could take out a whole group of walking dead before the first victim drops."

Alexis nodded, closed the box, and put it carefully into her own pack. "I'll be impressed when I see that happen. What have you got for us Montague?"

He smiled – a rather cold, sneering look – and handed her a small potion bottle. "Hot out of the cauldron. Even a pinprick with this coating the needle is instant paralysis. Death comes as slowly or quickly as you want after that."

"Yet they'll feel everything too?" Alexis demanded; her voice dripping with what sounded to Harry like anticipation.

"They won't be able to physically react to anything because of the paralysis, but yes, they will feel everything that's done to them, and even more acutely than normal, until death's release."

"Excellent. The others will be pleased. You have done all that is needed for now, but we will contact you in the usual way when it is time for our first mission."

With that, they quickly ended their meeting, and took turns leaving; with Alexis going first, followed by Avery, and then Montague. Harry waited until they were all gone before making his way back to Ron. He knew that it was time for them to take a break, and after putting Harry back on his lead, they left the park, and moved on to a spot where Harry could change back and they could talk about what he'd heard.

"Any guess as to what they're planning?" Ron asked after Harry had quickly relayed to him to highlights of the meeting.

"No, but Alexis Selwyn seemed particularly pleased over Montague's paralysis potion. Whoever they want to use it on, she definitely wants to make them suffer before dying."

"Too bad you couldn't see what was in the box they were being so careful with. That might've been a clue."

"It's a safe bet that whatever it is has a very nasty curse on it, and that time delay Avery spoke of is worrying – especially if it's something that could be passed around a lot – like money for instance."

"That's a scary thought," Ron agreed. "What do you want to do now?"

Harry looked at his watch. "Get something to eat, and then I'll go write up a report for Emma while you keep an eye on the park; unless you'd like to do the report."

"Josh may have forced me to improve my reports, mate, but nobody will ever get me to volunteer to write them up," Ron answered. "You go ahead, and have fun with it."

They disguised themselves and had dinner at the same café they'd gone to for lunch; and then Ron went back to the park using a different disguise while Harry went on to Auror Headquarters to write up their report. He was back at the park an hour and a half later, and they stayed until nearly dark; though there were no other meetings. Nothing happened at the park on Tuesday or Wednesday either, but there was one morning meeting that Harry and Ron had barely gotten to the park in time to listen in on, and two meetings on Friday – one in the late afternoon, and another in the evening.

"We're only getting mostly last names," Ron told Harry as they sat in Harry's cubicle at Auror Headquarters on Friday night, "but that's not helping us identify them. Any ideas on what to do about that?"

"Yeah. I'm going to ask Emma to check with the other Aurors to see if any of the Witches and Wizards they're watching are disappearing about the same time as they're showing up at the park. We could hit some matches that way. From what we've seen so far, I'd say that Reggie and Dan caught a lucky break to find out about these park meetings. You didn't have any luck when you've tried to follow them out of the park."

"That might help put a couple of names together," Ron agreed; "though some of those families are big, and there's still a good chance that most of this group aren't even on our radar – like the group that went after you and Ginny last fall."

"I'm not counting on that working," Harry admitted. "What we really need to do is find out what this first mission is going to be. Hopefully, someone in their group will make another mistake."

They didn't find out anything new during the first weekend of their park stakeout. There were several meetings that Paddy listened in on and watched during the second week, but it was a Sunday afternoon meeting on the second weekend when they finally got a break. This time, it had been Grady Selwyn leading a meeting with two other Wizards and one Witch; and it had been to discuss what their mission assignments were.

"Here's the address and directions to the mudbloods' hovel," Grady told the other three as he handed a piece of folded parchment to one of the Wizards, and to the Witch. Unlike his cousin Alexis, his voice was silky smooth and cultured sounding; which made words that he used, like 'mudblood', sound even more insulting; at least to Harry. "You should check the place out in the next couple of days, but be careful not to draw any attention to yourselves – especially you, Bletchley."

"You don't need to worry about me," the Wizard he'd given the parchment to growled. Grady just smiled coldly and looked him up and down.

"Of course not," he said scornfully. "Your disguise today is so bad, it's a wonder the Aurors haven't arrested you for crimes against fashion. Every Muggle in this park surely took notice of you."

"What matter if they did?" Bletchley countered dismissively. "They can't see us here, and have no idea what I really look like." He looked down at the parchment in his hands, unfolding it and then reading the information. "Why wait until Friday, and what time are we hitting them?"

"They'll be going to pick up their mudblood brats from King's Cross," Grady answered. "Alexis will be leading your group; and you'll take them out when they go to leave for the station. She wants you at the meeting place by dawn. When they don't show up to get their little abominations, three poor little orphans will make their parent's murders a very hot case for the Minister and Aurors. Maybe we'll get really lucky, and the Chosen Chump himself will be sent to investigate."

"We'll get him eventually even if he isn't," the other Wizard told Grady. "What do you want me to do?"

Grady pulled another piece of parchment out of a pocket, and handed it to him. "You'll be with me; and the group at the Portkey destination. We'll meet there at dawn too, and be ready for any unplanned early arrivals."

The Wizard looked at the parchment and nodded; then handed it back to him. "Avery's old hunting lodge in Wales. I know the place – it's a good choice."

"It'll do," Grady agreed with a curt nod as he tucked the parchment away again.

He had a few other instructions to discuss, and then, as usual, he left the rest area first; followed by the unidentified Wizard. Bletchley stayed and talked with the Witch for a few minutes, and then she left next while he continued to sit on a bench for a while, read over the sheet of parchment again, and then finally got up to leave. The added bonus, for Harry, came when Bletchley set the parchment down on the bench while rummaging through his pack, and then left without it.

Once Bletchley was out of ear-shot, Harry padded silently over to the bench and hopped up onto it. He flipped the parchment open with a paw, and read the address and directions to the house of the Witch and Wizard who were blissfully unknowing targets of this group of Dark Wizards and Witches. He sighed in relief when it wasn't anyone he knew personally even as he resolutely promised them that he would not let this lot leave more orphaned children behind in their quest for power and revenge. Grady had made it clear that this 'mission' wasn't to go after a couple of Muggle-borns. What they really wanted was to kill, and apparently torture, Aurors. Since all of the Aurors were friends of his, he really had a problem with that plan too. Catching the sound of hurried footsteps approaching, he pawed the parchment closed again, jumped down, and ran silently back to his hiding spot. Bletchley was panting when he practically ran into the rest area; and Harry watched the look of panic drop from his face when he saw the parchment on the bench where he'd left it. He looked around to make sure he was alone, and then picked it up; put it safely in his pack; and continued along the walking path instead of returning the way he'd come – and left the first time.

"The good news is that you're home a bit early," Ginny said as Harry walked into the sitting room and leaned over the back of the sofa so they could share a hug and kiss. "The bad news is that I'm going to need to worry about you while trying to get ready for our first-round match against Norway this Saturday, right?"

"I love you," Harry answered evasively. "Does it help to know that I worry about you being out there practicing against four of the best Beaters in the League every day?"

Ginny laughed. "No, and they're not trying to kill us like the kids you and Ron go out to play against. What's their can't-lose plot to return the pureblood elites to power this time?"

"I haven't eaten yet. Let's go into the kitchen, and I'll tell you what we know so far while I throw something together."

They did that, and he went over everything with her for what was now the third time in the past few hours for him after doing the meeting recaps first for Ron, and then for Emma back at Auror Headquarters. He'd polished off the sandwich and cold veggies he'd put together by the time he'd finished his end of story time.

"I can't tell if it's an improvement that you're now an added bonus instead of the primary target or not," Ginny joked. "They do seem to keep coming up with very creative plans – in an evil genius sort of way. What do you think the Portkeys will be? Bits of evidence scattered around the crime scene?"

"That's one of our guesses," he agreed. "If they're trying to catch Aurors, the Portkeys would need to be things we're likely to touch or collect. Their plan may be all-new, but the tricks are mostly old favorites of Riddle and the Death Eaters – Portkey ambushes, cursed artifacts, and poisons."

"So what does Emma want to do next?"

"We'll find out tomorrow. Ron will go to the meeting she's going to have with Reggie, Dan, and some of the others while I'm watching the park. I expect that Ron and I will continue to do that while everyone else puts together a plan to stop the attack and put them out of business."

"Followed shortly after by you and Ron having starring roles in the big battle scene on Friday," Ginny added. "Why do I like this whole thing even less than usual?"

"I don't know," Harry answered. "For me, it's because there's still a bit too much that we don't know right now. Hopefully that'll change by the time we need to get out there and stop them."

That was true, but as they moved on to talk about her day, and what she would be doing with the National team for the last five training days they had left to get ready for their first World Cup match, he continued to think about his own work; and what he didn't tell her about the feelings he was getting about the upcoming operation. He'd hoped to glean some clarity about those feelings, but that didn't happen on Sunday night, or during the rest of the week as he and Ron mostly continued their stakeout of Oak Park, and he eavesdropped on three more meetings on Monday and Wednesday. He and Ron were at Auror Headquarters for the last meeting on Thursday night before their counter-operation, and while they did have some more information; there were still too many unknowns for his comfort, and the sense of foreboding he was feeling was much stronger; but no clearer. He and Ron were assigned to the team that would be protecting the Muggle-born couple while Nathan and Christine would be leading the second team that would be rounding up the Witches and Wizards who showed up at the hunting lodge.

The secluded lodge had been easy enough to locate through the Ministry records, and it had been watched all week; but nobody had been there. Harry and Ron had gone there on Tuesday, as they'd done for the home of the couple who was targeted for the attack, so they'd be prepared to go with whichever group Emma assigned them to work with. They'd both thought that the lodge was a bad location for them to run a capture operation in; but Nathan and Christine had come up with the best plan they could with what they had to work with, and Harry fervently hoped that it would be enough.

By the time he got home, Ginny was asleep, but she woke when he got into bed with her, and he wasn't surprised that she picked up on the anxiousness he was feeling. They held each other close, talked quietly, and shared some soft, tender kisses; but he didn't have much time to get some sleep, and they both eventually drifted off for the few hours he had before needing to get up and going again. Ginny woke when he did, and after quickly getting ready to go, they shared a long few moments saying goodbye before he hurried off to meet up with Ron and the rest of their team.

"Ready to have some fun?" Ron asked when he got there too.

"Not really," Harry answered, "but I doubt we could get the bad guys to postpone until I am." He looked around at everyone and nodded. Ron had been the last to arrive; so they were ready to go. "We all know what to do. Be careful; don't touch anything these attackers drop or have on them, and watch out for anything they throw at you, no matter how small."

Ron was going to be using his cloak; and he was going Animagus so they could both be in the front yard of the house. Their job was to protect the couple that the Selwyns and their group were coming after while Reggie, Dan, and the others would be handling the shielding, anti-apparition charms, and capture. Since most of their team didn't know about his furry little secret, Harry and Ron left first; making a stop so Harry could change into Paddy; and then walking the rest of the way. Ron immediately went into the front yard to wait near the front door while Harry took a bit longer before working his way into the yard as if he was just out for a normal morning wander around his neighborhood. They'd all been ready to go and on the stakeout for nearly two hours before the couple came out of the house, and though he didn't know how they knew, the moment the pleasant-looking Witch and Wizard stepped onto the cobbled path that led to the road, a group of six Witches and Wizards appeared in the yard in a semi-circle around them. They threw up wards and four killing curses were immediately fired at the stunned pair. Ron threw off Harry's cloak and tossed a handful of blocks into the air that he and Harry both used engorgement charms on to intercept those curses. He threw more blocks on the ground that were mostly for Harry's benefit, and then they both put up shields to continue their defense. Harry had been ignored by the six Witches and Wizards, but Ron needed to protect himself now too; and they were both too busy to mount a counter-attack. Harry groaned silently when Reggie and Dan's first attempt to break through their attackers' shields failed.

"It's Weasley!" one of the Wizards shouted. "Where's your best mate when you need him most, traitor? Too busy Potty-training his little Auror wanna-bes?"

"Shut up and kill him before the others break through!" Alexis ordered.

With a flick of her wand, she'd already sent a killing curse at Ron, and then stared at him in disbelief as her attack was met by one of the blocks despite the fact that it didn't look like Ron had even seen the attack coming. Harry had stopped that, but had nearly missed seeing the tiny dart that she'd sent speeding behind the killing curse. He did barely manage to stop that too, though, and then he and Ron each handled one of the next two attacks on the couple they were protecting. With their shields still holding, and their attack intensifying; Harry decided that he had to change back so he could use his wand and full power. The down-side of doing that was that he was momentarily vulnerable, and before he could stop it; a breaking charm shattered his wand-hand elbow and arm. A blow to the head staggered him as he grabbed his wand with the other hand, and though he was seeing red now, he continued to fight on. The pain from his injuries fueled his anger, and that allowed him to muster a counter-attack that took out two of the Wizards on his left just as their shields keeping the rest of the Aurors out of the fight were finally destroyed; and Reggie, Dan, and the others joined the battle.

Seeing what was happening to the others, Alexis pulled something out of her cloak and awkwardly tried to unwrap it with one had while continuing to fight and shield herself. When the object she was trying to get out of the cloth wrapping fell onto the ground, Harry had a sudden flash of insight, and lunged toward her; dodging the curse she fired at him, and reaching out for what he could now see was a potion bottle. He touched it at the same time she did; and he groaned in pain from landing on his shattered arm even as they were swept away from the yard.

He cried out when they hit the ground hard, and he again landed on his injured arm, but he didn't hesitate, and rolled away and to his feet; throwing up a shield and two rocks from the ground. The second part of his defense wasn't for himself, but to block the attacks he'd just foreseen Alexis fire at Christine and Susan's unprotected backs. The rocks exploded, but they were so close, and it happened so fast, that he couldn't stop one of the large fragments from hitting Christine in the shoulder with stunning force and a loud crack. She was spun around by the force and dropped to a knee, but counter-attacked at the same time that Susan spun and fired too. Harry watched as he disarmed Alexis; sending her wand flying toward him while Christine and Susan blasted her with counter-attacks. Unfortunately for him, none of that had happened before she'd rounded on him and attacked again. She didn't break through his shield, but it had been point blank; he'd been blasted backwards through the air; and those images were the last thing he saw before he hit the tree and the lights went out.

"Welcome back."

Harry smiled weakly as he futilely tried to focus on Ginny's face. She laughed softly, and a moment later, things began to come into focus as she gently put his glasses on for him. His head hurt a fair bit, and there were other aches and pains. When he tried to move his arm, he groaned.

"They decided that it was easier to re-grow it," she advised him. "Now that you're awake, they'll have you take skele-grow, and you already know that means you're in for a bad night."

"Are Christine and Susan okay? Everyone else?" he asked worriedly as the fog began to clear. He tried to sit up; which was fairly stupid considering that he had no bones in one arm and hand. The pain from moving his head convinced him to stop trying before Ginny put a gently restraining hand on his chest.

"Compared to you, everyone else is fine," she assured him. "You are going to have some explaining to do to them, though, and I have to say that this time, I think your operation plan seriously sucked."

Harry laughed and then groaned. "I'm still here, and we didn't lose anyone else, so at least that went right, even if not much else did. What time is it? Have I totally messed up your training?"

Ginny looked at her watch. "Training's done by now, and yes, you did; but I'd have only held that against you if you hadn't made it – a fact that the Healers have told us you have Christine and Susan to thank for."

"Since he saved us first, it seemed like the thing to do," Susan said as she walked into the room. "Nice to see you awake, Harry. Ernie asked me to thank you for helping to make sure that his fiancée would still be around for our wedding two weeks from tomorrow; and I'm fairly happy about that too. Emma asked me to stop by to remind you that she'll need your report on her desk by morning; and having no bones in your writing arm isn't an acceptable excuse for not getting that done."

Ginny laughed and let go of Harry's good hand long enough to hug their friend. "That'll give him something to do later when he can't sleep; and we're very happy right back that you and Christine helped to keep my husband alive, since I'd really like to keep him around for a while longer."

"What happened…?" Harry began.

"…after you hit the tree, broke your head and neck, among other things; and spent the next hour or two deciding if you were going to stay with us or not?" Susan finished. "Ron and the others cleaned up their end of the operation without any major problems; and only the two Wizards you hit were injured seriously enough to need to come here for treatment. All five of those prisoners are safely locked up at the Ministry now. We'd already taken down the group at the lodge by the time you decided to stop by to see how we were doing. There were a total of eight Witches and Wizards, and up until that point, we'd had four injured prisoners and two minor Auror injuries. Alexis Selwyn's having a tough day too – getting hit by both Christine and I wasn't good; though she'll likely only need to spend one night here." At that point in her recap, Susan ran a hand along the bandage that covered about a third of the left side of her face.

"This didn't feel so great, and Christine looks about the same; plus she has the added bonus of a broken shoulder and some nerve damage. Since the alternative was a pair of killing curses in the back, though, we're feeling pretty good right now. We're not nearly as happy with you. We are grateful; but doesn't it ever occur to you to worry about yourself first? We've guessed that you had some sort of last minute vision, but you seem to take be kind to bad guys – or girls – a bit too far sometimes. Was there really no other way to stop her?"

"Not for me there wasn't," Harry answered quietly and sincerely; and then smiled weakly again. "Of course if I'd looked about ten seconds further into that vision and foreseen the part where I got blasted into that tree, I might have looked for other options; but I sort of stopped at the part where I saw you and Christine getting attacked from behind and killed. Is Christine here too?"

"No. She's at home with Bryce and the kids," Susan answered. "They'll stop in for a visit later, but she's started her vacation a bit early. I'd better get over to Headquarters. Emma really sent me over to find out if you were awake yet, and will want to know that you are." She patted Harry's arm; hugged Ginny again; and then headed out of the room. Ginny turned back to Harry after she was gone, and leaned over to kiss him.

"I love you. Thanks for being there for our friends."

"You're welcome, and I'm feeling much better. Any chance we can get that skele-grow to go and get out of here?"

Ginny laughed at the implied offer, playful smile, and spark of emerald fire in his eyes. "There's zero chance, but save that thought for when you do get out of here – which, if you're lucky, won't be Monday or Tuesday."

"That doesn't sound lucky at all," Harry told her, and Ginny laughed again.

"Do you vaguely remember what happened not long before you went for your little Portkey adventure – Paddy?"

Harry groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. "The press must be having a field day. Harry Potter is an Animagus. They're likely making that a bigger story than the captures."

"It's at least tied with that, and with you being seriously injured again," Ginny agreed with a nod. "It does mean that being stuck in here for a few days won't be all bad."

"Maybe not, but that still doesn't work for me at all. Your game's tomorrow, and Teddy and I are going to be there to see your first-ever World Cup match."

"Teddy will be there," Ginny countered. "You definitely won't be using international Portkeys – or apparating – to Germany this weekend. Don't give me that look, Harry. You took two serious concussions this morning, along with a skull fracture; and you're a repeat concussion offender. You are not going to risk permanent scrambling your brain to come and watch me play Quidditch." She smiled when the expression of determination on his face didn't change at all. "You're going to promise me that you'll stay here where you're supposed to be tomorrow, or Melissa Maddock will be playing Seeker against Norway in my place."

"That's so not fair," he complained; though he knew she wasn't bluffing.

"No, but staying here is non-negotiable. The only real choice you have is whether I stay here to make sure you don't go anywhere, or go out to play Quidditch with my friends while you be a good boy and give yourself a chance to get better."

Harry sighed. "I promise, but this is really lousy, and I'm not at all sorry anymore that Alexis Selwyn and those other two Wizards got hurt."

Ginny laughed and kissed him again. "I'm not sorry about that, but we both know that you still are. Thank you. I'll do my best to make sure our team's still playing when you are well enough to travel again," she promised. "The good news is that you will at least be able to watch the game on your WWMN mirror."

"That's true," he agreed with a nod before remembering that doing that hurt a fair bit. "It won't be the same as seeing you play in person."

"When I do get you home, we'll find a way to make up for that too. Right now, you need to rest, though, and I need to have a few mirror chats to let Mum, Hermione, and Gwenog know what's going on."

"I've been sleeping all day," he pointed out, and Ginny shook her head.

"You've been unconscious all day – big difference. If the Healers see you sleeping, they may hold off on the skele-grow until later too."

He did try to rest, but wasn't sleeping when one of the Healers came in to check on him a half-hour later. The skele-grow was as terrible as he remembered, and it wasn't long before he was seriously not enjoying his second experience with having his arm and hand bones re-grown. He had a lot of visitors stop by through until visiting hours were over, including Emma, Molly, Arthur, Hermione, three of his brothers-in-law, the Campbell family, and some of their friends. Sleep wasn't really going to be an option for him, but by the time that he and Ginny were alone again, he was definitely ready to lay back and get some rest.

"You should head home soon too or you'll be out past curfew, and in trouble with Glynnis and Gwenog," he said tiredly; squeezing Ginny's hand.

"I'd rather just stay here and conjure a bed," Ginny countered, but Harry shook his head.

"That won't work this time, and you know it, honey. I'll be up most of the night, and you'd end up being awake most of the time with me. I definitely don't want you to end up in here with me tomorrow because you're too tired to see a bludger coming, or make a mistake at two-hundred miles an hour and crashing. Don't worry about me – you need to take care of yourself; concentrate on your job; and be careful out there."

"I seem to remember asking you to be careful this morning before you left for work," she reminded him. "It's a bit ironic to have you lay here in this hospital bed and tell me all of that."

"Maybe, but then I didn't have the hopes and dreams of a Quidditch nation riding on my job this morning," he joked, "and you do not want to disappoint any of your fans – including me."

They talked for a while longer, and shared some soft, sweet kisses before Ginny finally, reluctantly agreed to go home for the night. Harry dozed on and off for a while, but was awake when Ron stopped in to see him before going home after being relieved from guard duty on Alexis Selwyn.

"I figured you'd be awake," he stated while flopping tiredly into one of the chairs next to Harry's bed. "How's the arm and head?"

"I'm trying to ignore the arm and failing; my head hurts a fair bit, and feels like it's only semi-attached right now. What's been going on in the real world while I've been laying here slacking?"

"A fair bit," Ron answered. "Reggie and Dan are taking the lead on the interviews; though you can probably guess how far they're getting with that. We did find out what was in that box you saw Alexis get from Avery. It was an Auror badge, though we're not sure who's yet. Bill has it, but he has no idea how long it'll take to break the curse – if it's even possible. He was definitely interested in what we told him about the delay built into the curse. I guess that's fairly rare in his business."

"I'm just glad that they didn't get a chance to use it on anyone," Harry said. "Who has the night shift guard duty here? Dennis and Natalie?"

"Yes, and I've got to be back here in the morning to wait for our feisty little prisoner to be released to us; but Emma took pity on me, and I still get to go to see Ginny's World Cup match."

"While I'm stuck here," Harry groused. "If I'd known that missing Ginny's game was part of the deal, I might've just blasted Alexis."

Ron laughed. "You wouldn't have, but it's a nice thought. Anyway, you know we ended up with fourteen prisoners in total, but probably haven't heard that there was a pretty good mix of Wizards and Witches from some of our favorite pureblood families that we haven't heard much from lately. It seems like the Jugsons, Warringtons, Timms, and Pritchard families have all come out to play again."

"I wonder what we've done to make those families mad at us?" Harry joked dryly. "Do you think we got the entire group?"

"Probably not," Ron answered, "but we likely did put an end to whatever else they had planned after this first attempt. Whoever else was involved has got to be wondering how much we know, and how we found out about their plot."

"You're likely right," Harry agreed. "What are Emma and Kingsley doing about my Animagus news? I take it that one of the prisoners you captured shot their mouth off on the way in to Auror Headquarters."

"They did, and while the stories are already getting wilder; Kingsley released your Animagus registration to the public records, and held a press conference to explain why the record had been sealed."

"Which the conspiracy fans and our enemies' lackeys are probably having a field day with," Harry added with a self-deprecating laugh. "If you have to be back here in the morning, though, you should get home. Give Hermione an extra hug for me. I don't know why, but for some reason, nobody except Mum and Ginny wanted to hug me today."

"They didn't want that boneless arm flopping around and hitting them," Ron suggested with a grin as he stood up again. "If I don't see you in the morning, I'm sure Hermione will want to stop in after the game. Is there anything I can get you before I get out of here?"

"Could you find a stand-in to take my place while my arm and hand bones are re-grown?" Harry asked hopefully; and Ron laughed.

"I wish, but no; that's not an option. The worst of it will be over by morning, and then you can enjoy the rest of your weekend here at Club Med."

"The worst will be if it turns out that I miss Ginny's one and only World Cup match."

Ron snorted. "You can't really be serious about that. Ginny's not happy about what happened to you, and I'll wager that Norway is going to find out where she's going to channel that pent up energy. That'll fire up the rest of the team, so Norway's National team is going to be in for a bad day tomorrow."

"Let's go with that and hope you're right. Thanks for stopping in. Have a good night."

The only visitors that Harry had for the rest of the night were the medical checks every hour or two, and one short visit from Natalie when she took a break to get food and drinks for herself and Dennis. They'd worked with Neville on Friday morning, and had been with the group at the lodge; but he hadn't seen them there during the few moments he'd been conscious after arriving with Alexis. By then, their prisoner was pretty much fully recovered, and enthusiastically taunting her young guards. He only managed to doze off a few times, but the pain in his arm would bring him back with the slightest movement. He knew that Susan had been joking about getting his report written up for Emma, but since he did have hours available with nothing to do except deal with the discomfort of his injuries; he summoned quill and parchment, and worked on that off and on until finishing it shortly before dawn. He had another little nap then, but was awake when Ginny came in to see him before needing to meet up with the team and take their Portkey to Germany.

"Any chance you've changed your mind about that promise?" he asked hopefully.

"No, and while I'm very glad to see that you have two working arms again, it's also obvious that you're not nearly well-enough to be going anywhere." She pulled his WWMN mirror out of her bag and handed it to him. "Lee's show starts at one; and the game is at two – or noon and one our time." She looked at her watch and shook her head. "I wish I could stay longer, but our team only gets an hour to check out the Heidelberg Harriers' stadium, and then we have to clear out so Norway can do the same."

"You're going to be brilliant," Harry assured her. "Have fun with your friends, and I'll see you on the mirror network later."

"And back here when we're done taking care of business in Germany," Ginny promised. "I love you, Harry. Have a good day."

"I love you too," Harry assured her before they shared a long embrace, and several goodbye and good luck kisses.

After Ginny left to meet up with her team, Harry didn't have to worry about being bored. The shift change brought a few Healer visits, and Emma stopped by before going on to Auror Headquarters; leaving him a copy of the Daily Prophet that had his Animagus news as the lead story. He certainly wasn't surprised to find an ironically entertaining conspiracy cover-up hack job from Rita Skeeter had top billing out of the half-dozen reports covering the news. She scathingly questioned Kingsley's press conference claims, and was quite certain that the Animagus registration documents were 'probably forged'. Rita's inside sources also had a number of fairly wild claims about what dark and twisted activities that Harry had been using his Animagus for. The only positive news about his Animagus was in the Comics section; where a cartoon that was obviously drawn from his registration picture was captioned with 'Desirable Animagus Number One'. Molly and Hermione came by with Teddy before they left for Germany with Ron, Arthur, and the rest of their family. He was getting ready to watch Lee's pre-game show on his WWMN mirror when Christine came into the room bearing gifts of lunch, drinks, and snacks for the game.

"You're not going to the game with Bryce and the kids?"

"Surprise," she answered; waving her wand and setting everything that had been floating along next to her down on his tray table before leaning over for a one-armed hug. Her other arm was still in a sling. "I decided to spend a few hours with Desirable Animagus Number One while everyone else was away," she added with a grin. "Seriously, though, I've got Doctor's orders to stay home too, and I'm not really feeling up to a couple of Portkey trips anyway. Since we're both stuck here, I thought we could watch the match together. Dawn's working with George, Gabrielle, and whoever else he's hired to help out with his World Cup Wheezes booth, and Bryce took Nathan along to help with the rest of the kids, so they'll be fine. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks to you," he answered with a smile. "Now I've got no excuse to lay here feeling sorry for myself because everyone else is at the game."

"Glad I could help," Christine said with a laugh. "Now how are you really doing?"

"I've got a case of double déjà vu," he answered half-seriously. "Last night was like the two nights I spent in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts after Cormac McLaggen bashed my head in with a bludger and Gilderoy Lockhart dissolved all the bones in my broken arm all in one, not-much-fun package. My arm's doing better except for a dull ache, and my head still hurts enough to have me seriously considering wearing a helmet to any future raids or battles with Dark Wizards."

"That's an idea, but we should probably work on making sure you don't end up with any more six against two situations too."

"I got the distinct impression that won't be a problem for my immediate future when Emma was here earlier."

"There is likely to be some extended desk duty time for a while," Christine agreed, "though that'll depend a lot on what your Healers recommend. You'll likely miss the temporary ban on Seeker duels with Ginny more."

"I'd be happy to keep the bludgers in the box, but nobody can seriously expect me to stop doing that for very long. That just isn't going to happen."

"We'll see; but if that battle of wills comes down between you and Ginny, Molly, and Hermione, my wager's on the Witches. Let's get you some food while it's still warm, and watch the show."

Harry hadn't heard anything about what Lee was going to do to cover the World Cup matches; and he was impressed with what they saw. Lee started out with a fairly entertaining, and often humorous, monologue in which he gave his listeners and viewers history lessons for both National teams, followed by player biographies, and what he saw as the strengths and weaknesses for each team. That was followed by a live tour of the Heidelberg Harriers' stadium. Harry and Christine both thought it was funny when George's World Cup Wheezes booth was given a prime, free advertising spot in Lee's coverage of the concessions and enthusiastic Quidditch fans.

"I'd say the girls are loving their new job," Christine said as they watched Dawn and Gabrielle. Both of them were smiling brightly as they worked, and it looked like they were handling the hoard of mostly teen and kid customers very smoothly and efficiently.

"That looks exactly like the crowds in George's store in the week before Christmas, and he's got a booth at every first round match."

"That must've been something to put together, though I guess that'll get easier each week after this as the number of games are halved."

"I haven't talked to him much about it, but his store manager in Hogsmeade, Lisa, took care of most of the work to get ready for this weekend."

Lee moved on, and showcased the storied Quidditch pitch; having the mirror-cam pan around the half-filled stadium seating before returning to his broadcast 'booth'. The show wrapped up with interviews of two former National team players for Norway and England; ending with each player predicting a win for their team, and Lee siding with his home-country team too.

The official pre-game festivities began right on time at one – two o'clock stadium time – and though he did still wish that he was at the stadium, Harry did have to admit that the running commentary Lee worked in around the activities on the pitch did make watching his show fun too. It was nearly half-past by the time the referee threw the quaffle in the air, and the game was finally on!

"England's Angelina Johnson reaches the quaffle first, and passes to Alicia Jordan, your humble announcer's beautiful, amazing wife, and she streaks toward the Norwegian goals. She dodges left – AND PASSES TO DEMEMELZA ROBBINS; WHO SCORES INTO THE OPEN RIGHT GOAL!"

"Excitable, isn't he?" Christine said as they watched one of the Norwegian Chasers grab the quaffle as he swung around behind the goals.

"I know that Lee loves the WWN show he's been doing since the war ended, and his new mirror network show, but I always thought he had a real talent for announcing Quidditch matches when he did them at Hogwarts. I'm glad he's doing them again."

Lee kept the fun going, and so did their National team. Ginny was definitely fired up, and was running the Norwegian Seeker ragged as she blasted around the stadium in search of the snitch. Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were playing their very best too, and Norway seemed incapable of keeping up with them. It only took Ginny an hour and forty-one minutes to finally completely lose her opponent Seeker and end the blowout match with a score of five-forty to just ten points for Norway.

"I take it back – you should get hurt every week through to the World Cup finals if Ginny's going to play like that every game," Christine joked as Lee began to cover the post-game activities on the pitch.

"If our team really needed me to do that, I would," Harry answered with a laugh, "but yesterday wasn't much fun; so hopefully they won't need me to take one or two for the team every Friday for the next six weeks. What have you got planned for the rest of the day?"

"We moved the welcome home party to Sunday because of the game, but I've got lots of work to do to get ready for it. Since the game was short, Bryce and Nathan will probably take the kids on a little tour of Heidelberg, and go out to dinner somewhere before taking their Portkey home, so this is a good time for me to get that work done."

"I could give you a hand," he offered hopefully, and Christine laughed.

"Nice try, but I was told that you won't be going anywhere outside of this hospital until Monday at the earliest." She stood up and began to clean up and gather her things. "Ginny will be back from Germany in time for dinner, and since you didn't sleep much last night; you should have a nap until she gets here."

"That sounds really boring," Harry complained, and Christine laughed again unsympathetically.

"You could use a little boring in your life compared to yesterday, Harry. If you have any trouble sleeping, switch over to the WWN, and listen to those old coots who usually announce the Quidditch games – that'll have you nodding of in just a few minutes."

Christine had hugged him goodbye when she was ready to go, and though he hadn't planned on actually having a nap, he did end up falling asleep for more than an hour and a half. He woke again when one of the Healers stopped by to check on him, and then worked on a section of the new training program that he summoned from home until Ginny put an end to that when she came into the room with her parents, Ron, Hermione, Teddy, and Victoire.

"You are so busted," she told him. "Put the work away – you're finished until further notice."

"I love you. Congratulations. You all played a brilliant game today."

"Thank you; and I love you too. Now do as you're told," she ordered while Teddy and Victoire giggled, and everyone else grinned at him or laughed too.

"Yes dear," he conceded even as he sent the books, parchment, quill, and ink home again. "We didn't see you on the mirror network, but Uncle Lee did show Uncle George's booth, and we saw Dawn and Aunt Gabrielle," he told Teddy and Victoire. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yes!" Teddy assured him first as both kids were dropped onto the bed for some hugs and kisses. "We have some presents for you too."

Molly and Hermione were carrying them, and both kids helped him with opening the two team sets of World Cup souvenir action figures for England and Norway while beginning to tell him about their amazing adventure in Germany with a little help from Ginny, Molly, and Hermione. Ron told him about what had been going on at Auror Headquarters in the morning before he'd left with everyone for Germany, and after spending more than a half hour with him; Molly and Arthur took Victoire with them, and Ron and Hermione left with Teddy to take him back to Andromeda. Once they'd all left, Ginny put her arms around Harry and spent a few moments sharing a rather serious sort of kiss with him. He tried to convince her that they should go home and continue that non-verbal conversation, but when his attempts were unsuccessful, he conceded defeat and moved on.

"Have you heard which team you'll be playing in round two yet?"

"Not officially, but it'll likely be New Zealand. Last I heard; they had a big lead in their match, so it was just a matter of time before they put it away. We'll know by Monday where that match will be held."

Harry grinned at her. "Good. That way I'll have time to fly there if nobody will let me use a Portkey by next Saturday."

Ginny laughed and leaned over to kiss him again. "I'm sure we'll know by Monday what the Healers do and don't want you to do – and for how long. Hopefully you won't have to fly to any of the games – especially if we end up playing in the Americas, Asia, or Oceania. How did Lee do today?"

Harry told her about Lee's first World Cup show; and they talked more about some of her favorite parts of the game. When his dinner was brought in, she ran out to the Leaky to get something to eat too, and then brought some dessert contraband back for him when she returned. They had a few visitors in the evening, and then Ginny stayed until an hour or so after visiting hours were over; taking Harry for a short walk when he didn't have to worry about being hounded by the reporters who'd been hanging around steadily since he'd been brought in.

Ginny was back in the morning, and spent most of the day at the hospital except for lunch and dinner breaks. Gwenog stopped by in the morning and dropped of a file for Ginny to study; and she worked on that off and on while also trying to keep Harry entertained and visiting with their friends and family when they stopped in to see them. They also listened to a WWN recap of the first-round World Cup matches. There were no major upsets, though some of the teams that were expected to do well did have surprisingly close games. Molly and Arthur were celebrating their thirty-third anniversary, and while Harry couldn't go along, he did wish them a Happy Anniversary when they stopped by to visit before taking Ginny out for the little lunch party they were having at the Leaky with most of their kids and some friends. Ron and Hermione conveniently stopped in to see them shortly before dinnertime; and they took Ginny with them to Christine and Bryce's welcome back from school party for an hour and a half or so.

Neither of them was very happy to say goodbye when Ginny left for home and spend another night apart, but on Monday morning, Harry was cleared to leave the hospital. His Healers did have a number of restrictions that he knew Emma and Ginny would make him stick to, but by then, he was pretty much ready to do everything he was told to do if that meant getting out of the hospital and back home again. Ginny was busy training with the National team by the time the Healers had met with him, he got ready to go, and went out to run the gauntlet of reporters that were waiting for him in and around the nearest waiting room, and then again at the front entrance. They were all much more interested in asking him about being an Animagus instead of inquiring about his health or the operation that saved the parents of three kind, sweet kids, but he answered their questions as honestly as always, and after having to get past another gang of reporters in the Atrium; he eventually made it to Auror Headquarters so that he could see Emma, and let her know the highlights of the medical report she'd have on her desk by Tuesday morning.

"You look a lot better today," Emma told him as she got up from her desk and welcomed him with a warm hug. "I sure hope you're not here expecting to get back to work today."

Harry laughed as they both sat down and shook his head. "No, though I would if I thought anyone would let me. For some reason, Healer Kendrick didn't want to trust me with delivering their report and recommendations, but the bad news for me is that I'll be off for the next two weeks, and I'm not supposed to do anything here for at least a couple of months that might put me at risk of another head injury."

"Which is fairly standard," Emma added with an approving nod. "Maybe I'll have you do my job this summer, and I'll work with Neville."

"I'd be back at St. Mungo's in a week tops – from banging my own head against the wall while trying to put up with everything you deal with," Harry told her; and Emma laughed again.

"We wouldn't want that; though I think you'd do much better than you think at a job like mine, Harry. I will come up with something for you to do that won't have you bored senseless, and you should still be able to do your morning training too. This might even give you a chance to get more of your new training program done. You like doing that more than Neville does anyway, and I'm sure he'd be happy to just look at what you come up with, and offer his suggestions."

"Whatever you come up with will be fine with me," Harry assured her. "Is there anything you need me to take care of to wrap things up from last Friday?"

"I'll need your memories of the attacks," Emma answered, and then smiled at him. "Your report was still probably the best one, and you wrote that with a concussion, and while the bones in your arm and hand were being re-grown; so that's the only thing we didn't have yet."

"What's going on with the prisoners and the case?"

"The prisoners aren't cooperating, though Reggie and Dan are continuing to amuse themselves with the attempt. The trials started today, and while we didn't get very many new leads, I have put Aurors on what little we do have to work with. They may not have learned much, but the bad guys have gotten good at protecting their heads and cutting their losses when needed."

Harry nodded. "Yes they have," he agreed. "If you've got a bottle handy, I'll get you those memories, and then let you go back to work."

They took care of that, and then Harry did a little tour around Auror Headquarters. The comedians among his friends all had copies of his Animagus comic posted on their cubicle walls, and had obviously spent some quality time over the weekend working on their puppy jokes. He stopped in to the observation room to see what Reggie and Dan were doing in the interview room, and then couldn't resist going in to visit them for a minute and have a chat with Alexis and Grady Selwyn. Their prisoners were definitely not happy to see him, and had some fairly nasty things to say; but Reggie and Dan had enjoyed themselves as much as Harry had. He made one more stop at the Burrow to see Molly and Victoire, and ended up staying to have lunch with them before going home. He had an afternoon nap, and then did a little house and yard work before making dinner for two; which he had ready by the time Ginny got home from Exmoor Stadium.

While he was really glad to be home again with Ginny, the rest of the week was occasionally very frustrating. He missed the regular Seeker duels with Ginny – especially when she continued to work on perfecting new tricks and plays after dinner every evening. There was only so much house and yard work that needed to be done, and even with doing a lot of make-work jobs, by Wednesday afternoon he was bored. Spending the day with Teddy on Thursday took care of filling up another day while Ginny and everyone else was busy at work or taking care of families, and on Friday he took care of the grocery and supply shopping in the morning, and filled up the afternoon by taking Victoire shopping at a Muggle Mall.

Finally, it was Saturday, and after getting the necessary approval, he and Teddy headed for Uganda with Molly, Arthur, Ron, Hermione, and Victoire. They spent the morning sightseeing; had lunch; and then headed for the Patonga Proudsticks' stadium; getting there shortly after the gates opened. They checked out the concessions booths, including George's wheezes booth, and picked up more souvenirs before getting drinks and snacks, and going to find their seats.

"The Harriers' stadium was bigger than this," Ron told Harry as they waited for the pre-game show to start," but the crowd here is definitely more fired up."

"They are," Harry agreed, "but that might not be a good thing for our team. I guess when Lee was getting ready for his show today; he found out that England isn't popular around here right now after breaking the Proudsticks' World Cup record for most players from one club playing for the National team. Being booed more than cheered is going to be something our team hasn't faced before – at least in the last few years."

"I'm sure that Glynnis helped them work on dealing with that," Molly said confidently.

"And something like that will just get Gwenog fired up," Arthur added with a nod. "All Ginny will care about today is that Harry's here to see her play in a World Cup match."

"She's not the only one here who's fired up about that," Harry told them. "Hopefully we'll all get to watch her play in quite a few more World Cup matches."

"Do we know much about the New Zealand team?" Hermione asked.

"They played well last week," Ron answered, "but it sounds like they were up against one of the weaker teams that didn't have a very good Keeper, and even after getting a big lead, it still took their Seeker hours to end the match."

"Maybe both Seekers were really good," Arthur suggested. "Ginny's had a few of those matches too."

Ron shrugged. "Maybe. We'll find out soon enough, and it'll be interesting to see how their Chasers do up against Trish."

"They'd best hope that they do better than Norway's Chasers did," Molly suggested.

"Though you hope not," Arthur countered with a smile. "Last week was a perfect game for all of our fans – you had a nice one-sided defensive show, and those of us who like high-scoring matches got that too."

"Trish wouldn't mind if they did a bit worse," Harry told them. "That one goal that Norway did score was fairly early in the match, but it's still tough that she came so close to having a World Cup shutout."

"Weren't two shutouts in one season enough for her?" Ron asked. "Plus she had two games where she only gave up one goal, so she nearly had four."

"The second shutout was in a three-second long game," Harry reminded him. "It may count in the record books, but Trish doesn't think of it as one that she earned. You know that every player in the Wizarding World thinks this is a big deal – especially since most players never even get a chance to play for their National team."

They continued to mostly talk Quidditch for the time they had left until the pre-game ceremonies started. Harry smiled when he saw Ginny's reaction to the loud boos and jeers that her team received from a majority of the spectators when they were introduced and flew around the stadium. Her smile had gone from bright to brilliant, and she'd waved happily as she and Trish flew in close formation behind their Chasers. The New Zealand team was given a much warmer reception, and after they landed, the ceremony continued with a number of fairly boring speeches given mostly by local Ministry officials. Finally, after nearly a half-hour of pomp and pomposity, the referee got the game started.

"Uncle Harry? I have to go to the bathroom."

Harry laughed and pulled Teddy into his lap. "Couldn't you have thought about that when all we'd have missed was the boring speeches?"

"I didn't have to go then," Teddy answered. "Now I really do."

Angelina scored the first goal of the match, and gave them a good reason to jump to their feet. "We'll be back," Harry told the others. "Need anything while we're making the run near the concessions?"

"Even with Ron here, there's enough food and drinks already to last at least a couple of hours," Molly assured him. "Hurry back – it looks like Angelina really came to play again today."

That trip really didn't take long, since most of the spectators were busy watching the action above the pitch. New Zealand may have won their first-round game by a lot, but they soon found out that even though they were flying Firestorms too, England's game play was at a whole different level; and they pushed the limits of the new broom beyond anything most of them had even tried before. That was bad enough, but their game plan was terrible too. Their Beaters focused on trying to take Ginny out of the game to give their Seeker a chance for an early snitch catch and win, but she flew around like they weren't even there, and gave her opponent all the competition he could handle and more. That made it obvious that the New Zealand Managers thought their Chasers were a match for Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza, but they were very wrong about that, and it took England less than an hour to go up by more than one hundred and fifty points.

That made the rest of the match easy for Ginny, but it was really too late for New Zealand after that, and the wheels fell off for them after that. England was ahead by a score of six-thirty to sixty when Ginny did finally end the game at the three hour and nine minute mark. By then, even the local Witches and Wizards who'd booed England at the start had become fans, and there was a roar of approval when she showed off her two hundred mile an hour, inverted vertical flip to catch the snitch about twelve feet above the pitch – and only about six inches away from the New Zealand team's left goal post.

"Class dismissed," Ron joked. "Let's go eat. I'm starving!"

"Me too!" Teddy said excitedly. "Can we, Uncle Harry?"

"Not yet," Harry answered. "We're going to hang out here until Gabrielle's done work, and then she's coming back with us to spend a week with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur. If Aunt Ginny can get away by then, she'll come to dinner with us too."

They sat and watched the post-game festivities on the pitch, and by the time they eventually met up with George, Dawn, and Gabrielle; they'd finished packing up the booth and were ready to go. Ginny and the rest of her team were still busy, so they all left the stadium to do a little more sightseeing before meeting up with Ginny and Angelina for dinner. George and Angelina made sure that Dawn got home safely after they all took a Portkey home. Everyone else stopped in at Bill and Fleur's to drop off Gabrielle and Victoire and have a little visit, and then Harry and Ginny's last stop before going home was to drop Teddy off with Andromeda.

Sunday was a play and relax day for Harry and Ginny, but then she was back to work again on Monday. England's third-round draw was against the United States' National team, and the match was going to be played at the Stonewall Stormers' stadium in Canada. The good news for their team was that they knew a fair bit about most of the players on the American team, but this week, they were going to have the added challenge of a five-hour time change that meant the game wouldn't even be starting until early evening home time; and the Stormers' stadium was practically home field for their opponents.

Harry's second week of enforced downtime mostly went better than the first week, though he did still have a couple of days where he really had nothing to do except sit around and take it easy. Tuesday was the best day of the week for him; and that started out with picking up Gabrielle, Victoire, and Teddy in the morning after seeing Ginny off to work. They began their day-long adventure with a trip to the Quidditch Museum. They followed that up with lunch and a couple of hours of shopping in Diagon Alley, and then they all went back to his place in time to make dinner for eight. Bill, Fleur, and Dominique joined them first, and Ginny made it home just in time to sit down to dinner. Since Harry and Ginny didn't really get that many chance to spend time with Bill, Fleur, and the girls when they didn't have the rest of the family there too, they all enjoyed having a few hours together. The dinner conversation ranged from Dominique and Victoire stories to the latest Quidditch and Curse Breaking news, and after eating, Ginny made Gabrielle's day by challenging her to a Seeker duel while Harry and Bill were assigned cleanup duty, and Fleur and the kids went out to the pitch to cheer for both of their favorite Seekers.

"It's a good thing that you live in France, or I'd be out of a job," Harry joked. He and Bill had finished the post-dinner cleanup, and had brought drinks and snacks out to the pitch. Ginny and Gabrielle took a break then, and his comment had both Witches smiling brightly at him.

"I've only made one catch," Gabrielle pointed out. "Ginny's had three."

Harry laughed. "That's one more catch against her than all of the Seekers in the best professional league in the Wizarding World have made this year, Gabrielle. Your national team should've picked you for their Seeker. If they had, maybe Luxembourg wouldn't have knocked France out of the World Cup last weekend."

"She's only sixteen," Fleur reminded him.

"And you were only a few months older when we were out playing with dragons and the rest for the Triwizard Tourney," he countered. "Gabrielle's at least as good as either Ginny or I were when we were sixteen."

"Probably a bit better," Ginny said with a nod and smile for Gabrielle. "Especially when she's using your Firestorm."

"Which you'd best keep an eye on when we go to leave," Bill joked. "I don't think Gabrielle's going to want to give it back."

"I won't want to; but I will," Gabrielle promised. "They really are amazing to fly."

After taking a break, Ginny and Gabrielle continued their aerial duel for nearly another hour before Fleur advised them that it was time to take Victoire and Dominique home for the night. Teddy was staying for a sleepover, and after Victoire deployed a devastating combination of hugs, kisses, and dimples to convince Harry and Ginny that she should stay overnight too; they ended up with two little sleepover buddies. That kept Harry busy for an extra hour or so on Wednesday morning, but then the rest of the week was fairly quiet except for a second Seeker duel that Ginny had Gabrielle over for on Thursday when they also had George and Angelina, and Ron and Hermione over for a dinner and Quidditch night.

Game day on Saturday started out a bit differently than normal; mostly because Ginny didn't need to meet up with her team until one o'clock, and they wouldn't be leaving for Canada until nearly two. The players had also been given orders to stay up late and sleep in so they'd be ready for a long day; and Harry had been quite happy to help Ginny find something fun to do to keep entertained until the early hours of Saturday morning. Since she didn't need to be at work until one, they picked Teddy up a bit early, and took him out for lunch at the Leaky before she went to meet up with her team. Harry dropped Teddy off at the Burrow after that, and Molly and Arthur were planning on taking him; meeting up with Bill, Fleur, and the girls; and going on to Canada early for a little sightseeing visit to Niagara Falls before meeting Harry at the Stormers' stadium. He would've liked to do that too, but Susan and Ernie's wedding ceremony was at three, and he and Ginny had decided that even though she couldn't be there, that he should at least go to the ceremony, even if he couldn't stay for the dinner and reception.

"Just five more weeks, and we'll be doing this for you guys," Harry told Ron and Hermione. He'd been standing in the line of Witches and Wizards waiting to be seated, and they'd joined him so they'd be able to sit together.

"Don't remind me," Ron said with a roll of his eyes, and then smiled ruefully at Hermione. "I mean – I can hardly wait – it's going to be the best day of my life ever so far!"

"You look beautiful, Hermione," Harry said quickly; trying to move on, and wishing that Ron hadn't made the first comment. Hermione gave Ron another long, meaningful look, but then let him off the hook.

"Thank-you, Harry. You look very handsome. Ginny must not have seen you dressed up, or she might've decided to blow off that silly Quidditch match."

Harry laughed. "I doubt she'd have blown off a 'silly' third-round World Cup match for our own wedding, Hermione. That is the main reason why your wedding is after the Cup finals."

"If we hadn't, depending on which weekend we picked, I might not have even had the groom at our wedding if we hadn't done that," Hermione joked; and Ron grinned at her.

"I'm here today, and we're staying for the reception instead of going to see Ginny's game," he pointed out.

She laughed and patted his dress robe. "True; and you get bonus points for that, but lose a couple again for bringing your WWMN mirror along so you can watch the game later."

"I won't be the only one doing that," he predicted.

Harry was sure that Ron was right about that; though he didn't say so. They continued to chat while waiting to be seated, and after sitting down, they had another long break in the action until all of the guests were there, and the ceremony started. While he and Ron had never become close buddies with Ernie, Hannah and Neville were two of Ernie and Susan's best friends, and Neville was one of Ernie's groomsmen, as were Dean Thomas and Terry Boot. Hannah, Padma, and Parvati were in Susan's bridal party, and though he'd often heard other guys declare that Padma and Parvati were the best looking girls in their year; as he watched his friends walk down the aisle, Harry thought that it was Hannah, now four months into her pregnancy, who outshone their classmates today, and looked absolutely beautiful. When he looked over at Neville, his reaction to seeing his wife in her Matron of Honor gown strongly suggested that he completely agreed with Harry about that.

"Whoa!" Ron breathed when they could all see Susan for the first time. Harry smiled, and managed to keep from laughing at the expression on Ron's face. Hermione looked just as amused.

"That's right, mate – not only is she a pretty fair Auror, but she's a rather attractive girl too," Harry whispered. "Who knew?" He smiled and winked when Christine and Bryce, who were sitting in the row behind them, both turned around for a second to grin at him after overhearing his comment before returning their attention to the continuing bridal processional.

The ceremony didn't take long, and after seeing his friends happily bonded for life, Harry spent a little time visiting with Hermione, Ron, and some of their friends before needing to briefly interrupt the wedding photo shoot so he could congratulate Susan and Ernie, and then head for home so he could change and hurry over to the Stonewall Stormers' stadium. Everyone else who was going to the game with him was there by then, so he met up with them near the main entrance, and then they resumed the tour of the concession booths already in progress.

"How was the wedding?" Molly asked as she hugged him in welcome while passing Teddy off to him too.

"Beautiful," Harry answered. "I doubt the ceremony could have gone better, and though Susan and Ernie were both nervous, they're very happy now, and everyone should have a lot of fun tonight."

"Hopefully our team will make sure that we have fun too," Arthur told them; and Harry laughed.

"They could make things more fun at the wedding too. Ron has his WWMN mirror, and I'm sure he's not the only Quidditch fan there who brought one along. Hopefully they'll remember to go dancing with their girls regularly too."

"If they know what's good for them," Molly agreed. "Susan won't be very happy if Ernie, and his half of the wedding party, sit around watching the game all night."

"Susan's more likely to be watching the game than Ernie is," Harry said with another laugh. "How was your trip to Niagara Falls?"

"It was really fun," Teddy answered excitedly. "The falls were really big, and we went to see the dolphins and whales."

"Teddy made the dolphins talk," Victoire told him. "It was funny."

"The Muggles didn't think so," Molly admonished both kids gently as they giggled happily; though she had to hide a smile too. "It's a good thing that Bill came up with a quick Ventriloquist cover for that little adventure."

"I guess it's a good thing I wasn't there. It wouldn't have been any fun at all if I'd had to arrest Teddy for underage use of magic – especially in front of Muggles."

"Not that you've ever done both," Arthur said innocently. "I wonder where Teddy might get that from?"

"I have no idea," Harry answered while winking and grinning at Teddy.

They still had lots of time to pick up souvenirs, drinks, and snacks; they stopped to say hello to George, Gabrielle, and Dawn; and then went in search of their seats. There wasn't really a single section for the fans of each team, but Harry, Teddy, and their group did end up sitting with some other Witches and Wizards from home who had also made the trip for the game. If the banners and other World Cup team gear was any indication, the vast majority of the spectators would be cheering for the American National team. Once they were settled in, and while they continued to chat; Harry got his WWMN mirror out, and they also listened in to, and watched, Lee's pre-game show. He was doing each show pretty much the same way he'd covered the first-round match; and so when he and his two expert guests made their predictions, Harry knew that the official pre-game festivities were about to start.

By then, Ginny was ready to just get on with the game. The reason they'd been able to leave so late was because the American team drew the first slot of the morning for team warm-ups and the stadium walk-through. Glynnis had them at the stadium a bit early, and none of them had gotten a good first impression of their all-Wizard opponents. The whistles, catcalls, and leers that all of the American players had directed their way as they left the pitch had been bad enough, but the outspoken comments that had been intentionally loud enough to be both heard and cause offense had especially angered her, Gwenog, and Angelina. Those lascivious looks and bawdy jokes continued during the pre-game show, though not loud enough to be heard by anyone except the players and managers.

"This lot would get on famously with the Falcons," Angelina whispered to her teammates.

"We could have Ginny try for another snitch record," Alicia suggested just as quietly. "That'd shut them up fairly quickly."

"But wouldn't be much fun for us," Angelina disagreed. "I'd rather have Ginny take her time catching the snitch today so we can give them every chance to really show us why Witches have no chance of competing against Wizards in their superior Quidditch League."

"I'll be happy to help you out with that," Ginny promised with a bright smile. "I had to miss a friend's wedding for this – we might as well enjoy our first visit to Canada."

Their reports on the American players had warned them in advance that both Beaters, one Chaser, and their Seeker all played for teams that were very much like the Falcons, and it didn't take long after the game started for Ginny and her friends to find out that they were exactly like the Falcons. The bad news for the American team was that regardless of how dirty the tricks were that they tried against England; not even one of them worked. When Angelina led her team to a one hundred and sixty point lead before the first hour was over, Ginny backed off, and even helped her Chasers out by conveniently crossing paths with the American Chasers to help disrupt both their offensive and defensive plays. The American players re-doubled their efforts to get back into the match, but that just seemed to make things worse as that also caused them to make more mistakes that Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza were quite happy to take advantage of; and add to their lead.

By two hours in, a comeback win was clearly out of reach for the Americans, but their Seeker continued to battle hard against Ginny; apparently with the approval of his Manager. If they were expecting to out-last the attractive, frail Witches, they made a serious mistake, and England was up by a score of nine hundred to one-ninety when Ginny ended the match at the five hour and eighteen minute mark with a fairly easy catch after leading her opponent into a full-on bludger hit from Gwenog that nearly threw him off of his broom; and that definitely broke a few ribs.

"That was fun," Angelina said happily as she hugged and congratulated Ginny. "I'd say that losing your Seeker duel really hurts that guy, but probably not compared to that last bludger hit."

"At least not until after he heals," Ginny agreed as they both looked over to where he was being helped by a pair of Medi-Wizards. "I'd like to think that he learned something today, but we've played against guys like that enough times to know that some Wizards just never do."

"And they keep coming back for more," Gwenog agreed with a laugh. "That's one of the reasons why my job is so much more fun than yours."

Ginny laughed. "Some days I'd agree with you on that, but today's not one of them."

They were soon busy with the post-game action and interviews, but while they were doing that, Harry, Teddy, and the rest of their travelling fan club had lots of time to talk about the match while watching the festivities on the pitch. They didn't yet know anything about the morning and pre-game Witch-bashing that Ginny and her friends had put up with, but they did all know that their girls had been especially motivated for some reason. Harry had advised them that Ginny had passed up on several opportunities to catch the snitch, and when your Chasers were averaging around seventeen goals an hour for over five hours straight, that said a lot about how badly they wanted to not just win; but win big.

"Lee's saying that we'll be playing Spain in the next round," Harry reported. He wasn't really watching his mirror, but had heard Lee's comment while watching Ginny being interviewed by a handful of reporters and listening to what Molly, Arthur and the others were chatting about – which at the moment was the latest news about Ron and Hermione's wedding. Teddy had snuggled into his arms, and was half asleep.

"That's surprising," Bill told him. "They were playing Ireland today, and weren't given much of a chance at all."

"He hasn't gone into the details yet, but it does sound like it was a big upset."

"Well, that win will at least make Ron very happy," Bill predicted.

"Why?" Fleur asked, and Bill laughed.

"Because Spain's Seeker, Ricardo Santini, plays for the Cannons."

"And he's the best Spain had this year?" Arthur asked in surprise. "They usually field a good team for the World Cup."

"Ron told me it was politics," Harry advised them. "His family has some pull there, and he's got an Uncle or cousin who played Beater for Spain during a couple of World Cup runs. He will be happy to see that they made it through the third round, but I doubt that Ricardo is going to be happy to be playing against Ginny next Saturday."

Bill laughed again. "If he managed a small miracle and beat Erin Connelly, you could be wrong about that, but I will wager that nearly every other Seeker still in the running is glad that it's not them."

When the teams, officials, and press began leaving the pitch, Molly and Arthur led their group out of the stadium; picking up George, Dawn, and Gabrielle on the way. By then, it was already early morning back home, so instead of waiting for Ginny and Angelina, they took a Portkey back to the Burrow, and then split up from there. Harry took Teddy home and put him to bed. He made a bedtime snack for Ginny, and had it ready by the time she joined him in the kitchen. They decided to sit out in the back yard while having their food so they could enjoy the quiet, beautiful, moonlit night while they talked about the game.

That early morning break was one of the few reprieves they had in the action over the next couple of weeks. Ginny worked for part of the day on Sunday, but also spent the afternoon with Hermione and their Moms working on the wedding. Harry was back to work on Monday, and though he wasn't doing any field work, he did keep busy every day. He and Ron had a few wedding appointments and jobs to deal with, and they mostly did that in the evenings; sometimes with George, Neville, and Bill along for the appointments that they all needed to attend. One of those few breaks came on Wednesday – Harry and Ginny's third anniversary. While taking the day off wasn't an option for Ginny, they did start their special day with a little play time before breakfast, and mixed an anniversary dinner party at the Burrow with another wedding work session. When they eventually got home again, Ginny's training curfew did not keep them from ending their day by making some brilliant new anniversary memories.

England's fourth-round match against Spain was at the Quiberon Quafflepunchers' Stadium in France, and since it was so close, they had a larger than usual group of family and friends going to the game with them. Spain started out much too slowly, and England jumped out to an early lead, but by three quarters of an hour into the match; the Spanish players had pulled together, and were at least playing well despite the fact that England did continue to slowly increase their lead. Unfortunately for them, when Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza had their team up by one-forty, and on the verge of getting enough of a lead that Ginny would be able to back off; Ricardo made a very ill-advised play for the snitch. He totally botched it, and while he spun out of control after trying to imitate one of Ginny's signature plays; he left Ginny wide open to make the easy catch and end the match in just one hour and twenty-four minutes. While England's fans were happy to be one step closer to a Quidditch World Cup Championship match, even they were a bit disappointed to see one of the more competitive matches so far end too soon.

Ginny found out on Sunday that England would be playing Japan in the fifth round, and that match would be played in Russia; at one of the older World Cup stadiums in the Wizarding World. They were also the last team from home still in the Quidditch World Cup after Scotland fell to China despite Meghan McCormack playing a career-best kind of match. Glynnis and Gwenog had their team working hard again by Monday. Japan had won some big games to get to this round, and as the week went along, from what Ginny told him about their practices, her Manager and Captain were taking this game very seriously. While he wasn't allowed to play with bludgers yet, Harry was able to go back to Seeker duels with Ginny, and they worked every evening for at least an hour; including working on perfecting a couple of new plays that she hoped would help against a Seeker who was reportedly one of the best in decades out of Asia.

On Saturday, the Japanese team had a similar time jump to what England had done for their game in Canada, but instead of getting to sleep in; this time Ginny had to leave for work shortly before three o'clock in the morning. She and Harry had a busy day on Friday; going straight from work to the Burrow for a dinner and wedding meeting, and they'd still needed to leave early so she could get home and to bed before the special eight o'clock team curfew. Harry had been able to get a few restless hours of sleep after she left, but then he was up and getting ready too. He picked Teddy up at eight, and then was back at the Burrow; where their Portkey group was meeting before leaving for Russia at eight-thirty. They had lots of time to do the souvenirs, snacks, and drinks run, and were in their seats with twenty minutes to spare.

"This stadium is smaller than I expected," Ron told Harry and Hermione. "It's not much bigger than our League pitches."

"They didn't need to seat one hundred thousand or more for a World Cup back when it was built," Hermione reminded him. "It's likely that they've added seating since then." She nodded toward the top level of seating. "That section doesn't look quite as old as the rest of the stadium. How was Ginny this morning when she left, Harry? She definitely didn't seem like her usual fired-up self yesterday."

"She was tired, and it's been a tough week, but I'm sure that she'll be fired up by now. The whole team is really getting serious now that they're getting so close to making it to the Championship match. Glynnis and Gwenog definitely don't want them getting over-confident."

"Gwenog Jones is worried about over-confidence?" Molly asked; feigning wide-eyed astonishment. "Is that possible?"

"She's had a great career, Molly, but even she's never been this far in the Quidditch World Cup," Arthur pointed out. "This could be her one and only real shot at winning a World Cup."

"You're likely right," Molly agreed, "but it won't be good for our team if Gwenog loses her edge by playing too conservatively."

Harry had thought that Molly was right about that, but when the game did eventually start after a too-long pre-game ceremony; it didn't look like Gwenog was holding back anything as she and Lysa began a very tough battle with the Japanese Beater pair. Ginny was in a real fight too, and Harry found himself holding his breath several times in the first hour when Ginny was just barely able to keep her opponent from catching the snitch. He was definitely as fast as she was, and had some flying tricks that they hadn't seen before.

"Too bad my Cannons didn't recruit that guy," Ron joked after the third near-catch. "We might've made the playoffs even if the rest of the team missed every match."

"Give your Seeker time," Harry suggested. "He needs a couple of years of experience, but if he can stay healthy, and learn not to make mistakes like he did last week, he could be pretty good."

"He'll never be that good," Ron disagreed as he nodded toward the Japanese Seeker. Harry shrugged.

"No, but then neither will most of the Seekers in our – or any other – League."

There was no doubt that Japan's National team had come to play, and they were amazingly evenly matched with England in every area except at Keeper. Trish had a definite advantage there; though that was offset a bit by the fact that the Japanese Chasers were out-shooting Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza – something that hadn't happened to them all season. The action above the pitch was non-stop, and though England scored the first two goals, and stayed in the lead throughout the match, the score remained close, with the two teams often trading goals for long stretches before Angelina, Alicia, or Demelza would add a goal to their lead.

Teddy and Victoire needed to take regular breaks, so Harry and Fleur or Hermione took care of those washroom or entertainment trips. They did miss some big plays to do that, including a particularly good Seeker play that nearly gave Japan the come-from-behind win. England was only out-scoring Japan by about two goals per hour, and as they approached the end of the fifth hour, the score was just three-twenty to two-ten. Harry spotted the snitch just before both Seekers did, and he was on his feet and cheering for Ginny when he saw the play that was developing as she and the Japanese Seeker raced toward the snitch; which was speeding along about fifteen feet above the heads of the spectators on the other side of the stadium from him; near England's end of the pitch.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as she stood too; though she hadn't yet seen what Harry did.

"Watch Ginny," was all Harry said before continuing to cheer for her.

Ginny was coming in on a slightly downward angle straight toward the snitch – and the spectators – while her opponent was coming in high and from the side to block her. What Harry had seen coming wasn't foresight – it was a play that he'd practiced at home with Ginny for hours until she had it perfected. His eyes were flashing with excitement as the Japanese Seeker made his final blocking move.

"They're gonna crash!" Ron practically shouted, and Harry's smile flashed to life with amusement and victory. He didn't need to look over at Ron to know that his best mate had his mouth hanging open. Ginny went inverted; pegged the nose of her Firestorm; and flipped underneath the Japanese Seeker. Once she cleared him, she threw her broom into a horizontal slide; reached out to grab the snitch, and then blasted away from the spectators who had just watched the end of that play from about five feet away – or at least the fans who weren't ducking got to see it.

"Or not," Hermione deadpanned. "Was that one of the new moves you were working on with Ginny?" she guessed. "That was seriously brilliant."

"I thought so when she came up with it," Harry said proudly. He looked around, and smiled at his mother-in-law. "You okay?"

"Have we not discussed warning me ahead of time about things like that?" she asked in return. "It's a good thing I'm not a Kneazle cat. Between you and Ginny, I'd likely be running out of lives by now."

Bill laughed. "Who would've ever guessed that your dragon trainer and curse breaker sons would have the safe jobs in the family?" he joked.

"Only by comparison," Molly said with a shake of her head, "and if I was there watching you or Charlie work, I'd probably feel the same as I did watching that play."

"If it'd be as exciting as this match, maybe Lee should think about doing dragon-training and curse-breaking shows," Ron suggested.

"I'd say the same about your job, but having a live show that let the bad guys know what you were doing would probably be a bad thing," Bill said with another laugh. "I do hope that Lee's going to do these shows for this coming Quidditch season."

"Last I heard, they're working on it," Harry told him. "They still need to work out how to cover all of the League matches, but Lee wouldn't be doing more than one a week. He does have his regular nightly show after all."

"Has Lee said anything yet about who our team will be up against next week?" Arthur asked Harry.

"The other match in our draw hasn't started yet." He leaned back and handed Arthur his WWMN mirror. "The only update he's talked about lately is Bulgaria. They've got a small lead in their match against China; and whoever wins that match will be playing Brazil next weekend."

While they continued chatting, Harry mostly watched Ginny as the post-game ceremony started. The Japanese players and Managers were practically the polar opposites of the American team, and showed great respect as they congratulated Ginny and the rest of her friends. The media interviews were just starting when Teddy needed another washroom break, so while Harry took him to do that, the rest of their group packed up to leave, and eventually met up with them again at the World Cup Wheezes booth. The plan had been to go sightseeing after the game, but they really didn't have time to do much of that now that it was already early evening in Russia. They did take a little tour of Wizarding St. Petersburg, and then met up with Ginny and Angelina for dinner.

"I'm really okay, Mum," Ginny said with a breathless laugh as Molly hugged her tightly. "You'll never see me try anything in a game unless I'm sure that I can pull it off."

"Right up until the first time that you're wrong about that," Ron added helpfully. "Nice play, sis. You probably had everyone except Harry convinced that you were going to crash into that guy – including him."

"The play wouldn't work any other way," Ginny explained. She smiled at Harry. "You probably knew before I did that the play was setting up so I could pull it off. How are you, Teddy? Did you have fun at the game?"

Her question launched both Teddy and Victoire into storytelling mode, and they kept Ginny entertained through until their meals were delivered. After that, it was Dawn's and Gabrielle's turn to tell her what they, and their respective friends, had been doing over the past week, and about their day manning the Wheezes concession with George. That chat revolved a fair bit around Quidditch too; since both girls were practicing with at least some of the players from their school teams at least a couple of times a week. They took their time having their meal, but eventually, it was time to head for home. Gabrielle was going back home, and since they were travelling anyway; Bill and Fleur took the girls and went with her so they could spend the rest of the weekend with Gabrielle and their parents. Everyone else took Portkeys back to England, and though it was only early evening back home by then, Harry and Ginny dropped Teddy off with Andromeda, and went home to their plans for an early bedtime.

The last full week of July was another string of long, non-stop days. Argentina won a marathon match that didn't end until the early hours of Sunday morning to earn their sixth-round spot against England at the Braga Broomsticks' Stadium in Portugal; and in the other draw, Bulgaria did defeat China, and would play Brazil. The routine for Harry and Ginny was almost exactly the same as it had been for the past week. They had an early breakfast, Harry cleaned up while Ginny went to work to put in some extra training time; they'd meet up again for dinner and wedding work at the Burrow, their house, or Ron and Hermione's; and then end their evenings with a Seeker duel that usually ended when it got too dark to play. Saturday was more like a regular League game-day; though there was also nothing regular about it either.

"So, are we going to win today?" Ginny asked Harry hopefully as they sat down to have breakfast.

Harry grinned at her. "I think so," he agreed; and Ginny laughed.

"I was hoping for something a bit more certain than that. Did you have any particularly good dreams, for instance?"

"Definitely, and you had a starring role, but they weren't Quidditch-related – or at least I hope they weren't. There will be kids at the game today."

"That is so not helpful," Ginny complained as she laughed again too.

"You don't really want to know about things like this ahead of time any more than I do," Harry said seriously. "We wouldn't have nearly as much fun if we knew everything before it happens."

"I suppose," Ginny conceded, "though if you see us having seven kids like Mum and Dad did just so we can have a little girl, let me know; 'cause we'll change the future and adopt one long before then."

"Your brothers may be saying the same thing about having sons," Harry joked. "Have there even been any new Weasley Wizards since you were born?"

"I've got younger cousins," she reminded him, "Don't worry – I'm quite sure that there will be some nephews for you to play with some day. What time are you leaving for Portugal?"

"I really need to get some work done around here, so I'm picking Teddy up after lunch, and we'll meet everyone else at the stadium."

"That doesn't sound like much fun, but I guess the next two weekends are write-offs too whether we manage to win today or not; so you really need to take care of that. I do appreciate you taking care of most of the work here so I can play all summer."

"You're welcome, and getting to see you play in all of these World Cup games has been worth it."

"Let's hope you'll get to see us play in two more before we're done."

She left as soon as they finished eating, and sharing a long good luck hug and kiss; and then Harry pulled out his wand and really got to work. By the time he left to pick up Teddy, the house was clean from top to bottom, the lawns were immaculately clipped, and the gardens were weeded, neat, and looked beautiful. Andromeda advised him that Teddy had been bouncing off the walls all morning, and his Godson was definitely fired up and ready to go have some fun when they went outside and took their Portkey to Portugal. A quick mirror chat let him know where Molly, Arthur, and Victoire were; and they met up with them near one of the official World Cup souvenir concessions.

"Ron and Hermione are going to meet us at our seats," Molly advised him as she traded Victoire for Teddy so they could each get hugs from the kids. "They went sightseeing with some of the other young couples."

"What did you do this morning while the big kids went out to play without you, sweetie?" Harry asked Victoire. She giggled and hugged him again.

"Shopping!" she answered happily. "We had fun!"

"Witches always have fun when they go shopping," Harry pointed out.

"That's why we like to do it so often," Molly told them. "We should get on with the shopping we need to do now. I don't want to miss the start of your Aunt Ginny's game, and Teddy will want to get the Argentina team's World Cup action figures to add to his collection."

They started with that, and the line-ups at each concession stand were the only thing that slowed them down. By the time they were ready to go find their seats, there was only about fifteen minutes left before the start of the opening ceremony. Ron and Hermione were already in their seats, and though they weren't all sitting right together, Harry could see where the rest of the friends who'd come to this match were sitting too. Hermione took Teddy while Harry got everything he had with him organized before they both settled into their seats.

"What did you guys do that could possibly have been more fun than going shopping with Mum, Dad, and Victoire?"

"Anything else would've been more fun than that," Ron answered, and Harry laughed.

"I cleaned house and did yard work all morning. If I'd known you would've thought that was fun, I would have invited you to come over and help out."

"He'd have been helping out around our place if we were going to work this morning," Hermione advised them. "The only reason we came here to play instead was because we didn't want to miss the chance to see some of the sights here in Portugal while we were going to be here today anyway."

Harry nodded. "If Ginny could have done that with us, I'd have wanted to do that instead too. We'll definitely want to come and visit some of these countries again some day."

"I'd say that all of these Quidditch Cup wins is way better – makes me wish that I'd gone into Quidditch too," Ron said a bit wistfully.

"And every time you start thinking that, remember that day we spent with the Cannons," Harry suggested, "and imagine doing that every day for years to get here."

"That is my problem with the whole idea," Ron agreed. "Plus I'd be lucky to make the National squad if I played for my favorite team."

"Santini played for his National team," Arthur reminded him, "so it is possible."

Harry had Ron and Hermione tell him about what they'd done all morning, and then the opening ceremony started, and the excitement of a final four World Cup match began to build. The quaffle was tossed into the air thirty-two minutes later, and the fourteen players took to the air. England knew they were up against another top team right from the start – especially when Argentina scored the first two goals. That was the biggest lead they had, and both teams took turns being ahead during the first two hours. Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza put their team in the lead for good in the third hour, and though Argentina continued to fight hard; team conditioning began to play a big role, and England proved that they were better prepared to keep the game tempo high indefinitely.

Ginny was in another tough Seeker battle, and traded good chances with the Argentine Seeker. That battle stayed hot until about five and a half hours in when Demelza scored the goal that put England ahead by one-sixty. After that, while Argentina threw everything they had left at trying to close that gap, Ginny was able to sit back and wait for chances to catch the snitch, or for her opponent to make a mistake. England was ahead by four-thirty to two-sixty when that game-ending opportunity finally arrived, and Ginny made no mistake as she took advantage of a perfectly-timed bludger hit from Lysa to get separation from Argentina's Seeker, and then pulled out one of her old flat-spin block moves that kept him out of the way while she corralled and then captured the snitch.

"We're going to the Championship match!" Ron exulted as they all stood on their feet and cheered for Ginny and their team. "Where do we sign up for the tickets?"

Harry laughed happily. "Got 'em already, mate. Enough of them to bring everyone in our family and a lot of our friends along with us to China. Now we're just waiting to find out if we'll be up against Bulgaria or Brazil." He grinned at his friends. "I wonder which team Hermione would prefer?"

"I wonder if any of those tickets are for Cho," Hermione shot back. "Why don't you all drop the Viktor Krum jokes? They're just not funny anymore."

"Actually, I do have tickets for Cho, Roger, and their son," Harry advised her.

"I hope Bulgaria does win," Ron told them; laughing at the look of surprise on Hermione's face. "It will be brilliant to watch Ginny kick his butt all over the pitch."

Hermione laughed along with everyone else who'd heard Ron's comment. "That's so bad," she admonished him. "Funny, but bad."

Lee had the news that Bulgaria did win their match against Brazil shortly before the end of the post-game show on the pitch, and though Harry didn't have anything against Viktor Krum, he was just as happy as Ron was that Ginny would be playing against him. Now England could at least be sure that if they won the Quidditch World Cup that they did it by beating one of the best teams in the Wizarding World, and the Wizard who had arguably been the best Seeker in the World for the past eight years or more.

George and Angelina, Ron and Hermione, and most of their friends had other plans for after the game, but Harry, Ginny, and Teddy went out for a late dinner with their parents, Gabrielle, Dawn, Bill, Fleur, and the girls. The Delacours met them in Lisbon and went out with them mostly so they could have a bonus visit with their granddaughters, and to save Bill and Fleur an extra Portkey trip with Victoire and Dominique. With just six days to get ready for the Championship game, Glynnis was having her team work on Sunday, so after taking their Portkey home, Harry and Ginny split up to drop Teddy off with Andromeda, and take Dawn to meet up with Jonathan before going home and heading straight to bed so Ginny could get a decent sleep before needing to meet up with her team again in the morning.

There were also less than two weeks to go until Ron and Hermione's wedding, and the week leading up to the Quidditch World Cup final got to the point where everything they had going on just blurred together. On top of training, Ginny had to deal with at least a couple of appearances or interviews every day. She had no time to help with the ongoing wedding plans, and she wasn't even able to make it to the little birthday dinner they did at the Burrow for Harry's twenty-second birthday on Wednesday until it was pretty much over, and everyone else was heading home. She'd been unhappy about that, but she was also exhausted; and her bedtime birthday surprise plan for Harry crashed and burned when she fell asleep about a minute into her usual training night massage. Making up for that in the morning hadn't been an option because they needed to be at the Burrow shortly after dawn so they could help Molly with making a big family breakfast to celebrate Bill and Fleur's fifth Anniversary.

"If you don't get more sleep, you'll be too tired to play on Saturday," Molly told Ginny as she welcomed them.

"I'll be fine, Mum; and there's no way I won't be ready to play my best for the biggest game of my life so far - even if I get no sleep between now and then."

"Glynnis has worked everything out as best she can," Harry added as he hugged Molly next. Arthur was still upstairs taking his turn to get ready for work.

"I know the Bulgarian team went to China on Monday, but we think that being home with our families; and sleeping in our own beds will work better than being away all week and sleeping in tents," Ginny told them. "Let's talk weddings while you and I have time before everyone else gets here. What do you want Harry and I to work on?"

Molly was happy to do that, and the three of them spent the next forty minutes or so cooking and getting the table set. Percy had needed to go into work early, so he didn't come, but Audrey and Molly did. The time change to Romania meant that Charlie and Julianne were already working, and it was far too early for Aunt Muriel's schedule, but George, Angelina, Ron, and Hermione were all at the Burrow by the time that Bill and Fleur got there with the girls. A chorus of "Happy Anniversary!" greeted them, and there was time for a round of congratulatory hugs and kisses before everyone sat down to eat.

"What are you looking for?" Ginny asked as she watched Bill shake the card and envelope that she and Harry had given them.

"The Quidditch World Cup victory IOU," he joked. "That'd be a perfect Anniversary gift."

Ginny laughed. "I did think about that for you, and for Harry's birthday yesterday, but then I saw endless jokes and razzing for every birthday and anniversary for the rest of my life if I'd done that, and then we lose."

"Would we do that?" George asked innocently.

"You probably have a World Cup Losers wheeze ready to sell when the game's over," she answered, and then laughed again at the look on his face. "I rest my case."

"I'll feel really bad if you lose, sis; but funny is funny, and if you win, you'll love them."

"You dragged out those button wheezes from back during the Triwizard tourney?" Harry guessed.

"That's one of them," George confirmed. "We decided to go with Quidditch World Cup Champs or Chumps for the two messages, but we've got special banners, Whizz Bangs, and more than a dozen other wheezes made especially for after the match."

"Sounds like one more very good reason for why we should win that game," Angelina told Ginny. "I do not want to play every game next season with idiot fans wearing badges that call us Quidditch World Cup Chumps."

"And you know that the fans for every team we play against would do that too," Ginny added with a nod. "We should get back to roasting Bill and Fleur while we still have time."

Ginny and Angelina weren't able to do that for very long before needing to get to work, but after they left for the Exmoor stadium; Harry helped Molly with the cleanup for a half hour or so, and then headed over to Auror Headquarters in time for his morning training with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie. Bill and Fleur were taking a four-day weekend; and spending their anniversary in China without the kids. Victoire and Dominique were staying with Grandma and Grandpa overnight; and they'd all be going to China after Arthur finished work on Friday. Harry was on his own for dinner because Glynnis was keeping her team late for a working dinner and evening training session before letting them go home shortly after dark.

He was taking the day off on Friday, and he picked Teddy up shortly after breakfast. They were going to China early so they could check into the World Cup campgrounds and get the tents set up for their group. Nearly everyone else was coming either after work; or very early – home time - on Saturday morning. The eight hour time difference meant that it was already late afternoon when Harry and Teddy arrived, and he got right to work on the tents so that he could have that out of the way before he took Teddy on a tour of the brand new Quidditch World Cup stadium. Bill and Fleur had stayed there on Thursday night, but Harry hadn't wanted to bother them in case they were asleep, and didn't find out until he was nearly done setting up the tents that they'd actually already been up, and had gone out to eat and do a little shopping. When he was ready to take Teddy on the stadium tour, they decided to go along.

"Must be nice to have the pull to get to do things like this," Bill joked as they wandered around the pitch. Teddy was actually flying his toy broom after Harry summoned it from their tent so he could pretend that he was playing in a real World Cup match.

"It does make up a bit for all of the not-so-great things about being famous," Harry admitted. He pointed toward a section of the seating across from them at mid-pitch. "We'll be sitting there tomorrow – first balcony, goal-high." Teddy was flying in a circle around center-pitch, and Harry smiled as they watched him play. "I want it to be a surprise tomorrow, but I've also got some passes to go meet both teams before the game at a little VIP meet and greet they're doing. We'll be able to take the younger kids, the Quidditch playing teens, and I'll need some adult supervision help."

"Fleur could do that while I watch Dominique, and I'm sure she'd love to say hello to Viktor," Bill suggested. "If Hermione goes along, though, take pictures for us to look at later."

"It might not be a good idea to get Ron going a week before their wedding," Fleur suggested; though she laughed too. "You know how mental your brother gets over anything to do with Viktor."

"I knew you'd want to go, Fleur, and I'm sure that Hermione will want to see Viktor too," Harry pointed out. "Ron seriously needs to get over worrying about competing with Viktor Krum. It's as dumb as if Bill were to be jealous of you going to the Yule Ball with Roger Davies."

"Says the Wizard who told Viktor that Ginny was dating a big, jealous bloke that he wouldn't want to mess with at our wedding so he wouldn't ask her to dance," Bill said with a laugh.

"It was for his own good," Harry advised him piously. "Ron had wanted to pound me after catching Ginny kissing me the day before; and I'm his best mate. Could you imagine what he'd have done to Viktor?"

"Nice try, Harry, but he probably would have wished him luck; and been happy that Viktor wasn't interested in Hermione anymore," Fleur told him. "What time will Ginny be getting here?"

"Eight o'clock," Harry answered. "We're going to meet her at the campground and have lunch, but then she'll be busy until nearly midnight. Glynnis wants them to get seven hours of sleep after that, so they're going to have potions to take to help them do that, since it'll only feel like late afternoon to us."

"We'll want to try and sleep then too," Bill said, "but that might not be an option with the kids."

"The time change won't matter for Dominique, and we'll get Victoire to have a couple of naps," Fleur told him. "The good news is that the time change does mean that we'll all feel wide awake for the party tomorrow night; and we can sleep in as long as we want on Sunday. Even if we leave here Sunday night, it'll only be early afternoon back home."

They had time to let Teddy play for a while, and then they toured the team locker rooms and took a walk around the entire stadium on the concessions level where many of the booths were already being set up. When it was time to go meet Ginny, they went back to the campground, and were out front of Harry and Ginny's tent when she and Angelina joined them. Teddy was first to the welcome hugs and kisses, and had both of his 'Aunts' smiling as he hugged them in turn.

"How would you like to go out for lunch with your National Quidditch team, sweetheart?" Ginny asked Teddy.

"Yes!" Teddy agreed excitedly. "When do we go?"

"As soon as I put my things in the tent," she answered. "Where's Angelina's tent?" she asked Harry.

"Third to the right of this one," he answered; waving toward the tent he'd indicated. "Is everyone else on the team staying together, or are they camping with family too?"

"Technically I'm camping with friends," Angelina joked, and Harry grinned at her.

"You've been adopted, and we love you. Deal with it, sis. Right, Teddy?"

"Right!" Teddy agreed and then punctuated that by giving Angelina a bonus hug.

The girls didn't have much time before they needed to meet up with their teammates again, and their lunch was just at one of the campground food booths that had rows of picnic tables they could sit at while having their quick meal. After Ginny, Angelina, and the rest of their team left them to go over to the stadium; Bill and Fleur went to do their own thing; and Harry and Teddy decided to have a little afternoon-nighttime nap before it would be time to start welcoming their family and friends to the campground. Molly, Arthur, Aunt Muriel, Victoire, and Dominique were with the first group to get there, and that had been shortly after Ginny and Angelina had returned, taken their potions, and gone to bed. Harry let Bill and Fleur take care of their girls, and while Teddy reluctantly hung around with Victoire; he showed Arthur, Molly, and Aunt Muriel to their tent and helped them to get settled in.

Ron and Hermione were with the second wave of incoming guests that included most of the Aurors who'd been invited and their families. The Campbell family, including two boyfriends and one girlfriend, were with that group too, and Harry and Teddy both had fun with helping them. The campground food concessions were open all night to accommodate the Quidditch fans who were coming in from all over the world, so after showing them to their tent, Harry and Teddy took a break and went to have dinner with Ron, Hermione, Bryce, Christine, and the kids.

"What time do you have to work in the morning?" Harry asked Dawn once they'd gotten their food and were sitting down at two of the picnic tables.

"Seven o'clock. I'm going to bed as soon as we've eaten – or I'll try to. George is setting up three booths here, and Gabrielle and I are in charge of two of them."

"Teddy and I are going to bed soon too. I want to make sure that Ginny has a good breakfast when she needs to get up, and then we'll have more friends coming here all morning, depending on when they'll be leaving from home. What have you been doing all week? I heard from Bill and Fleur that you've picked up a babysitting gig next weekend."

"And a bonus wedding invitation," Dawn agreed with a nod. "I'll help out with Victoire and Dominique until after dinner, and then babysit them at home after that." She smiled at Jonathan. "My boyfriend was hoping that my weekend work was done for the summer, but having extra money for back-to-school extras and Hogsmeade weekends is very motivating for me."

"Summer job money is motivating for me too, but do you vaguely remember our plans for a best summer ever?" Jonathan asked. "I really thought that would include spending a bit more time together."

"You can see each other every day when we get back to school," Kate told them.

"Says the sister with the boyfriend living in the same House," Dawn said; and then laughed when Bryce added – "at Hogwarts; and in separate dorms."

"Let's not rush the whole back to school thing," Jeremy pleaded. "We've still got five weeks of summer, and some of us are in no hurry for it to be over."

"Stay in denial all you want," Kate countered, "but it's only four weeks and less that two days away; we'll be getting our Hogwarts letters in the Owl Post on Monday; and you haven't even started your summer assignments."

"Oh really?" Christine asked; arching an eyebrow at her son. "Is that the new definition of 'about half done'?"

Jeremy grinned at her. "Well, you and Dad do always tell us that a job started is a job half done."

"The key to that being to have actually started," Bryce pointed out. "I'll take a wild guess that your procrastination is going to come to an end in the near future."

"It will if he wants to be doing anything more than studying during the week we're going away before they go back to school," Christine warned.

While they continued to chat until finishing their meal, when Dawn decided to go back to their tent to get some sleep, Harry and Teddy went too. Harry got Teddy changed and tucked into bed, and then got ready for bed too, and snuggled close to Ginny. Though it still didn't feel all that late, he was able to drift off to sleep, and then wake up again a few minutes before Ginny needed to be woken from her potion-induced sleep.

"Good morning," Ginny breathed as she smiled up at Harry. "What a nice way to wake up and start the morning. Have you slept at all? That potion worked wonderfully."

"I've had about four hours," he answered before leaning close to kiss her again. "Come on. You only have an hour to get ready and have breakfast, so while you hit the shower; I'll go pick up some food from one of the booths." They shared a few more kisses before Ginny was ready to get out of bed, and Harry was back by the time she was ready to eat.

"We'd have been able to sleep longer, but our team drew the early pitch walk-through and warm-up time," Ginny told him as she started to fill her plate. "Glynnis is happy because we'll have lots of time for the hair and makeup session between that and when we have the meet and greet and interviews. She wants us to take advantage of the bigger audience – including everyone watching on their shiny new WWMN mirrors – to boost the Harpies' image."

Harry laughed. "I got the business report on the deal the League and teams worked out for the WWMN game shows. Since the money that goes to each team depends on how many Witches and Wizards are watching those shows; that should really help get an even bigger audience for your games."

"And make us a lot more money too," Ginny added. "I'm definitely okay with that part of the plan. Are you going to have any time to play this morning before the game?"

"Yes, though right now I wish that was an offer instead of a question," he joked. "Hopefully Teddy will sleep for a while longer, but I'll feed him when he's ready for breakfast; and then we're going to check out the campground concessions. They've got some games to play too; so we'll do that with Victoire and some of the other kids, and after that; we'll head over to the stadium for that meet and greet."

"Have you told any of the kids you're taking along yet?"

"No, but Bill and Fleur know, and I'll need to talk with the rest of the older kids that I need to bring along to help with kid control as soon as they're up."

"If Hermione's on that list, you'd better be bringing Ron too," Ginny warned; laughing when she saw his grin. "Any other surprises I should know about?"

"No, but I will be asking Cho to be one of the parent-helpers. Jared's not quite a year and a half old, but I'm sure he'll love getting to meet all of the players."

"I'll try not to be too jealous," Ginny promised. "You're not inviting Roger?"

Harry shrugged. "I'd have needed double the total VIP invitations to bring everyone. Cho went to the Yule Ball with Cedric, and knew Viktor well-enough that I'm sure she'd like the chance to see him again. I hope they'll understand, but I couldn't invite any of the non-Quidditch teens either."

"I'm sure Kate, Pauline, and the other girls will be good with that," Ginny assured him. There was a 'knock' on their tent, and she smiled when her parents came inside. They were still in their night clothes, and had only pulled on robes and slippers before coming next door from their tent.

"Good. We didn't want to miss wishing you luck, honey," Molly told her. Ginny stood up to hug them.

"Do they need to do that now?" Ginny asked Harry.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked.

"We were just discussing the VIP passes that Harry has for a meet and greet that we'll be having at the stadium later this morning," she explained.

"If you did plan on taking us, give our passes to someone else," Arthur told Harry. "We can see Ginny and her friends anytime, and the only player we even know on the Bulgarian team is Viktor; and we've met him a few times between the Triwizard tourney and Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"I hadn't included you," Harry advised them, almost apologetically as he smiled ruefully. "Bill's going to be taking care of Dominique by himself, though, so he might need some grandparent support."

"Sure, because the only thing scarier than being a curse breaker is a baby with a dirty diaper," Arthur joked. He smiled at Ginny. "I love seeing that look in your eyes, honey. Bulgaria doesn't stand a chance today."

Ginny laughed and hugged him again. "Aren't you supposed to be giving me the 'we'll love you no matter what happens today' speech?"

"You're the best Seeker in the World, and you're going to go out there and prove it today," he answered proudly. "I'm sure not going to waste my time making up some fatherly condolences that there's no chance I'll need."

"I love you, Dad. Thank you."

"We love you too, Ginny," Molly assured her. "Now you finish eating, and we're going back to our tent for a bit more sleep."

There was another quick round of hugs and kisses before they left, and then Ginny needed to finish her meal, and then share a too-short good luck hug and kiss goodbye with Harry after Angelina stopped by to pick her up on her way to meet up with their team. Harry finished his own food after that, cleaned up, and then took a cup of coffee and went to sit out in front of the tent while waiting for Teddy to wake up. He welcomed two groups of friends to the campground before Teddy came looking for him; and the second group included Luna and Rolf.

"I'm glad you guys could make it," Harry said as he hugged Luna. "Thanks for taking a break from your expedition. Ginny's going to be thrilled to see you."

"We actually decided to take a week off," Rolf advised him. "There's some work I can do back home next week, and then we'll go back again after Ron and Hermione's wedding."

"That's even better news," Harry told them. "Ginny's got a busy week ahead since they'll only have a week to get ready for the start of the League season, but we'll work something out so she can spend some time with you too, Luna. How's the expedition going?"

"It's wonderful," Luna answered; her voice as ethereal and musical as always. "There's always so much to learn about our magical creatures, and just when you think you're done; they show you something else new and amazing that you didn't know before."

"We've loved getting to keep up with Ginny's World Cup run too," Rolf told him. "Thanks for sending us one of the WWMN mirrors. It's been very popular on game days."

"You'll need to thank Ginny for that," Harry advised them. "She really wanted to make sure that you could watch the games even if you couldn't get away from work."

Rolf and Luna stayed with him until after Teddy woke up and Harry had him dressed and ready for the day. They took Teddy along while Harry helped Luna and Rolf get settled in to their tent, and then Harry and Teddy moved on to the campground food booths so that Teddy could have breakfast with Molly, Arthur, and all of their kids and grandkids except for Percy, Ginny, and George.

Teddy stayed with Ron and Hermione while Harry made a quick round to talk with his meet and greet volunteers, and then he caught up with them again in time to catch the tail-end of their tour of the campground concessions. They had enough time after that to play some games with Teddy and Victoire, and then he needed to meet up with the group he was taking to the surprise VIP event. That news had been greeted with a chorus of cheers and quite a few hugs, but then they'd needed to get going, and it really wasn't long before they were led into a large meeting room by a brightly smiling young Witch who was as impressed to meet Harry Potter as the teens and kids were about to be to meet so many of the biggest Quidditch stars in the world. They weren't the first group to arrive, and while the players from both teams were there, it really was just a casual meet and greet, so they just split up and could begin by joining any of the groups that had gathered around each of the players.

"Hello Viktor," Harry said as he held out his hand in greeting. "This is my Godson, Teddy Lupin. Teddy, this is Viktor Krum."

"Hello," Teddy said shyly as Viktor shook Harry's hand, and then shook his hand too.

"It's good to see you, Harry, and it's nice to meet you Teddy. How did you end up with such a famous Godfather?"

"My Daddy was one of Uncle Harry's Daddy's best friends," he answered proudly. "He and my Mommy died at the Battle of Hogwarts when I was a baby. Mommy was an Auror, right Uncle Harry?"

"One of the very best Aurors," Harry agreed. "How've you been Viktor? I saw that your team won your League Championship this year too." He grinned at Teddy. "Any chance you want to give us any hints on how you're going to play against England's Seeker today?"

"Thanks, I'm good, and there is definitely nothing that I'd tell her husband about what I'm going to do today," Viktor answered with a laugh. "Will you settle for another autograph on your Bulgaria team poster?"

"Yes please," Teddy agreed as he held the poster out to Viktor. "Are you really the best Seeker in the whole world? Uncle Harry says that Aunt Ginny will be if she wins today."

Viktor laughed, and looked genuinely charmed. "If your Aunt Ginny wins today, I'd definitely say she's the best in the world, Teddy, but even if I win; Ginny is still one of the best, and you should be very proud of her."

"Can you sign our pictures too, Viktor?" Harry's smile brightened when he heard Hermione's voice, and saw the look that flashed for just a second in Viktor's eyes when he looked up from the poster and saw her. She and Ron had Jeremy, Jonathan, and Aaron with them. "It's really great to see you again." She stepped forward to hug him briefly, and then took Ron's hand again and made room for the three teens. Viktor handed Teddy his signed poster, and then held out his hand to Ron next.

"It's good to see you too," he told them. "Congratulations. Ginny told me a little while ago that you're getting married next weekend."

"Thanks," Ron said; his voice just a bit dry sounding. "You've had another good run in the World Cup this summer. Congratulations."

Viktor nodded and held out his hand to Jonathan next. "It's been fun so far, but I expect you'll be cheering for it to come to an end today. Any chance that there's even one fan of my team in your group?" he asked the boys.

"Probably not," Hermione answered for them, "but we do wish you luck, even if we can't cheer for you. This is Jonathan Madley. You may have met his sister Laura – she's one of our team's reserve players."

"Oliver Wood introduced us," Viktor confirmed as he quickly signed Jonathan's poster.

"Aaron Lynch is an up-and-coming Seeker; and I'm sure you'll remember his Uncle Aidan."

"If you're as good as your Uncle, I'll be sure to retire before you make it to the show," Viktor said with a smile and wink. "Are you from a famous Quidditch family too?" he asked Jeremy.

"Not yet, sir, but my older sister and I hope to be soon."

"This is Jeremy Campbell," Hermione said with a laugh for Jeremy's comment. "He's very likely to be a future Quidditch star, but he's here with us because his Mum is one of the Aurors who watch Ron and Harry's backs when they're playing with the bad guys."

"And saved me from those bad guys more than a few times," Harry added. He'd been listening to Viktor, and watching him talk with the kids, and with Hermione and Ron, and he was suddenly sure about why Viktor seemed so different than the last time he'd seen him four years ago. He knew there'd been nothing in the news about it, but he was positive that there was now a very special young Witch in Viktor's life. He glanced at Hermione, and was fairly sure she was quickly puzzling that out too. He and Teddy had taken up enough of his time, though, and Viktor had a lot of fans waiting to meet him, so he held his hand out to him again. "You've got a lot of fans waiting, so Teddy and I will get out of the way. Good luck today, and whatever happens; Congratulations. It's really great to see you so happy."

Viktor shook his hand again and smiled as he recognized what Harry had really meant with the last part of his comment. "Thanks Harry. I hope you enjoy almost all of the game."

Harry took Teddy around to all of the Bulgarian team players who were quite happy to exchange autographs for meeting him. When they were finished with that, Harry talked with Glynnis for a while, and then got in line to see Ginny when there was a little break in what had been a constantly long line of kids waiting to meet her. There were quite a few laughs and giggles when she shared a long hug and kiss with him. Teddy was giggling happily too; and that earned him an extra couple of kisses when Ginny hugged him next.

"Have you been having fun?" she asked him, and Teddy nodded.

"Yes. We met Viktor Krum, and he told me that if you win today, you will be the best Seeker in the whole world."

"That was very nice of him to say. Did you like meeting him?"

"He's nice, and funny. Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione wished him good luck, but I want you to have all the luck and win."

Ginny laughed and hugged him again. "I'd at least like to have just a little more luck today than he has, sweetie. Maybe your good luck wishes will make the difference."

"We definitely want to wish you good luck too," Harry assured her. "I tried to get some hints from Viktor on what he was going to do today, but for some reason, he didn't want to tell us anything."

"Thanks for trying." She smiled at a little girl not much older than Teddy who had nudged her way up next to Harry. "Hello sweetie. What's your name? Would you like me to sign your poster?"

Harry and Teddy waited while she spoke with the cute little fan, and then took another minute of Ginny's time for a couple more hugs and kisses before leaving her to get back to visiting with her fans. They were ready to go before everyone else, and waited near the doors where the rest of their group could find them easily enough. Cho and her son, Jared, joined them, and she had a one-armed hug for him.

"Thank-you, Harry. This was such a great surprise for Jared, and it was really nice to see Viktor again. I hadn't seen him since the year of the Triwizard tourney, but he still remembered me."

"You're a rather memorable kind of Witch," Harry told her with a wry smile. "Ginny and I have only seen him at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and for a few minutes at the last World Cup, so I was glad to get a chance to see him today again too. He's mellowed out a bit, and Teddy and the other kids we saw him with were all having fun with him."

Cho nodded and laughed while putting a hand over her stomach. "We've all changed since then. You'd have never managed such a smooth compliment when we were at school." Harry laughed too.

"When you're starting from totally incompetent like I was back then, there was nowhere to go but up,' he joked, "and the only change I see in you is that you're even more beautiful now. How's the baby doing?"

"She's fine; and sleeping right now. I may need to have a nap later if we have a long game."

"You won't be the only one if that happens. I don't think that many of the kids slept much at all last night."

They continued talking quietly, and others joined them until they had everyone back together again about five minutes before the meet and greet was scheduled to end. The gates were going to be opened then, but they didn't need to leave the stadium. Since they were allowed to go straight to the concession level, or to their seats, they all went to the Weasley's Wizard World Cup Wheezes booth that Gabrielle was in charge of for George, and waited for their families and friends to meet them there. Once reunited, they split up into small groups to go souvenir shopping, stock up on drinks and snacks, and even have a meal for anyone wanting to do that before the game started. Harry and Teddy went around with Arthur, Molly, Andromeda, and Aunt Muriel. The souvenirs didn't take long to get, since all they wanted was six programs, six of the two thousand and two Championship Finals pins, and a set of the Bulgarian National team action figures for Teddy. Getting drinks and snacks took a bit longer, but they were still among the first in their group to get to their seats and settle in. While they were doing that, and then visiting with everyone else as they made it to their seats too; their team was in the locker room getting ready for the game and having one last meeting.

"This is it, ladies," Glynnis told her team. "You're one win away from doing something that all of us have dreamed about since we were children playing with our toy brooms and dolls."

"Action figures," Demelza whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Glynnis ignored that, though she did have just the hint of a smile on her face too. "Just in case a lifetime dream come true isn't enough motivation for you, I'd like you to know that this will be your last professional game ever playing with Trish and Lysa. They have both decided to retire after today, and would really appreciate your help in making sure they retire as both League and Quidditch World Cup Champions."

"Surprise," Trish joked. She smiled brightly as she was immediately hugged by Ginny; who had been sitting next to her. Their meeting temporarily devolved into a mini-hugfest, but eventually; Glynnis got their attention again.

"We've heard a lot over the last week about how great a team Bulgaria has, and the 'three times is the charm' stories on how this will finally be their year to take home the World Cup, but they're all about to find out that's not going to happen." She did smile then at Gwenog. "I know we've been hard on you all summer, but that's because you are one of the best Quidditch teams ever, and we didn't want you to beat yourselves."

"All of that work is over, though," Gwenog added, "and this is where that pays off and we get to have one of those best-ever fun kind of days."

"And if we don't you'll turn the lot of us into woodlice?" Alicia asked.

"If worrying about that helps motivate you, then yes," Gwenog answered, "but I agree with what Ginny's father told her – we aren't going to need to waste time on things like that because we are so going to prove that we're the best team in the world right now."

"Then I guess we'll just have to do that since you have no plan B at all," Ginny declared enthusiastically.

Back out in the stadium, Harry was surrounded by the usual group of teens and kids; though he did have nearby parent and grandparent support. Ron and Hermione were sitting with most of the other no-kid couples a few rows behind him and to the right. If it wasn't so much fun hanging out with Teddy and the other kids; he would have liked to spend the time with their Hogwarts friends too, but hopefully he and Ginny would get to spend some time with them at the party later, and at Ron and Hermione's wedding. While they waited for the opening ceremony to start, he mostly listened as Jonathan, Jeremy, and Aaron told Kate and Pauline all about the meet and greet with a little help from Teddy.

"Viktor Krum was way different than how my Uncle Aidan talks about him," Aaron told the girls. "He was really fun; joked with us; and even gave me a couple Seeker tips."

"Is he as handsome in person as his pictures?" Kate asked innocently; though Harry didn't miss the hint of mischief in her eyes.

"He's a Wizard," Aaron answered dismissively. "How should I know?"

"We can decide for ourselves when we see him in a few minutes," Pauline told her. "Did you actually expect our guys to have an opinion on something like that?"

"Not really," Kate answered. "I was just asking for the entertainment potential."

The teens and kids kept Harry entertained until the opening ceremony started, and then they sat back and enjoyed the show – or most of it. The mini-concert that followed the team introductions was great, but the requisite Ministry of Magic speeches were generally tedious and uninspiring. Kingsley was seated in the VIP section along with his Chinese and Bulgarian counterparts, but he'd given Percy the afternoon off so he could sit with Audrey and Molly to watch the game. It was well over an hour later before the referee stepped up to center pitch and got ready to start the game. Harry smiled as he watched Ginny line up next to Viktor; knowing what her first play in their Seeker duel was going to be.

"I'd have said yes if you'd asked me," Ginny told Viktor as they both watched the referee and prepared to take off as soon as the quaffle was release.

"Said yes – asked you what?" he asked in confusion.

"To dance at Bill and Fleur's wedding," she explained conversationally. "I'd have danced with you."

"Your cousin told me that you were taken," Viktor said, and Ginny laughed.

"Actually, that was Harry in disguise, and he just told you that because he was jealous. I wasn't dating anyone back then."

Her timing was perfect, and she laughed happily as she blasted off a full second ahead of Viktor after he'd turned his head to stare at her at the moment the referee threw the quaffle into the air. She didn't spot the snitch, though, and he quickly caught up with her.

"Nicely played," he complimented her as they raced side-by-side around behind the Bulgarian goals. "Do you try that with all of the Seekers?"

Ginny laughed again. "No. We came up with that one especially for you." She did a quick barrel roll and he had to quickly dodge the bludger that one of his own Beaters had pounded at Ginny. "Nice try right back at you," she told him when they closed the gap between them again. Her smile was brilliant and infectious, and he smiled too. "This is definitely going to be fun."

Harry had loved watching that, and Angelina gave her team and fans something to cheer about right away too as she scored the first two goals of the match. She and Demelza scored two more goals each before Bulgaria finally managed to get one past Trish. The pace of the game was wild, but Trish was playing great, and it was soon obvious that Bulgaria's Chasers were no match for Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza. England was up by one hundred to twenty by the end of the first hour, and had a one hundred and sixty point lead by the start of the third hour. Gwenog and Lysa teamed up for a bludger attack on one of Bulgaria's Chasers that didn't quite put him out of the game, but did leave him unable to do much more than feebly try to help their Keeper with defending their goals.

Ginny was able to back off for a while once they had that one hundred and sixty point lead, but with one of Bulgaria's Chasers all but out of commission, Alicia took her playmaking skills to a whole new level, and helped Angelina and Demelza score goals pretty much whenever they wanted as the Bulgarian Keeper's save percentage dropped like a rock. England was ahead three-eighty to fifty at the end of the third hour, and it just got worse for Bulgaria after that. Viktor started trying to catch the snitch instead of just blocking each of Ginny's attempts. He'd made several unsuccessful attempts, and as they neared the end of the fourth hour, he pulled up close to Ginny while looking around for the snitch.

"Thanks for the dance today. Are you ready?"

"For what?" Ginny asked.

"The end of our duel," he answered.

"Is it over?"

"Yes!" he answered, and then spun away from her and dove toward the pitch; pushing his broom hard.

"He can't possibly think Ginny would fall for that old Wronski Feint," Aaron scoffed. "That move's been tortured into retirement in our League."

"It's going to backfire on him," Harry told Aaron. "Look over by the left goal post at the Bulgarian team end – about fifteen feet up and a few feet behind."

"The snitch?" Kate guessed; and Harry nodded.

"Yes. Now watch Ginny. You'll love this."

Ginny had quickly caught up to Viktor, but stayed in a position that would only allow him to break out of his dive in the direction of her team's goals. When he pulled up hard on his broom and turned away from her, she pulled off a brilliant one-eight flip that stopped no more than a foot above the pitch before she blasted toward the Bulgarian goals. She dodged a hastily hit bludger; spun around the goal post, and grabbed the snitch before Viktor had even realized that she'd used his ruse to set up her own trick. Her catch came at the three hour and fifty-eight minute mark; an emphatic exclamation mark on England's seven hundred and ten to sixty Quidditch World Cup Championship win.

"How do you spell MVP?" Aaron asked as they all were on their feet and cheering for their Champions.

"I spell it A-N-G-E-L-I-N-A," Jonathan answered. "In case you were too busy watching the Seekers play, she scored thirty-two of our fifty-six goals. That was more than enough to win without any of Alicia or Demelza's goals; or Ginny's points for catching the snitch."

"I'd have to vote for Angelina too," Harry told them, "and I'm seriously biased toward our Seeker. Trish should be up there in the voting too for only letting six goals in even if the last hour or so wasn't as tough for her."

Ginny and her friends weren't thinking about that at all while they celebrated what was definitely a career-high win for all of them. She'd been swarmed by her teammates after catching the snitch, and that had taken a while before they were ready to land on the pitch and meet up with the Bulgarian team players and Managers. Ginny was smiling as brilliantly as she had during most of the game when she walked up to Viktor; ignored the offered hand; and hugged him for a long moment.

"Tell Teddy that you are the best Seeker in the world – at least for this year," he told her. "Congratulations. You played a great match today."

Ginny laughed; hugged him again, and kissed his cheek; her smile widening as they could both see and hear the flash of cameras capturing the moment. "I'll tell him," she promised. "Thanks; and you played great too."

The grounds crew were quickly getting everything set up for the closing ceremony and awards presentation; so Ginny and Viktor both moved on to spend a moment or two with each of the other players. Ginny was back with her team, including Glynnis, and all of the members of their Reserve team, when the Chinese Head of their Department of Magical Games and Sports stepped up to the podium and started things off with a lengthy speech. Eventually, the Bulgarian players were awarded their runner-up medals, and then it was time for England to receive the Quidditch World Cup trophy and their individual Championship medals. Glynnis and Gwenog accepted the trophy, and were first to receive their golden medals. When her medal was draped around her neck, and she was given a bouquet of roses, Ginny especially loved that she was able to look straight ahead and share the moment with Harry; and get to see the blazing emerald joy and happiness in his eyes.

She'd been fifth in line to get her medal after Lysa and Trish followed Gwenog; and she had a warm hug for everyone who followed her. When Angelina was named Most Valuable Player, she was the first to hug her too, and laughed happily when Angelina whispered – "it should have been you."

"Not today it shouldn't have been," she disagreed. "You were brilliant and deserve this; so get up there again and enjoy the moment."

Angelina had to work her way through the rest of the team hugs first, and after getting her trophy, they all had to sit through a few more speeches before the ceremony ended, and the press was set loose on the two Quidditch teams. Ginny had more than her fair share of reporters firing questions at her, but she was happy to see that Angelina was just as popular. Viktor probably had nearly half of the total reporters who were interviewing the Bulgarian team, and from what she could see, he was smiling and doing well handling what were probably much tougher questions than anything she was being asked.

"We saw the hug and kiss you had for Viktor Krum after the match. We're you and Viktor romantically involved during the year he went to school at Hogwarts?" Ginny shook her head and laughed. The question had come from a Witch who she knew worked for Teen Witch Magazine.

"No, and I was only thirteen that year," she answered. "He has always gotten along well with my husband, though, and is a close friend of my sister-in-law, Fleur." She glanced over at Viktor again and smiled when she looked back at the Teen Witch reporter. "I don't mind admitting that Viktor was prime little-girl crush material for nearly all of the younger girls at Hogwarts while he was there."

The Witch immediately brightened up at that comment and pounced on the opening. "Including you?"

Ginny laughed again, and this time looked up at Harry before answering. "I thought that Viktor was very nice, but no – my little girl crush was all for another Wizard. It just took me a few years after that before I caught him."

That earned her some laughs, and the questions moved back to the game and Quidditch in general. The reporters were allowed about an hour for their interviews, and by then, the stadium seats were nearly empty as the spectators left for the campground or other destinations, and the parties got started. It was nearly dark by the time that Ginny and Angelina got back to their tents, though it only felt like early afternoon to them. The party was in full swing by then, and Harry welcomed them with hugs and kisses; congratulations; and food and glasses of champagne.

"George went to check on the campground booth that they set up after the game," he advised Angelina, "but he should be back soon. Gabrielle and Dawn are running it for him along with a couple of the other teens that had been working the stadium concessions. The special Whizz Bangs and the World Cup Winner-Loser wheezes are selling very well."

"The girls probably wish that they could join the party instead, but I'm sure when they find out about the bonus George has for them later, they'll be very happy campers," Angelina told them. "The World Cup Wheezes did a lot better than he'd hoped they would, and I guess his mail order business has been growing so fast this summer that they can barely keep up with the demand."

"Add in back to school, and just when our schedules will lighten up a bit, his will get crazier," Ginny suggested. Angelina laughed.

"Keep dreaming, Ginny. In case you haven't thought about this yet, we have one week of training camp before the League season starts. We'll also have all of the usual marketing work to fit into that week; plus we'll be learning to play with two new teammates."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise; and Ginny and Angelina both laughed.

"The news is out as of that press conference, honey," Ginny answered. "Trish and Lysa are retiring as of today. I didn't ask Glynnis, but I'm sure that Vicky Frobisher will be taking over the Keeper spot, and I'd say that Karla Broadmoor gets Lysa's job. She was definitely our best Reserve Beater."

"That's going to make things interesting at least for the start of the season," Harry predicted. "You can deal with that starting on Monday. It's time to celebrate now, and your family and friends are ready to help you out with that."

"Yes we are," Molly said as she and Arthur hurried over to them and quickly had Ginny wrapped up in a rib-cracking hug. "You were both brilliant today!" she added when moving on to hug Angelina next. "Quidditch World Cup Champions and a Most Valuable Player in the family."

"See – you have been adopted," Harry told Angelina with a grin as he watched on. Arthur hugged and congratulated them too.

"If you can handle it now, Aunt Muriel is expecting a visit. She's holding court at a table near the dance area that's been set up for the party," Molly said. "I wonder who had the pull around the National team to get the Weird Sisters for the band?"

"I doubt that you wonder at all," Ginny countered, "and we'd best go do that now. Angelina and I have to meet up with the rest of the team for a bit of public relations before we'll be free to do what we want for the rest of the night."

"The price you pay for being the best Quidditch players in the world," Arthur suggested philosophically.

Harry went along with Ginny to see Aunt Muriel; and mostly enjoyed watching her loud, outspoken praise for her great-niece and Angelina; plus the inevitable comments about tight-fitting pants and low-cut tops. George was dragged into Aunt Muriel's pronouncements when she strongly suggested that he stop worrying about his little lop-sided ear problem and marry Angelina before she got away from him – especially now that she was single, beautiful, and world-famous. The bad part of that visit was that it took Ginny and Angelina quite a while to actually get away from the party again so they could rejoin their team after Muriel made sure that everyone within range of her voice knew exactly where the two star players were.

"Have you considered the possibility that you and Fred inherited your sense of humor from her?" Harry asked after listening to George grouse about her loud admonishments. "She may like to play the frail, aged Witch when it suits her, but she's one of the sharpest wits in any room, and she does know what happened to your ear."

"If we did, then she ought to know when a joke is long-past its best before date," George answered. "And how many times do Angelina and I have to tell people that we're just best friends? It's no different than Lee or Alicia being our best friends."

Harry laughed. "I'm fairly sure that Lee – or Alicia – has never camped overnight in your bed; so I'd say there are some differences." He smiled and waved a hand to hold off George's retort. "Angelina loves you, and won't push you to move faster than you're ready, mate; but if you asked her to officially start dating, she'd say yes – and doing that might even shut your family and friends up for a while." He laughed again and put a friendly hand on George's arm. "Do you really want an encore from Aunt Muriel while we're standing up for Ron next Saturday? You really should think about it."

"What I ought to think about is an Aunt Muriel wheeze," George joked. "Why should we be the only family to have all the fun?"

"You might want to remember the dung bomb before getting too serious about that idea," Harry suggested, "or at least remember Mum's reaction to that little prank."

"Good point," George agreed. "So what do we do while our girls are still off playing with their friends? I'll wager that they'll be gone for more like two hours than one."

"Teddy's having an afternoon nap with Andromeda, so I actually have some time to hang out with the grown-ups for a while."

George went along; and they met up with Ron, Hermione, Luna, Rolf, and most of their old Hogwarts friends. Harry only ended up getting to spend a bit less than an hour with them before being advised that Teddy was charged up, ready to go, and looking for his Uncle Harry to play with him. Harry took him out for food, did one last tour around the camp concessions, and went over to the dance to listen to the Weird Sisters, and even go dancing with a few girls; though Teddy only did that reluctantly.

"Can I cut in?"

"Aunt Ginny!" Teddy said happily. He started bouncing in Hermione's arms, and she quickly passed him off to Ginny. "You won! Now you're the best Seeker in the whole world!" Teddy had hugged her, and then flung his arms wide so quickly that Ginny had to hold tight to keep from losing him, and took a step as he threw them off balance. Hermione put a steadying hand around her waist too.

"Viktor asked me to tell you that too – or that I'm the best for this year. I'm pretty sure that he wants the title back, though."

Teddy laughed and hugged her again. "That's funny. Are you done work now?"

"For the rest of the weekend," she confirmed. "Let's dance, and maybe by the time we're done, Grandma Weasley will let us have Uncle Harry back."

He happily let her carry him around as they danced, and then they met up with Harry and went to sit down with Ron, Hermione, and some of the other young couples. Ginny was kept busy for a while with a round of congratulations and hugs that started with a lengthy reunion with Luna and Rolf, and though she and Harry did get a chance to talk with their friends and go dancing a couple of times; she also had a steady stream of fans stop by to get autographs and congratulate her too. There was a massive fireworks display at midnight, and the party rolled on nearly to dawn. Teddy was staying with Andromeda for the 'night', so when Harry did finally escort his beautiful, exhausted wife to their tent at shortly after four; they were both very happy to finally be on their own for the first time since she'd left for work in the morning.

"Funny, I don't remember there being a Jacuzzi in this bathroom before," Ginny said with a bright smile as Harry led her into the room. "In fact, I'm sure there wasn't a few hours ago when I stopped by here."

"And there won't be one again sometime shortly after you're done using it," he advised her. "I thought you deserved a little extra pampering tonight. It's a wonder that you can even move your hand after all of the autographs you've written out today."

"I am glad that's over for a few hours," Ginny admitted. "This is a wonderful surprise. Thank you."

"Can I get you anything else? Another glass of champagne or wine?"

Ginny smiled at him as she began to undress, and she stopped doing that long enough to pull him into a long, fiery kiss. "I think that we have everything we need right here," she advised him meaningfully. "Suddenly, I'm not really very tired at all, and I'm sure that we can come up with something to do to make a few more best days ever list kind of memories.

Harry happily helped her with doing that, and though they'd left before the party had ended, their celebration for two didn't end until sometime after the campground had mostly become silent except for a few party stragglers or early risers who hadn't stayed up for the party at all. Winning the Quidditch World Cup had been worth all of the extra summer work and sacrifice, and it had made for an exciting, hectic couple of months for the Weasley clan and many of their friends. The rest of the Wizarding World would be getting back to life as usual now that the amazing quadrennial sporting event was over; but there was still one more weekend of special, non-Quidditch summer fun ahead for the Weasleys. Even on home time, Ron and Hermione's wedding was now less than a week away, and those last days were going to be packed with even more fun and excitement than any of them expected.


	34. 34 War Heroes Wedding

Chapter Thirty-Four – War Heroes Wedding

"Here," Harry said as he handed Ginny a cup of coffee when she came into the kitchen. "You're going to need this."

"Thanks, but we weren't up all that late last night – and what we were doing was worth losing a little sleep for," Ginny answered with a happy smile; and then stopped when she saw the front page of the Daily Prophet. "Merlin!" she breathed and immediately sat down and pulled the paper to her.

"That's the reason for the caffeine hit," Harry confirmed.

"Heroes or Heretics: The Unauthorized Biographies of Ron and Hermione Weasley – by Rita Skeeter," she read aloud. "On sale this Saturday. The Daily Prophet will print exclusive excerpts every day this week."

"Nice wedding present," Harry said grimly. "Judging from some of the quotes from her 'inside sources', I'd say that she must've gone to Azkaban to get them from some of our favorite Slytherin classmates."

"Well, technically that would be from sources on the inside," Ginny joked as she scanned the front page, and then flipped to the pages with the full story and excerpt. She reached into a pocket when she heard her mirror chime. "I'm reading it now, sis-to-be. Are you calling to ask me to hit her with my bat-bogey hex, or would you prefer I ask Gwenog to help us out with an addition to the world's woodlice population?"

"We're not going to do anything," Hermione told her firmly. Ginny could see that she'd been crying, though, and her eyes flashed with anger. "I've wondered why she hasn't gone after us before, but now we know she was just waiting for the best possible time to really stick it to me for keeping her in that unbreakable jar for all of those months."

"Well, at least I don't see anything in here yet about a love child," Ginny pointed out helpfully.

"That's probably the only thing she hasn't claimed we've done," Hermione countered with a shake of her head. "Any bets on whether there will be an Atrium full of reporters waiting for us when we get there?"

"Do you want me to meet up with you and help out with that?" Harry called out. He was back to work on breakfast for two, and had been listening to their conversation.

"That'll just make it worse if they start reporting that I'm hiding behind you and dodging questions." She looked away from her mirror for a second, and Harry and Ginny could hear Ron in the background growling about something; but they couldn't quite make it out. "Well, if it's any consolation; this'll make us as infamous as Harry if not quite as famous too," she told him before looking back at her mirror and smiling ruefully. "Ron's taking it well – not."

"I don't blame him," Ginny said with a nod. "That section on how all his spells used to backfire – like that slug mess with Draco at the start of your second year – conveniently missed mentioning that it was because his wand was broken."

Hermione nodded. "There's sure to be a lot of stories missing key facts; and more that are flat-out lies. I really wish we didn't have this to deal with on top of everything else this week."

"You might end up liking the distraction," Ginny suggested. "This will leave you with a few less available hours to stress about the wedding while you read the excerpts and deal with the press. If it hadn't been for this story, we wouldn't have even talked this morning."

"Rita Skeeter – brining families together one hack job at a time," Harry said quietly as he took a moment to set the table.

"Let us know if you still feel that way if Rita ever writes a book about you," Hermione countered; though she did smile wanly after overhearing Harry's remark. "I don't remember you taking her book about Harry so well."

"I've had a bit of media experience since then," Ginny explained with a smile and shrug. "You may be too nice to go after Rita, but I'd have no problem offering to have a Wizard's duel with her if she does one of her literary hatchet jobs on me."

"Why didn't I think about that?" Harry asked. "Duels are still a perfectly legal way to resolve disputes between Wizards."

"Because you're too nice a guy too," Ginny answered as she and Hermione both laughed. "I have to eat and get to work, though, so let's talk about this again when we meet at the Burrow for dinner."

She and Hermione ended the call, and then Ginny finished reading the article while talking about it and having breakfast with Harry. After that, she was off and running to her first Harpies training day of the season, and Harry cleaned up before going in to Auror Headquarters. It was fairly obvious that he got there before Ron and Hermione; and he spent ten minutes or more wading through the sea of reporters who wanted to know his thoughts on the book. Ginny would likely admonish him later, but he pretty much gave them some choice quotes that were not at all kind to Rita Skeeter. Suggesting that those same reporters spend some time actually investigating Rita's claims and who her supposedly unbiased, inside sources were; instead of hanging on every lie and half-truth as if it were Light-illumined fact didn't go over very well either.

"Thanks for using your usual charm and grace with those reporters," Ron said with a sardonic smile as he flopped into a chair in Harry's cubicle a half hour later. "That lot couldn't have been wound any tighter if you'd used Incarcerous bindings on them."

"I should have," Harry said with a laugh. "What is it about us that has that lot forgetting that there's actually supposed to be truth in what they report? Even now, you almost never hear a bad word said about any of the Pureblood elites like the Lestranges and Averys – not even the Malfoys get bad press, and they're on the outs with nearly everyone."

"Except the Greengrass family," Ron reminded him. "You've heard that Draco's been seen out with Daphne's little sister, Astoria. Sounds like her family's looking to get ahead financially, and Draco's options are limited."

"Well, some of the best Slytherin girls are either taken or currently unavailable unless he wants to move to Azkaban," Harry said with a grin. "Then he's got that whole problem with not being allowed to marry any Witch who isn't pureblood. That knocks three-quarters of the Witches out of the running right there."

"It's a wonder he's found a girl to step out with at all that meets his parent's approval. Anyway, don't be surprised if Hermione has a word or two for you later."

Harry shrugged. "I'm sure that Ginny will too, but since that'll be offset with an 'atta-boy' from Mum and Dad; I'm okay with that."

"You're welcome to that," Ron assured him. "I'll just keep my mouth shut and stay out of trouble between now and Saturday."

"Good plan," Harry approved. "I'd follow that advice, but I don't have any patience for things like this when it's happening to the people I love."

"I can relate to that," Ron said fervently.

They had a few more minutes to talk before Ron got up and went over to his own cubicle and Harry got back to working on his training program until it was time to meet up with Neville, Dennis, and Natalie. While he was doing that, Ginny and the Harpies had gotten right to work with a long training session that just felt different without Trish and Lysa. Glynnis had put Karla Broadmoor in charge of their Reserve team training for the past few weeks while she'd been busy with the National team. She'd done well enough, but it was also soon clear that their Reserve team was several steps behind their five remaining National team players. Vicky's training was definitely behind; which showed up the first time she was up against Angelina, Alicia, and Demelza instead of their three Reserve Chasers. Karla looked good on her own at Beater, but she and Gwenog were going to need some time to work out playing as a team. Gwenog had them work until eleven o'clock, and then called for a break.

"Hit the showers and get changed," she advised her team. "Hair and makeup starts at eleven-thirty, and the team photo shoot is at twelve. We'll work in lunch breaks around that, and get back to work again as soon as we can."

"Like those photo shoots aren't work for all of us except Ginny and Angelina," Alicia said before taking a long drink of water. "I'd rather have extra bludger practice."

"We could send one up to play with while you're doing your aerial shots," Angelina offered.

"Thanks, but no," Alicia decided after pausing for a drama moment. "Are we doing the action figure modeling today too?" she asked Gwenog.

"That's tomorrow's lunchtime adventure. Tonight we all have a sponsor reception at the Magick Hall after dinner. Dress to impress for that – we've a lot riding on our shiny new WWMN deal, and getting those companies to buy adverts is really important."

"Do you think Dana could give us schedules for the rest of the week?" Ginny asked. "I know I won't have much time to help out with it, but I do have a fairly important wedding this weekend."

"She's going to have that for us by later this afternoon," Gwenog answered, "but the only night you'll have open is Friday, and we're only allowing two hours for dinner breaks."

"I'm sure that Fleur, Hannah, and Serena will help Hermione with whatever she needs," Angelina told Ginny. "You know that she understands, and you've helped out a lot whenever you had time."

"You now have five less minutes to get ready," Gwenog advised them. "Don't be late unless you want your posters this year to be of you doing push-ups."

That got her team moving toward the locker room at a faster pace, and that was pretty much how the rest of the week went both for Ginny and Harry. While she really wanted to do more, Ginny could only help out a bit with the wedding while also getting something to eat during her two-hour dinnertime break. Those short work reprieves were never long enough; especially since she also needed some of that time to get dressed up and ready for whatever evening team event she had to attend. The only chance she had all week to spend any extra time with Luna was on Tuesday night; thanks to Hermione and Molly helping out and inviting Luna and Rolf to their daily working dinner.

While Ginny was mostly busy with the Harpies; Harry worked at Auror Headquarters by day, and then helped Molly, Arthur, Ron, and Hermione at the Burrow every evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all taking Friday off; so Harry was done for the weekend when they left work on Thursday, and Ron and Hermione were getting away for two weeks. Ginny met them at the Burrow for their nightly dinner and work session, and then was off and running again while Harry and Ron were sent outside to continue the work they'd been doing to get the yard, gardens, and orchard ready for Saturday.

"Get in here!" Molly shouted to them an hour or so after they'd gone outside; loudly enough so that not only did Harry and Ron come running, but Arthur bolted out of his workshop, and was right behind them by the time they all slid into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Molly?" Arthur panted. She and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table with a WWMN mirror in front of them that they were watching intently.

"Rita Skeeter's being interviewed on that new talk show I've been watching since it started," Molly explained.

Arthur shook his head. "And that's worth scaring us half to death to tell us about?"

"Rita just admitted to the interviewer that she's an Animagus," Hermione practically crowed. "She was asked what her secret was for getting the inside track on all of these stories, and she just came right out and told her that – and a lot more." She waved toward the mirror. "Listen in – she's still going on."

Harry already was listening, and they all watched in amazement as Rita began going into great detail about how she used her beetle Animagus to spy on people, and then moved on to talk about a whole batch of dirty tricks she used to get what she wanted.

"She sounds like she's taken Veritaserum, but she doesn't show any of the normal signs," Hermione told them; and Harry smiled at her.

"I'd say that she's taken something," he agreed. Hermione looked away from the mirror and gave him a hard look.

"You sound very sure about that. How could you be?"

"I had a dream?" Harry suggested evasively, and laughed when Hermione's expression hardened even more with disapproval. He held up his hands. "That's not totally a joke, but just because I had a feeling that Rita's week wasn't going to be quite as triumphant as she expected doesn't mean that I should have to warn her to be careful." He looked at the studio scene in the mirror. "Those chocolates she's popping look suspiciously like some that I've seen somewhere before; but I can't quite put my finger on where."

Ron started laughing; which earned him Hermione's full attention. "Spit it out," she ordered.

"They look like those love potion chocolates that Romilda Vane gave to Harry," he answered quickly, "but you know that George doesn't sell anything like that."

"Maybe she's suddenly fallen in love with the truth," Arthur suggested with a grin. "I think it's a rather refreshing change for her."

"Is that possible?" Molly asked. Hermione apparently wanted to know the answer to that; pulled out her two-way mirror; and called George.

"Did you have anything to do with what's going on right now with Rita Skeeter?" she demanded. They could all see George smiling at her and looking far too piously innocent.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Hermione," he answered. "You know how busy we are around here with all of the mail orders, and the back-to-school business has really picked up since the Hogwarts letters came out on Monday too. Is Rita having some problems?"

"She's spouting off in a WWMN interview as if she's taken Veritaserum; and we've seen her popping chocolates that look an awful lot like your love potion chocolates that Romilda Vane gave Harry."

"Why do I always get blamed when things go wrong?" George complained; his expression showing that he really didn't mind that at all. He smiled at the glare he was getting from Hermione. "Can I remind you that my love potion comes in a bottle? I have no control over what my customers put it on or in. Those chocolates were probably from Honeydukes."

"You do recommend using that potion in things like chocolate to make it undetectable by taste, though," Hermione countered.

"How do you know that?" Ron asked. "Looked into it before?" Hermione ignored that, other than shaking her head as she kept her attention on George's image in her mirror.

"Could your love potion be used to make someone fall in love with the truth?" Hermione persisted.

"That's an interesting idea," George answered. "It's funny that you're the second person to ask me about that this week. I've had pranksters ask if it works for making people fall in love with things like animals or inanimate objects for pranks, but never for something intangible like that. I wish I could remember who that was – you'd be able to talk with them about it."

"I'd definitely like to do that, but while I'm waiting for your memory to improve; what did you and this unidentified Witch or Wizard decide about whether it would work?" Hermione demanded.

George shrugged. "We didn't decide anything because I had no idea whether it was possible or not."

"You had no idea; but now you know," Hermione amended with conviction. George laughed.

"This is probably the point where you really don't want to continue this conversation, Hermione. I won't be telling you anything more, and if your little theory is right, and someone's used one of my Wheezes on Rita Skeeter, then I'd say good on them for doing it."

"Let it go," Molly told Hermione. "We'll talk later, George," she added.

"I'll bring the sweets," George offered helpfully before quickly ending the mirror chat before either Witch could answer.

"Rita will be sure that I had something to do with this," Hermione said worriedly.

"More likely she'll think it was Ron or me," Harry disagreed. "It wasn't," he added quickly, "and I'm not going to tell you that it couldn't have been someone we know; but honestly, Hermione, isn't the most obvious person to be able to pull this off the Witch interviewing Rita? I've had lots of experience with what reporters are willing to do to get their story, and Rita Skeeter isn't the only Witch or Wizard out there willing to break a few rules to get a story."

"That sounds like a great theory, but there are only a handful of us who knew for sure that there was a story there to be told," Hermione reminded him. "I don't like this at all."

"If you're here when George brings those sweets over, stay away from them," Arthur advised her with a grin. "If we were being honest about this, we'd all agree that Rita is long overdue for her moment of truth. Speaking of breaking the rules, though, I wonder what the Aurors are going to do about her now that she's admitted to breaking a very serious law? The penalty for being an unregistered Animagus is very serious."

"Too bad I'm on desk duty," Harry said with a laugh. "I'd love it if Emma would give me that assignment.

"Especially if Rita tried to fight back or escape," Ron added. "I'd sign up for that too."

"You both have the day off tomorrow," Molly reminded them, "and I won't take an Auror emergency as an excuse to leave your father and me with all of the work." She looked at her watch; shook her head; and stood up. "The best part of the show's over, and we all need to get back to what we're supposed to be doing; or we'll be at it until after midnight."

The three Wizards went outside and back to work, and though they didn't work until midnight, it was past ten o'clock before Harry got home, and even after the late work session; he was still there for nearly an hour before Ginny joined him. By then she was past ready for a little bedtime pampering, so he helped her with that while talking about her evening and the Rita Skeeter story; and then he tucked her in to bed after she fell asleep during her post-Jacuzzi massage and heal. He was up before dawn and let Ginny sleep for as long as she could while he showered, dressed, and cooked breakfast for them. He'd read the Daily Prophet too by the time she joined him in the kitchen; and was smiling when she was first drawn to the front page headline before sharing their usual good morning embrace.

"Rita Skeeter admits to being an unregistered Animagus live on WWMN talk show!" she read excitedly as she quickly scanned the part of the story that was on the front page. "Head of the Aurors, Emma Ogden, confirmed that an investigation has been launched; both into Ms. Skeeter's admission of several very serious offenses, and to determine whether illegal means were used to induce the long, detailed confession. In her defense, Ms. Skeeter claims, in a Daily Prophet exclusive article on page three, that she is the victim of a smear campaign aimed at discrediting her just a day before her newest book is to be released. (Editor's Note: Part five of the Daily Prophet exclusive excerpts from Heroes or Heretics: The Unauthorized Biographies of Ron and Hermione Weasley begins on page five.) While Auror Ogden would not comment on details of the investigation, the mirror network show's host and interviewer did tell reporters that all drinks and foods provided to their guests had been seized by the Aurors for testing. She added that while the Aurors are likely testing for the illegal use of Veritaserum; it was unlikely that they would find that to be the cause of what she called 'Ms. Skeeter's openness and candor'. When asked to explain why she believed that, she suggested that Ms. Skeeter's own professed expertise in the use of Veritaserum would have made it easy for her to detect it's use; and anyone watching the show could clearly see that she showed none of the usual signs of being under the influence of the powerful potion.

"Would you like me to pop over to the Ministry this morning and take pictures when she's brought in for questioning?" Harry asked.

"Good morning; I love you; and no – there will be lots of reporters taking care of that, and Mum will notice, and not be happy, if you're missing from the work crew," Ginny answered as she walked over to him and finally got to the good morning hug and kiss part of their day. "Rita Skeeter's unstoppable, and even though she'll likely get some quality time in Azkaban, you can bet there will be a new book out in time for the Christmas holidays."

"And she'll be even more popular for it," Harry agreed. "I love you too. Grab a drink, and breakfast will be ready in five."

The Rita Skeeter story was probably what every Wizarding family was talking about at breakfast, and most of the day. Ginny read the rest of the articles about Rita, and quickly scanned the Heroes and Heretics excerpt while they ate and talked about both stories. She had to hurry by the time she was ready to leave for work, and after a quick goodbye, Harry cleaned the kitchen, spent a few minutes taking care of Snowflake and Snowstorm, and then headed over to the Burrow.

He and Ron finished all of the yard work by noon, and after lunch, they helped with setting up the pavilion in the field next to the orchard. That included getting the chairs set up in two wide, long rows, and putting together the low platform at the front of those rows that would be used both for the ceremony, and for the band that would be playing for the dance. They were having dinner at the Leaky with all of the members of the wedding party and both sets of parents, so Harry went home in time to shower and get ready for that before meeting Ginny and Angelina in Diagon Alley at George's store.

"It's nice to see you too," George said with a grin after Ginny let him go from a longer than usual hug.

"Congratulations. You've won my best brother of the day award for today – or technically for yesterday."

"I have no idea what for, but I'll take it. Give me five minutes, and I'll be ready to go."

"Sure he doesn't," Ginny told Angelina and Harry after he'd gone off to take care of a few last minute details before he'd be off until Sunday. Harry didn't miss the tiny flicker of communication that passed between the two Witches; and he stepped in closer to them.

"I saw that," he said quietly. "Nice acting job last night and this morning, honey. I didn't suspect a thing."

"We have no idea what you're talking about, and if you're seeing things, it's probably because you were out working in the hot sun too long today," Angelina told him.

"That's probably it," Ginny agreed. "What's George got new for back to school wheezes this year?" she asked Angelina as they both pointedly changed the subject.

"He's finally got the No-Body Robes perfected, though they're a bit pricey yet to be big sellers," she answered. "The Mrs. Norris Transfiguration Kneazle treats is his personal favorite. Mr. Filch is quite likely to have an interesting year trying to find the real Mrs. Norris among the wheezes versions."

"He's got the No-Body robes?" Harry asked; going along with them even as he was now sure that he knew exactly what had happened to Rita, and who'd been involved. "Let's see if they have one in Teddy's size."

Ginny laughed and hugged him. "We can put in an order with George, but pricey likely also means not in sizes for four-year olds, honey. We should probably get Grandma approval first too. With both a No-Body Robe and a Headless Hat, it would be very easy for a junior prankster like Teddy to hide from her long past the point where she'd be amused."

"Good point," Harry agreed. "We should see if George can come up with something for missing kid emergencies so we don't have to worry about that."

"Do you really think that George is going to want to sell a counter-wheeze?" Angelina asked with a laugh. "That would totally wreck his business if every prank could be stopped so easily."

"Mum and Andromeda might be able to convince him to make an exception for family," Ginny suggested. "They can be very persuasive."

"We'll see," Angelina said; though she was shaking her head. "There's a big difference between giving you some of his bruise-remover because he loves you and an actual wheeze breaker. I'm not sure that even your Mum could get that from him."

While they waited for George, they wandered around the store for what ended up being closer to fifteen minutes. When he was finally ready to go, they walked to the Leaky Cauldron. They were the last in their group to get there, and everyone else had already ordered meals and received the first round of drinks. The conversation in progress was about Rita Skeeter, and the news that Neville had from Auror Headquarters. After doing a round of hugs and kisses, and ordering their drinks and food, Neville took a couple of minutes to bring them up to speed before continuing.

"So Rita plead not guilty?" Ginny asked when he'd told them about her appearance before the Wizengamot.

"Yes, but Emma is sure that she was just buying time so she wouldn't miss her big book signing tomorrow at Flourish and Blotts; and will make a plea deal by Monday."

"They're going to let her out for that?" George asked in surprise; and Neville nodded.

"None of her offenses are serious enough to warrant sending to Azkaban until after her trial," he explained with a shrug, "and she's not likely to make things worse by trying to run."

"Too bad that," Ron joked. "Sounds like Harry and I missed all of the fun today at work, though. I would've liked to be there to watch that interview."

"Yard work and setting up that Pavilion wasn't your idea of fun?" Harry asked. "I thought that we had a pretty good day."

"You would," Ron said dismissively. "How's business at the store?" he asked George.

"Great, but if you think that we'll be distracted so easily from roasting you and Hermione tonight; you are sorely mistaken. I vote that we get right to that – I've been working on my material for weeks. The only question is where to start?"

"Ladies first," Ginny told him. "Hermione's Mum and Dad have some great stories about when she was little."

With that as the launching point, the roasting began in earnest, and they all had fun whether hearing the stories for the first time or getting to enjoy old favorites. The Grangers' stories about raising a Witch in a non-magical home were a lot of fun, and then it took a couple of hours to get through all of the Hogwarts years. It was nearing ten o'clock by the time they were finished with the post-school stories, and then Molly got them to wrap up the party so they could go back to the Burrow for one last wedding meeting.

"Don't even think about arguing over the haircuts," she warned the boys when she saw the expressions on the faces of Ron, Bill, and George after giving them that instruction. "Get it done before you're due to be here, or I'll do it for you – even if it's right in front of our guests."

"Maybe you should let them do what they want," Ginny suggested. "Aunt Muriel thought that Harry had a Witch for a Best Man. I'd love to hear what she says if Ron's hair is that long tomorrow. She might even offer her tiara to him instead of Hermione."

"Don't even joke about that," Ron told her. "I'll get my bloody hair cut."

"Good decision," Fleur complimented him. "Do we get to borrow your Harpies' stylists again tomorrow, Ginny?"

"Yes we do," she confirmed as Molly nodded too. "You and Hannah have the last two appointments so you can work that around the kids better."

"You're to be at Ron and Hermione's house by ten-thirty for that," Molly added. "Angelina and Ginny are at eight; Hermione and Serena are at eight forty-five; and the Mothers of the Bride and Groom, and Aunt Muriel, have three of the nine-thirty spots. I've let the other girls know when their appointments are already. Let's get back to the boys' list, and then we'll go over what we have to do."

That really didn't take much longer, and then Ron and Hermione handed out gifts for their wedding party and parents. Once that was done, they, and Harry and Ginny, had about twenty minutes for the goodbyes before Ginny went home with Hermione and her parents, and everyone else except Ron and Harry headed for home too. Arthur and Ron sat at the kitchen table while Harry helped Molly with cleaning up the glasses and snack trays they'd used while having their little meeting.

"What time will Charlie and Julianne be here tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"They're going to get here a bit before noon," Molly answered. "Julianne had an earlier makeover appointment, but she's been having quite the time with morning sickness again since they got back from China. They'll still need to leave home shortly before ten, and the Portkey trip won't be much fun for her; but hopefully the worst of the morning sickness will be over by then. If she's doing well enough, they'll stay overnight so they can come to the lunch we're doing for Ginny's birthday on Sunday."

"That's too bad. She was hoping the worst of that was over when we talked last weekend," Harry said, and smiled at Ron. "Technically, Ginny was talking with her about it; so don't give me the 'you spend too much time hanging out with girls' look. Be glad that we're not talking about some of the other parts of that little chat. I'm fairly sure there are some things you really don't want to know about your sister-in-law and her pregnancy."

"No doubt," Ron agreed. "Feel free to move along."

Harry nodded. "We can do that. You didn't say anything about it during the meeting, but do we have someone going to pick up Aunt Muriel tomorrow?"

"And can we have them show up about an hour late?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Yes, and no," Arthur answered with a laugh. "Percy will pop over to get her before bringing Audrey and Molly here so she'll have time to do her traditional tiara presentation to Hermione."

"Well, at least that gown covers those skinny little ankles of yours, but nobody will even see my tiara in amongst all that hair," Ron mimicked. "With those low-cut bodices, there isn't a Wizard here that would notice it anyway."

"Not bad, but your sister is much better at that," Arthur advised him, and then grinned at Molly. "I mean don't make fun of your great-aunt. She's a dear old Witch who has done a lot for us."

"Yes she has, so keep comments like those to yourselves and be nice to her tomorrow; or we'll be having a long talk about it later this weekend," Molly promised.

"I guess she means you, since I'll be away," Ron joked to Harry and Arthur.

"You won't be so far away that I can't reach you," Molly countered ominously, "and I mean all of my boys; so feel free to pass that along to your brothers."

"Yes, Mum," Ron agreed hurriedly.

He and Harry left shortly after that, and after checking on the owls, Harry poured a couple of drinks and they went outside to sit in the back yard while winding down before going to bed.

"We should've made the other guys spend the night without their girls too," Ron suggested. "Stupid traditions."

"Fleur and Hannah might've gone for that – if Bill and Neville brought Victoire, Dominique, and Alice along so they could have a break. George doesn't have a girl to be without."

Ron snorted. "Sure he doesn't. Angelina just happens to stop by for breakfast at his flat before going to work four or five days out of five a week."

"Best friends do spend lots of time together like that," Harry said with a grin. "We had breakfast together every day for years."

"Sure – at Hogwarts, and when you stayed with us at the Burrow," he agreed dismissively. "Not so much since we got our own places; and I doubt that Lee's at George's every day for breakfast too."

"Alicia would likely have something to say about that if he was. You're doing better that I expected tonight."

"Did you expect me to be a blubbering mess, or about ready to hop on my broom and see how far I could get before morning?"

Harry shrugged. "I expected you to be more nervous and stressed, but it's great to see that you're not."

"I'm ready for tomorrow, mate, but just remember that if I find out that you were wrong with all of that stuff you told me about how happy I'll be with Hermione; you'll be the one who will need to run when I come looking for you."

"That is not going to be a problem," Harry assured him. "Maybe we'll even get lucky and the bad guys will take a break for a while too."

"That'd be boring," Ron joked, "and I seriously doubt that we have to worry about that either, but at least that does give us job security."

Since Ron really was handling the end of his life as a single Wizard much better than Harry had expected; they didn't stay up much longer before going to get some sleep. They were up again fairly early in the morning, and after getting ready, they apparated to Diagon Alley, where they were meeting Bill, George, and Neville for breakfast at the Leaky. By the time they were doing that, the first group of Witches, including Angelina and Ginny, had already started their wedding makeover appointments with Ginny's favorite stylist, Robin, and the crew she'd brought along to Hermione's house. They were working breakfast in around those appointments, and while Molly had work to do at the Burrow before coming over for her appointment; Hermione's mother kept the breakfast buffet stocked while her daughter and friends were busy. Past and impending weddings were high on the morning chat list, but Angelina had some new information that really started the day off well for her friends too.

"So you're coming to the wedding on an official boyfriend-girlfriend kind of date?" Ginny had asked happily as she hugged Angelina. "What did George do – ask you on a mirror chat after you guys went home last night?"

Angelina laughed, and looked just as happy as Ginny was. "As if you thought we were going to our separate flats. I don't know if I was more surprised that he finally asked, or he was that I said yes."

"I'm just really glad that he did," Ginny told her, "and happy for both of you."

"Maybe he was worried about waiting much longer after hearing those comments last weekend about you being adopted," Hermione joked. "Dating just wouldn't be the same if you were brother and sister."

"And you know that Aunt Muriel will be happy to find out that you'll date George despite that lop-sided ear problem of his," Ginny added; switching mid-sentence into a flawless imitation of her Aunt's booming voice. "Even if a good-looking, famous Quidditch player like you probably could do better."

"Your brothers and father are much more than your Aunt Muriel ever gives them credit for," Angelina told her. "At least Hermione and I, and the rest of your sisters-in-law, know just how special they are." Ginny smiled brilliantly, and Angelina laughed. "Stop that. I only put it that way because Hermione won't technically be your sister-in-law until later this afternoon. Don't start talking white picket fences with me or George – we're nowhere near ready to go there."

Though Ginny did want the details of Angelina's night, she was careful not to rock the newly built love boat. As more of the girls arrived for the start of their appointments; the noise and fun factor went up too. Hermione was kept busy and entertained enough that she didn't have time to stress about the wedding, and the hours seemed to fly past as they took turns at the hair, make-up, and nail stations.

Harry, Ron, and the other guys had breakfast; got the haircuts as ordered; and then went over to the Burrow. Molly put them to work for a couple of hours; having them do one last cleanup of the house, yard, and gardens. She'd gone on to Ron and Hermione's house shortly after giving them their orders, and they worked until nearly noon before splitting up again to go get cleaned up and ready for the ceremony, and have something to eat. Ron had gone home with Harry to do that, and then they were back at the Burrow by one-thirty. Molly was back by then too, and spent some quality time inspecting her boys, and making a few minor adjustments to their clothes or hair, before giving them her mother's seal of approval, and sending them off to the Pavilion to await the arrival of their guests.

This was going to be the largest wedding that Harry had been to so far, and the guests began arriving by shortly after two o'clock. His job was to keep Ron company while Bill, George, and Neville took care of seating everyone. They both would have rather been helping out with that, since it would have given them something to do other than just wander around the orchard and hang our near the Pavilion. Hermione, Ginny, and the rest of the girls would have liked to be a bit less busy. Once they'd all been transformed from beautiful to stunning by Robin and her team, they had time for a light lunch, and then needed to get dressed in time for the bridal party photo session that then took them through until they needed to head over to the Burrow. Fleur helped them stay on schedule; and they were all in the sitting room by half-past two; where they had time to make a few last minute touch-ups before Percy escorted Aunt Muriel into the room.

"Molly, you look even lovelier than at Ginevra's wedding," she declared loudly before Molly welcomed her with a hug.

"Thank-you Aunt Muriel," Molly said; smiling warmly.

"I hope you'll be sitting with Mum and Dad," Ginny told her Great-Aunt. "Someone should definitely keep an eye on you around all of the single Wizards who will be here today with you looking like that."

Muriel wheezed out a laugh as she was hugged by Ginny next. "We both know that won't be a problem, Ginevra; and you look beautiful too, if a bit under-dressed. Couldn't you afford the rest of that gown?"

Ginny laughed and hugged her again. "We used the extra material for Hannah and her baby," she joked; and Muriel laughed again too.

"I doubt that, and you look radiant, Hannah. Might even be enough to have Augusta admitting that her precious Grandson is quite lucky to have you."

"Miracles do happen," Hannah whispered so that only Hermione and Fleur overheard before she thanked Muriel.

"Well, we'd best get on with it," Muriel decided after being hugged by Fleur to; and complimenting her, Serena, and Hermione's mother. "Stand up and let's have a look at you, Hermione." She looked her over critically for a long, drawn-out minute that Hermione practically held her breath for. "The gown covers those skinny little ankles, and your posture is quite good," she declared. "On your best behavior with your Mum around, most likely; but you are a sight. Our Ronald will be quite confunded when he sees you shortly." She held up her prized tiara. "Molly, you'd best give me a hand. Her hair is lovely, but there's so much of it, I have no idea where to start to make this work properly."

Molly took full advantage of the opening, and with a little help from Ginny; they quickly had the tiara tucked in among the mass of gorgeous curls and waves of Hermione's lustrous hair in a way that earned Muriel's approval before she and Molly left the house to walk out to the Pavilion with Arthur. Hermione's mother spent a few more quiet minutes with her daughter before it was time for her to be escorted to her seat, and then it was just Hermione, her about to be sisters-in-law, and friends left in the sitting room while they waited for Mr. Granger to return for his daughter.

"Why am I the only Witch in this room who looks nervous?" Hermione asked as she took one last look at herself in the mirror before standing up and wandering around the room.

"Because three out of five of us have been here before, and the fourth is too busy taking notes to have time to be nervous," Ginny joked. "Half the Ministry of Magic is out there waiting to admire us; but that's nothing to worry about."

"Unless I fall and break one of my skinny little ankles in these shoes,' Hermione added. "I wonder how many of those Ministry officials brought a copy of Rita's new book to keep entertained with while they wait around before and after the ceremony?"

"Some may have thought about that," Ginny conceded, "but doing that right here at your wedding would be rotten, and if any of those idiots have two brain cells to rub together; the next thought will be to wonder what the Wizarding World's greatest prankster might do to anyone who tries messing up his little brother's wedding."

"A week or to of selective honesty at the Ministry might be fun," Serena suggested with a soft laugh. "That idea has me hoping just a little that a few Witches and Wizards actually try to play nasty today."

"See," Hermione told Ginny; "even some of my best friends think I had something to do with what happened to Rita."

Serena laughed again; along with Ginny, Hannah, and Fleur. "I'm sure you didn't, Hermione; but we did hear enough last night and this morning to be just as sure that one or more people who know and love you definitely were involved. It's just too bad that we don't know whom to thank."

"Seeing Rita Skeeter break her own scandal story was probably more than enough thanks for whoever was involved," Ginny suggested.

They had a few more minutes to chat before Hermione's father returned, and then it was time to get the show on the road. Serena and Hannah led the way out to the Pavilion, with Fleur and Ginny behind them, and Hermione and her father bringing up the rear. There were still a few stragglers making their way to any seats they could find now that the groomsmen were up on the low stage with Ron and Harry; but everyone was seated by the time they lined up just outside the entrance.

Ron, Harry, and the other guys on the stage knew when the girls had reached the Pavilion mostly by the hush of their guests that rolled along from back to front as news of their arrival spread from those who saw them first. The last ten or fifteen minutes of their wait had been very entertaining; mostly thanks to a visit from Teddy and Victoire, and Aunt Muriel's loudly whispered commentary. The tufty-haired Wizard who was about to officiate for his fourth Weasley wedding in five years had his little meeting with them too, and they'd been standing on the low stage for nearly five minutes; mostly so Ron wouldn't accidentally see Hermione while she walked from the house to the Pavilion.

They were all watching the entrance when the music started, and Hannah led off the processional. Harry thought that she was every bit as beautiful today as she'd been just over a month ago at Susan and Ernie's wedding; and a quick glance at Neville assured him that her husband completely agreed. Serena was next, and her smile was bright, if a bit self-conscious as she followed a few paces behind Hannah; and though she was taller, and temporarily much slimmer than Hannah, the bridesmaids' gowns they'd chosen looked just as wonderful on her as it did on Hannah. Fleur's entrance was greeted with an audible sigh of wonder, and though he'd mostly learned to deal with the effects that his enchanting sister-in-law had on him; Harry noticed that Ron's eyes still momentarily glazed over and his mouth dropped open into a small 'oh' when she looked at him, and her smile flashed from warm to brilliant.

He had time to exchange a nod and glance with Fleur, but then while she mostly watched Bill as she followed Serena down the long aisle; Harry was busy being completely and utterly stupefied by his own incredibly gorgeous wife. He knew that the fire and passion in her eyes and smile was all for him; and in response to what he was sure she could see in his eyes and face. That moment was broken when he caught a flash of white behind Ginny, and Hermione stepped into the Pavilion with her father.

"Breathe in, breathe out," he whispered to Ron; putting a hand on his back to steady him, "and yes, she is definitely the most beautiful Witch in the Wizarding World today."

Hermione's smile was as brilliant as Ginny's, and she looked every bit as satisfied by her Wizard's reaction to seeing her. Harry was thrilled to see that joy and happiness in both of his best friends' faces; and he nearly laughed at what Hermione silently said to him with just a short glance before returning her attention to Ron again. He did laugh softly a couple of times when Aunt Muriel resumed her whispered commentary as each bridesmaid passed her; mostly providing all of the guests a recap of her earlier, private comments to the five Witches. Victoire was sitting with her grandparents while Dawn was taking care of Dominique, and she happily waved and greeted her mother, Aunt Ginny, and nearly-official Aunt Hermione as they passed the front row.

When Hermione and her father reached the front, she leaned close to kiss his cheek, and then he and Ron each took one of her hands as she stepped up onto the stage between Ron and Ginny. She and Ron both waited until Mr. Granger sat down next to his wife, and then they turned to face the tufty-haired Wizard.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls," he began in his sing-song voice.

That familiar phrase sent Harry off down memory lane for a while, and he was more than a little amused to realize that he really wasn't catching any more of the long, rather tedious litany that filled the fifteen minutes or so between that opening line through to the start of the 'I do's'. Aunt Muriel had a few amusing comments that kept him smiling, but while he'd enjoyed thinking about best wedding memories with Ginny, he did come back to the here and now when they reached the important part of the ceremony.

"Do you, Hermione Jean take Ronald Bilius to be your husband; to love, honor, and cherish for all eternity?"

"I do," Hermione said softly as she smiled happily at Ron.

And do you, Ronald Bilius take Hermione Jean to be your wife; to love, honor, and cherish for all eternity?"

"I guess that means she said yes, though I didn't hear a sound," Aunt Muriel whispered.

"I do," Ron answered loudly; and though Harry couldn't see his face, Hermione's reaction to what she saw suggested that Ron was a bit annoyed by his Aunt's comments. He was only able to catch Ginny's eye for a moment, but she looked as amused as he was. The tufty-haired Wizard asked for Hermione's wedding ring next, and that was Harry's cue to take care of the only real job he had during the ceremony. He quickly passed the beautiful ring to Ron, and then mostly watched Ginny as Ron turned back to face Hermione, and took her left hand in his.

"I've loved you since long before either of us would admit to what we felt for each other," he said in an earnest, clear voice. "You were always there for me, and for our friends; the best and brightest Witch of our time. You're kinder and more compassionate than anyone else I know, and share that love for everything and everyone you care most about with a passion and fire that is truly a wonder. I love you with all of my heart, Hermione, and with this ring, I promise to love you for all time." He slid the ring onto her finger, and smiled ruefully again at the wide, teary-eyed expression on Hermione's face. "Always so surprised," he whispered so softly that only she, Ginny, Harry, and the tufty-haired Wizard could hear at the same time that they all heard Aunt Muriel whisper – "well, that was quite nicely done. There might still be some hope for the boy after all, Molly." Ginny laughed happily, if softly, and handed Ron's ring to Hermione when prompted.

"Through the darkest times we've faced, you stood

Tall and bravely with me and our friends; always willing to risk everything to do what was needed and right, no matter the personal sacrifice. I do love that you are loyal and brave, but what I love most is your fun-loving appreciation of how precious and special every day is; and for sharing that love and fun with me. With this ring, and all of my heart, I promise to love you now and forevermore."

She placed the ring on Ron's finger, and they were both smiling happily as they wrapped their arms around each other; and were lost to the moment as the tufty-haired Wizard stepped close to them and held his wand over their heads.

"The rings have been exchanged, and the promises and pledges spoken," he practically sang. "I now declare you bonded for life!" With a wave of his wand, a shower of silver stars swirled around Ron and Hermione as they met half-way to share a soft, sweet, lingering kiss as the magic of the bonding surrounded and suffused them with love.

It was now practically a tradition that a whistle or comment from George would precede the end of those happy embraces, and being a member of the wedding party didn't stop him from whistling, leading the applause, and setting off a few Whizz Bangs to celebrate. The tufty-haired Wizard had everyone stand, waved his wand again, and soon had everything set up for the dinner and reception. Harry and Ginny were first to congratulate their best friends, followed by the other members of the wedding party and their families.

There were too many guests to reasonably have a reception line, but Ron and Hermione did meet briefly with Kingsley Shacklebolt and some of the other senior Ministry officials, and then some of their closest friends, before Molly rounded up everyone that would be part of the wedding pictures photo shoot. They started that with pictures of Ron and Hermione with their nieces and family so the kids wouldn't have to wait around, and then they moved on to the wedding party and parents groups. In the hour or so that they were busy with that, their guests were able to get drinks and socialize while waiting to be seated for dinner. Ron, Hermione, and the rest of their wedding party had time for a short break in the house to freshen up after they were done with the pictures, and then they were on the go again, and doing a little socializing as they made their way through the Pavilion to the head table for dinner. They had Angelina and Serena's boyfriend sit with them, so there were twelve sitting around their table; just as there were at most of the other tables in the Pavilion.

"I'm glad we decided to do this," Ginny told Hermione. "It wouldn't have been as much fun if we were sitting in a long row."

"Getting to sit with our guys is nice too," Fleur added with a happy smile for Bill, "and we have the bonus of babysitting services for the night too."

"Dawn's doing great with Dominique," Ginny said as she looked over to where Dawn was sitting at the table next to them with Victoire, Molly, the parents, Aunt Muriel, and Percy, Charlie, and their wives.

"Especially since it's hot; Dominique's been teething; and hasn't been having a very good day today," Bill agreed.

"She's not the only one feeling the heat," Hannah told him. "Even with Neville mothering me; I'm still really glad that we get to sit down for a couple of hours now."

"Somebody has to," Neville said with a smile and shrug. "You'd just keep going until you drop if given the chance."

"Which I'm not," Hannah countered. "You've even got my staff at the Leaky bossing me around. I've completely lost control there."

"I doubt that," Hermione told her, "and it says a lot about you that your staff loves you enough to take care of you like that."

Serena laughed. "Hermione should know about that, since that's how everyone in House Elf Liaison feels about her."

"Is there any chance that's as close to talking politics as we'll get tonight?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Maybe we can do that during dinner at this table," Hermione agreed, "but not for the entire night. The good news for you is that we won't have to talk about work at all for the next two weeks."

"Whatever would you do or talk about instead?" George asked innocently.

"I'm sure they'll think of something," Angelina assured him. "Since Ron doesn't want to talk about work or politics, though, we could talk about the fashion highs and lows we've seen today. I could never wear those colors, but Luna's dress is beautiful. I wonder where she found it?"

"Somewhere in Brazil," Ginny answered. "She didn't remember where, other than it was at a wonderful little market she and Rolf had gone to for supplies."

"Getting to travel the world like they do would be brilliant, but spending months at a time living in a tent out in the wilderness wouldn't be quite so nice," Angelina declared. "It does obviously work for them, though."

"You just finished two months of world travel," Hannah pointed out, "and I'd say that worked out pretty well for you and your friends too."

"We did have fun," Ginny assured her, "but since most of our sightseeing was from the inside of Quidditch stadiums; we didn't exactly get to see much of the Wizarding World at all. Our biggest fans got to see more than we did."

"Except for the fans running my booths," George added. "I don't know who came up with that brilliant idea; but I didn't get to do much sightseeing, and only saw most of your matches on my WWMN mirror."

"Sacrifices for which you were and still are being well-compensated," Ron reminded him, "and your wheezes are as world-famous now as your girlfriend and sister are."

"I wonder if Angelina likes the sound of that as much as I do?" Ginny asked with a bright smile for her brother and friend.

"I definitely do," Angelina agreed. "Being world-famous is going to be great for our careers."

Ginny laughed. "You know I meant the 'your girlfriend' part of Ron's comment."

"I thought he was talking to both of us," Angelina answered innocently. "You are George's sister and my girlfriend."

"Funny how that changed so quickly from 'our careers' to 'his sister and my girlfriend' in just a few seconds," Harry mused. "It's probably a good thing for both of you that you'll have such an easy way to remember the day you officially started dating."

"Is that why you waited until after midnight to ask me?" Angelina asked George archly; and he grinned at her.

"Not really, but it is a nice added bonus. I'd like to know how we got to here from a conversation that started with talking about Luna's dress, though. Don't you girls have more fashion and wedding commentary to get to? I'm sure that Ron, Harry, Bill, and Neville will be fascinated; since they probably didn't notice anything except their wives from the time they walked into the Pavilion until now."

"We noticed the most important moments," Harry disagreed, "and Ron got all of the questions right; so I'd say we did fairly well, all things considered."

The first course was served then, and over the next couple of hours, they enjoyed a great meal and dinner conversation. Bill and Fleur, and Harry and Ginny each had a few short visits from Teddy and Victoire, and there were toasts and a few short speeches mixed in before the tables were cleared, and the band set up for the dance. Ron, Hermione, and their wedding party took another break then; partly so Bill and Fleur could take Dawn and their girls home and help Dawn with getting Victoire wound down before bedtime. It was nearly dark outside by the time Ron and Hermione were invited to share their first married couple dance, and while they stepped out into the center of the dance area; Harry put his arm around Ginny and she snuggled close as they sat and watched their best friends.

"Too bad Ron couldn't see this in his future; or he'd have asked Hermione to marry him years ago," she whispered. "I love seeing them this happy."

"So do I, but it may have been for the best that they did go through that last year. The problems they had needed to be worked out; and they'll have an easier go of it with their marriage now than they might have had."

"That doesn't sound like the brilliantly happy future you painted for Ron," Ginny pointed out. "Is there something you forgot to tell him?"

Harry laughed. "I skipped quite a few things," he confirmed, "and even Ron and Hermione can't seriously believe that they'll never have another fight for the rest of their lives. They are going to be happy, though; just like we'll be."

"And will there be fights in our future too?"

"Not tonight," he answered evasively; and Ginny laughed before kissing him tenderly.

"Keep that up, and you might be wrong," she joked. Harry smiled and kissed her again for a long, sweet moment. "Or not," she added; smiling too.

"Careful," George warned them. "Keep that up tonight; and by Christmas you could be looking a lot like Hannah does right now."

"We'll get around to having kids when we're ready," Ginny assured him, "but that won't be tonight, or anytime in the near future."

"You probably shouldn't wait. It took Mum twelve years to get her daughter."

"Then maybe I should be suggesting that to you and our brothers if you have to wait that long for sons," Ginny countered with a laugh.

"The only thing I have to say to that is thank Merlin that it's time for the wedding party to join the happy couple on the dance floor," George answered as he stood up and held out his hand to Angelina. "Shall we?"

"Dance, yes; start a family, no," Angelina answered with a smile for Ginny and a laugh.

Everyone else at the table followed their lead, and while Harry and Ginny enjoyed dancing together; it was also nearly an hour before they could take a break. There'd been the official dances, and then they'd split up for dances with the parents, Teddy and Andromeda, and a few brother-sister dances. The hours seemed to fly past, and then it was time for Ginny to take Hermione into the house to change into the dress they'd picked out for her going away outfit before returning to the Pavilion for the last round of dances. When it was their turn; Harry led Hermione out onto the dance floor while Ron escorted his sister. They were the only two couples out there; though they still danced close together.

"Any last words of advice for me?" Ron asked Ginny.

She laughed and nodded. "Yes. Don't do anything that would make me use my bat-bogey hex on you again; and you'll be just fine."

"Too bad Aunt Muriel's advice wasn't that short – and quiet."

"But if she'd done that, the rest of us would have missed out on all of the entertainment she gave us while watching you blush," Ginny pointed out. "That's why I'm sticking close to Harry and Hermione. I'm sure his advice for her ought to be fascinating."

"Um, don't do anything to get Ginny mad enough to use her bat-bogey hex on you," he told Hermione.

"Thanks, Harry; but I already knew that," Hermione answered with a laugh. "Unless that was a warning from something you've seen."

"It was just a feeble attempt at humor," Harry assured her, "and I don't have any advice for either of you. Ginny and I do have lots of love and best wishes for you, though."

"Yes we do," Ginny agreed happily. "See what you can do about having some extra fun for us while you're away and we're stuck here working for the next two weeks too."

"Hopefully you'll have fun with work too," Ron told her. "The only downside for us with being away is that we'll miss your first two games."

"You'll miss the Cannons' opening game too," Ginny reminded him. "Are you switching over and becoming a Harpies fan instead?"

Ron laughed. "No, but I am rather fond of a couple of the players on your team; and the only thing I'll be mad about with missing the Cannons' first match is if it ends up being the only one they win this season."

"If you get bored, you can always watch the games on your WWMN mirror," Hermione advised him.

"Fleur and I helped you shop for your honeymoon clothes," Ginny told her. "If Ron's bored, and finds watching Quidditch more interesting than you in one of those swimsuits; he better check into St. Mungo's and get his head examined."

"Backhanded advice – don't watch Quidditch while on honeymoon. Got it," Ron promised.

"Maybe Aunt Muriel's right; and there is hope for him after all," Ginny said with a laugh.

"Well, the brightest Witch of our time did pick him," Harry pointed out. "That says a lot right there."

Their song was nearly over, and there was time for a quick round of hugs and kisses before Ron and Hermione moved on to the parent dances next, and Harry and Ginny went to sit down again. They had a three-song break, and then were back in action at Ron and Hermione's side while they did a long round of goodbyes with their family, closest friends, and the VIP's who were still there; including Minister Shacklebolt, Amos Diggory, and their wives. It was nearing one o'clock by the time the happy couple was ready to leave on their honeymoon; and they shared one more round of hugs and kisses with the parents and members of their wedding party before apparating to the unspecified seaside retreat where they'd be spending the next two weeks.

"Five down, and just one to go before we're all done, Molly," Arthur said cheerfully while grinning meaningfully at George while putting a comforting arm around his teary-eyed wife. "The good news for George is that this is five weddings in five years; so it's okay if he wants to let us take a little break and wait for a while."

"If that's some sort of reverse psychology; it's not going to work," George advised him, "and all of your kids are rather fond of you; so you'll never be done with us."

"You are allowed to tell your Mummy and Daddy that you love them," Ginny told him. "Let's go get some drinks and sit down. The only difference between how I'm feeling now compared to a regular Harpies training day is that I don't have any bludger bruises today."

There was a unanimous vote for that suggestion; though they really only had time for a short break before needing to spend the next hour or so thanking and seeing their guests off as the party wound down. After that, there was another hour and change of cleanup work to do; so it was past three-thirty by the time Harry and Ginny hugged Molly and Arthur goodnight and headed home. They had a quick shower, got ready for bed, and were snuggled close together by four; and Ginny was already drifting off to sleep.

"I love you. Happy twenty-first birthday," Harry whispered as he softly nuzzled her neck. She could feel his smile against her skin as her eyes popped open, and she rolled onto her back so she could look up at him in the dim light. He handed her a present that hadn't been in his hand a moment earlier, and she laughed, hugged, and kissed him before taking it.

"I love you too," she assured him while sending the wrapping paper flying. She had a much longer hug and kiss to share with him after admiring her new jewelry for a moment, and then leaned back into her pillow and smiled up at him again. "Thank you." She ran a hand along the side of his face and through his tousled hair affectionately. "We'll definitely want to make some time for a little birthday celebrating with just me and you; but let's get a little sleep first."

"We can do that," Harry agreed. They shared another long, soft and lingering kiss while snuggling close again, and Harry smiled contentedly as Ginny quickly drifted off to sleep.

He was tired too, but also had a lot on his mind keeping him awake. A lot had happened in the exactly one year since Ginny's last birthday; the best being Ron and Hermione's wedding, and Ginny's Quidditch victories. The series of tough run-ins with Dark Wizards, Witches, and Werewolves that had included some of the worst injuries that either of them ever had before were not fun at all. He thought about that for quite a while; wondering a bit about why he'd known about some things so clearly, and others not at all; or not until the last minute. There weren't any answers for him, but thinking about the past led inevitably to pondering their future. While he was learning that his sight into the future had its limits; what he did sense now was a time of comparative quiet and transition – both for him and for Ginny. As he finally drifted off to sleep in the pre-dawn light of early morning, he fervently hoped that he was right about that – and that the bad guys got the message and were ready for a little quiet time too.

****Look for the next addition to Harry Potter - After the War in time for Christmas 2011!****


	35. 35 Life After Quidditch

**Chapter Thirty-Five – Life After Quidditch**

*****Year Seven*****

A/N: It's been a few months under two years since Ron and Hermione's wedding. After the War continues with Harry and Ginny on a month-long holiday after she ended her Harpies' career with a fourth League Championship.

"Maybe it was the seafood," Harry suggested as he led Ginny back to bed and helped her sit down. He'd already cleaned up from their rather abrupt and messy wake-up call. "I'm sure that's the only thing you had to eat that I didn't have yesterday."

"Nice try," Ginny answered with a slow shake of her head, "but you can't blame this on the fish when it's all your fault." She laughed when he looked at her blankly. "I'm not sick, Harry – we're pregnant." She had time for another short laugh while Harry wrapped his arms around her, and then he was kissing her for a long, breathless minute. "Does that mean you're happy about this?" she joked next.

"Definitely," he agreed enthusiastically. "I'd say one of those best days ever kind of mews flashes. What can I do to help you?"

"It's still early. A cold washcloth would be nice, and then we should try to get a bit more sleep if we can. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better in another hour or so."

Harry helped Ginny to lie down; got the cold washcloth; and then got back into bed too. He didn't feel much like sleeping anymore, but held her close while she dozed, and let his mind wander. They were going to be parents! That was absolutely brilliant; though he'd never even remotely imagined a scene like they'd just gone through for his introduction to impending fatherhood. His next thoughts were about what their family and friends would say about this happening so soon after Ginny's retirement from Professional Quidditch just over two weeks ago. There were sure to be jokes about it for years to come – a belated Quidditch League Championship victory present and such. He wasn't really surprised at all, since he and Ginny did have a tendency to get a job done once they'd decided on something. That thought made him laugh silently – some jobs were quite a bit more fun than others.

Since Ginny's MVP-winning League Championship victory, they'd been having a lot of fun. They were in the middle of a well-deserved four-week vacation. The first week had been spent at home so that Ginny could be there to help Gwenog with the final wedding details. She'd been one of Gwenog's bridesmaids, and the wedding a week ago this past Saturday had been one of the largest Harry had yet attended. Gwenog and Kirley had definitely had the largest wedding party. He'd had all of his band mates standing up with him, and though Gwenog had thought that was a bit much; she had agreed to an equal number of Witches for her bridal party.

Gwenog had retired after the big game too, though she'd decided to do that because she didn't want to play anymore; not because she and Kirley were in a hurry to start a family. She was still going to be working for the Harpies as an assistant manager and trainer; and everyone knew that she would eventually be Glynnis' replacement some day.

He and Ginny had gone to Romania on the Sunday morning after the wedding, and spent the week visiting Charlie, Julianne, and their two-year old nephew, Aiden. Charlie and Julianne had both taken the week off to spend with them, and they'd done some sightseeing; but the four of them had also done some work on the house too – a little magical renovation to get ready for the upcoming addition to their family. Julianne was about four months along with her second pregnancy; and they were going to need more space. They'd wrapped up their week in Romania with a couple of play days on the Black Sea coast, and then yesterday, while Charlie, Julianne, and Aiden had returned home; Harry and Ginny had moved on to start their week-long Mediterranean holiday in southern France.

"A holiday that isn't going to be much fun for Ginny if she's feeling sick like this every morning," he told himself; thinking about some of the first-trimester stories that Charlie and Julianne had just told them about over the past week.

That was one good thing about being part of a family with a lot of older brothers – you got to watch and learn from them. When it came to being fathers, Harry thought that Bill and Charlie were doing great; while Percy had a tendency to get a bit too caught up with his work at the Ministry. That was something he was really going to try and be careful about with his own job – it was very easy for him to forget about everything else while working one of his Auror cases. That was usually okay up to now since Ginny was just as dedicated to her Quidditch career.

"Don't even think about work," he chided himself silently. "You're on holidays." That admonishment came too late, and he was soon caught up in thinking about his current investigation and making plans on where he and Ron should take it when he got back to Auror Headquarters in two weeks.

"I should have had you put all of your work memories in a bottle," Ginny said quietly. Harry laughed and opened his eyes to see her smiling at him with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Busted," he confirmed before leaning close to kiss her tenderly. "I love you. How do you feel?"

"I love you too, and still a bit queasy, but not totally barfy. Let's get up and have a shower. We have a lot of playing ahead of us today, and I don't want to miss out on any of it."

Harry got out of bed and helped her up; then held her close while she waited for a wave of dizziness to pass. "Are you sure about going sightseeing today? We could do something else instead."

"We'll do that if I have any really bad mornings," she promised, "but other than a change in plans for my breakfast this morning, I'll be fine."

"Do you want to pop back home to tell your Mom and Dad the news sometime today?"

Ginny shook her head. "We'll see them on Sunday at Bill and Fleur's, and we can tell them then. If word gets out now, you know we'll have reporters and photographers hounding us for the rest of our holiday."

"I didn't even think about that. Shouldn't we get a break from all of that now that you're retired?"

"I might get a break eventually, but you never will. I can hardly wait to read Rita Skeeter's Inside Azkaban column when she finds out."

"I'm sure that Snowstorm and Snowflake will be very impressed," Harry joked; since he made a point of putting Rita's column face up when he lined their owl's cages with parchment from the Daily Prophet.

He led Ginny into the bathroom, and they got their day started with a little gentle water play time. When they were dressed and ready to go, they went to a nearby outdoor café for breakfast. A morning sightseeing tour was followed by an afternoon of sun and fun out on and in the water. They had a late, casual dinner; went dancing for a few hours; and then returned to their suite once Ginny had decided that she'd had enough fun for the day.

The rest of their week in France was amazing; if occasionally rather strange. Ginny's morning sickness was a hit and miss phenomenon that didn't necessarily pick the morning when it did hit. Getting sick wasn't any fun for her, but there was a fair bit for both of them to be amused about – especially with some of Harry's reactions; and the ways he tried to help her during those moments. Finally, it was Sunday, and they packed to head home; where they had time to get a bit of work done before re-packing for their last week of vacation before moving on to Bill and Fleur's in time for the family lunch that was going to kick off that holiday.

"Welcome home honey," Molly told Ginny as she hugged her in welcome. "It looks like you've had a good holiday so far."

"We've had a great holiday; and we've got a fairly amazing souvenir to prove it, Grandma," Ginny answered with a brilliant smile. She laughed when Molly's eyes widened; filled with tears; and she was hugged tightly again.

"Congratulations!"

"Uh-oh," Bill said as he walked up to them; carrying drinks for Harry and Ginny. "Tears, bone-crushing hugs; and congratulations. That can only mean one thing."

"Why the 'Uh-oh' if it can only mean one thing?" Harry asked him as he took one of the glasses from Bill.

"The girls are going to be talking babies all day," Bill explained. "Congratulations, guys. You're going to love joining the parenthood club."

Arthur and Molly had been the only guests at Bill and Fleur's when Harry and Ginny had arrived; so the baby news spread quickly as the rest of their family joined the party. That included everyone in the family except for Charlie, Julianne, and Aiden; Andromeda and Teddy; and Gabrielle. The reason that this party was going to kick off the last week of Harry and Ginny's vacation was because they'd rented a nearby cottage; they were going to have Teddy with them; and they'd all be spending the week playing with Bill, Fleur, and their kids. Andromeda and Teddy were the last to get to Shell Cottage; and Teddy was especially fired up to see Harry and Ginny.

"I've really missed you a lot," he told them as he took turns hugging Harry and Ginny.

"We've missed you too," Ginny assured him. "Are you ready for our holiday?"

"Uh-huh," Teddy confirmed with a bob of his head. "Grandma brought my bags with us. Did you bring your stuff too?"

"No, but we're packed, and will move everything over to the cottage later this afternoon," Harry answered. He smiled at Andromeda as she joined them. "You look like you're ready for a holiday too. Maybe you should join us."

Andromeda laughed at the look on Teddy's face at Harry's comment. He obviously did not think that having Grandma along on his special holiday with Harry and Ginny was a good idea at all. "I'd love to go along, but I'm going on a stay-cation while Teddy's away."

"What's a stay-cation?" Teddy asked suspiciously; earning another laugh from his grandmother.

"It's when you have a holiday at home instead of going away," she explained. "Don't worry – you won't be missing out on anything important while you're gone. It's just no fun doing the really cool stuff without you." She hugged Ginny then; and smiled at her.

"Grandma Weasley gave me the news already. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Ginny answered at the same time that Teddy asked – "Congratulations for what?"

"Your Aunt Ginny is going to have a baby," Andromeda answered.

"Really?" Teddy asked; looking at Ginny with wide eyes.

"Really," she confirmed, "but don't worry about it getting in the way of our vacation. These things take a little time you know."

"Nine months," Teddy said with a knowing bob of his head. "That's a long time from now."

"When you're six it is," Andromeda agreed. "It won't seem nearly so long for Harry and Ginny."

They talked with Andromeda and Teddy for a few more minutes, and then they all moved on; with Teddy going to hang out with the rest of the kids even though they were mostly girls; and Bill and Fleur's nine-month old son, Louis, was still too young to be much fun to play with. Harry and Ginny wandered around the yard visiting with everyone until they sat down to have lunch with Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, and about half of the kids; including Teddy and Victoire.

"How's the Quidditch coming along?" Ginny asked Gabrielle. "Are you going to be ready for training camp?"

"I was going to ask you to start helping me with that after next week, but I guess that's out now. It's not easy to keep sharp without any decent competition. I've been losing my edge already just since we stopped training together three weeks ago."

"You know that you can't," Harry told Ginny before she could say anything; and she laughed and hugged him.

"Yes I do," she conceded, "but you absolutely can help Gabrielle – and will. We're going to do everything we can to get her first year as the Harpies' top Seeker off to as great a start as I had."

"That would be amazing," Gabrielle said happily. "Both the training help and having as good a rookie season as you did. That's the only scary part of my promotion from the Reserve team – trying to live up to the legend I'm replacing."

Ginny laughed again. "You're going to have a brilliant career, Gabrielle, and you already know that training every day with our Beaters is way scarier than worrying about how you'll do compare to me."

"That's for sure," Harry agreed. "Anyone who thinks that the Harpies have lost their edge at Beater now that Gwenog isn't playing anymore is going to regret it if they underestimate Karla and Melody." Melody Moran had been one of the Harpies' Reserve team Beaters for the past two years; and though she could have played for other teams right out of school; she'd opted to train under Gwenog instead after being offered the chance to be her replacement. Karla Broadmoor was now easily as good as Gwenog; and they'd been the undisputed best Beater team in the league this year.

"I wouldn't even worry all that much about the Quidditch," Bill told Gabrielle. "The Harpies are going to love how well you do with the marketing end of the business – unless you're planning on running off and getting married before training camp opens like Ginny did."

"There are no serious candidates for that in the picture right now," Gabrielle assured him. "I'm good with whatever happens with selling Harpies merchandise too, but you know that there is no way that I'll settle for anything less than being the best Seeker possible."

"True, but you shouldn't have to worry about that – some of us already think that you are."

"You should definitely keep him," Gabrielle told Fleur.

"I think that we will," Fleur agreed; earning a laugh from Victoire. "We know you've got some appointments for the Harpies next week, but I hope you'll be able to spend a bit of time with us while we're on holidays."

"I'll have a few hours here and there," Gabrielle assured her sister. "You should've gone away somewhere for the week, but at least you are actually taking some time off."

"We can go away for holidays when the kids are a bit older," Bill said with a shrug. "Right now, it's just too much work to haul everything around that we'd need for a week away."

Gabrielle laughed. "I don't take as much with me on a trip as you guys take to the Burrow every work day."

"Not including everything that Mom and Dad just keep there," Ginny added with a nod and laugh. "I'm glad that we're just going to stay around here and at our cottage – especially now."

That comment had the girls talking babies and pregnancies while they all finished having lunch, and then they were all off and running again – literally for the boys as they were put in charge of keeping up with Teddy and Victoire. Harry and Ginny stayed until the party started to break up late in the afternoon, and then they took Teddy with them and popped over to the nearby cottage they were renting for the week.

For six of the last seven days of their extended holiday, Harry and Ginny just relaxed and enjoyed playing with Bill, Fleur, and the kids. Life was about to change for them in a big way, with Ginny's first pregnancy an even bigger reason for that than her retirement from professional Quidditch. They took Teddy back to Andromeda early on Sunday morning, and then spent the last day of their holiday getting caught up on all of the work that needed to be done around the house before Harry went back to work on Monday. Neither of them had expected that their life after Quidditch would actually start with a new life quite so soon; but that amazing little miracle was definitely going to make getting back to their regular lives in the real world absolutely brilliant!


End file.
